DISCOVER YOUR TALENT PODCAST
“I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, so like so many of us, I followed in my older brother’s footsteps. He’s an exceptionally talented engineer so I took an engineering class in high school. I liked the math and science part of it but was awful at the practical side–nearly electrocuted myself on one occasion! Nevertheless I enrolled at the City College of New York in their 5-year engineering program, which included a number of classes in the humanities. My sophomore year I was introduced to Sigmund Freud via his landmark book: Civilization and Its Discontents. It frankly blew my mind and I realized that psychology was the direction that I wanted to take my career. Nevertheless I didn’t have the confidence or honestly the courage to make the change. By the end of my third year I had successfully completed all of the most difficult and demanding courses in the engineering curriculum–electromagnetic theory, differential equations, et al. Once I had completed these courses, I knew that I had what it took to go forward in engineering–that I was not simply ‘copping out.’ I instantly knew that I had the freedom to choose the direction of my career path. While I knew not one person in the psychology program, I went to my advisor, told him I wanted to switch majors, and the course of my life and career was profoundly changed for the better. My career as a forensic psychologist has been professionally and personally satisfying on so many levels.”
