Am I kidding myself?

[somewhereonlyweknow]

back story:

I've been working on exposure therapy for the past year or so for emet and I've got to the point of watching and listening to fake vomit on TV such as casualty because I know I cant catch a pretend illness through the TV
at 17 I'm being told by a lot of people that I need to think ahead about which qualifications I need for a good career. last year I took a L2 btech course in applied science which was mainly biology based. I love biology particularly the medical aspects which we did alot of and I managed to get 5 GCSE's out of it which brings me up to 10 altogether but no a-levels . unfortunately the course was very full on and stressful with a lot of assignments, which caused my epilepsy and GAD to go out of control again. my parents and student support staff helped me though and I'm good now doing photography this year (not sure why I've never done it before)

Anyhoo, it sounds stupid but what I would really love to do in the future is diagnostic radiography in an emergency department which is obviously going to have a lot of sickness in it. I was hoping that by the time I get round to that I'll be able to deal with it but no-one else thinks I will. The more I think about it, maybe I'm being too ambitious. yesterday I mentioned it to my best friend and she burst out laughing and told me I shouldn't. I don't even know what qualifications I need, uni is out of the question because I cant live independently. OK, sorry the point is, should I keep considering it? or should I just forget it?

side note- I don't usually like thinking further than a few months ahead because this happens^^^ but I know all of this is a long way off and I know I'm over-thinking it and ill probably change my mind but its so confuzzling!!! i apologize for rambling.

[paulinek]

Why not take it one step at a time? Ok so your ultimate goal is diagnostic radiography in a&e but first off you need to qualify as a radiographer before you can work anywhere! Don't be put off university just because you can't live independently at the moment, there are other options, either go to a local uni where you can still live at home or try the Open University university, you can claim all your fees/grants etc that you could at a traditional uni but study mainly from home. A lot of universities do distance learning now too so have a good Google and find out what your options are. By the time you qualify you may feel ok about working in a&e but if not there are plenty of other jobs for radiographer in less vomit prone settings such as private clinics, hospital outpatients clinics or private hospitals. Don't let anyone put you off of your dream! There's a few jobs I wanted to do that I never pursued when I was your age due to emet and I really regret it now- don't make the same mistakes as me x

[crd08]

^^ Ditto, I made a lot of mistakes when it came to "following my dreams" because I let my emet hold me back. I'm just now getting back into college, but honestly, now it's just to get a decent job. It's still not my goal job or even field. Don't let that happen to you. Find yourself, find what you love and go for it! It may take you longer, you may not take a traditional path, but that's okay. One step at a time. Find a local community college, you can get a lot of core classes there, a lot even online. There's a lot out there, take your time, do your research and go for whatever it is you want

[somewhereonlyweknow]

thankyou, i'm at college atm but i think in america its called community college? i love your quote paragraph btw

[somewhereonlyweknow]

It's more of an idea than a dream though, there's loads of other stuff i could do i suppose. with uni i just want to get away from my parents my mum is driving me insane! I'm just angry at myself now for telling my friend because now i realise how ridiculous it is. never mind there's always asda :} i really appreciate you comment though thank you xx

[Malalcala]

Don't give up!!!!!!!! And don't let your phobia dictate your future!!!! I am a second year med student so I know you can make it happen! It is by no means easy to manage my phobia in an environment that revolves around illness but medicine involves SO much sacrifice and hard work that my fears are continually pushed aside in favor of curiosity and determination.
It took me a long time to get to this place so I started med school as a slightly older student than usual but I am infinitely grateful to be there. : )