How I’m Rewriting My Career Path: From Education to Psychology

By Arber Malaj

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” - Maya Angelou 

Picture this: A 10-ish year old boy standing in front of a white board on a sunny day with a PowerPoint that he made on his older sister's laptop when it was his turn to use it and pretended to teach history to an empty room, but to him it was full of students. That boy was me. A little delusional? Maybe. But passionate? Absolutely. I wanted to be a teacher and be a teacher I shall. Now, my early schooling wasn't the best and this fuelled my drive even more to be the teacher that I didn't have, to create a supportive, caring, and equal environment for all. At first, I was going to be an English teacher, then I wanted to be a History teacher but this changed again to wanting to become a Sociology teacher. Sociology was the subject I excelled at, at GCSE and A-Levels. The way society is built and structured on a social level was something I loved to unpick and write essays about. I was so desperate to be a teacher, I honestly wanted to skip years of my life to be a 21 year old graduate starting his PGCE. I was great at explaining things, I loved helping people, imparting knowledge on others, making PowerPoints, writing on a whiteboard, just everything education related. 

Now guessing from the title, I'm sure you’re wondering why change it?

This requires context to start unpicking!  

I applied to UCL to study Education Studies which encompassed sociology, social science data, philosophy and you guessed it…psychology. I never expected how much I would resonate with the psychology part. It's like a switch turned on and I wanted a career in psychology. I'm sure you’re wanting to ask what it was about psychology? Well, I was sitting in my first psychology lecture that was all about behavioural psychology (the study of how people learn and change their actions based on interactions with their environment, often through reinforcement and punishment) and it was like music to my ears, learning all about those interactions made me want to explore even more standpoints. The idea of being in a position where you can help someone at their worst, helping people unpick the bad parts of their past and present and guide them into becoming the best version of themselves, is one I wanted to support people with. I went into education as a crusader wanting to make a difference, but in hindsight, I realised psychology is how I can truly make an even larger difference and that might not necessarily mean I’ve left the want to become a teacher, maybe eventually I will, but you can’t necessarily do two careers at the same time. You do have to choose which one resonates most with you.  

With this new realisation, this should now have a happy ending. But it’s bitter sweet. Whilst I had geared up for a career in education, I will need to do a whole 360 degree turn into psychology, which begins with me needing a Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership by doing a conversion masters in psychology. Afterwards, I will be required to do a doctorate in Clinical Psychology as I want to become a Clinical Psychologist. The first thing I did was book a meeting with a Careers Advisor that UCL has, but if I didn’t have that, I would have searched on Youtube 'becoming a clinical psychologist with a non-psychology degree' and see if there’s anyone who explains that route or I would search it on google. Make sure that you utilise everything your university has to offer and take advantage of all career support you're given. 

I have compiled a list of three of the best advice I could give you if you’re also thinking of doing a career change or if you are unhappy in the career you’re in and want to change. 

Advice 1: Do what makes YOU happy.

I know this is cliche, but do what makes you happy. Don’t assume that just because I’m on this road I can’t change the route. You can and if that makes you happy, then go for it. Whilst you can’t change what direction life places you in, you can change its trajectory and where you want it to take you, so don’t pause doing the career you really want to do. 

Advice 2: You control your time. 

I read a book that said: the meaning we give to our lives is self-created. Therefore we create the meaning we give to time. Never think it's too late to chase that dream or you’re too old to pursue that career. Society has constructed us to believe that we finish uni at 21 and either start a job, or do a graduate course, but you do you and do it in your time, not societies or someone else's. 

Advice 3: Be in the moment and enjoy it. 

Whenever you make a change, it's always filled with uncertainty, but when you have the passion and drive to achieve something and reach a goal, you will. Don’t worry about what will happen or if I made the right choice, if this is a change you genuinely want, it will always serve you in your favour, one way or another - everything always happens for a reason. 

The key takeaway from this is that a career change is normal, frightening, challenging, and it takes time, but I know that years later when I look at myself in the mirror and get ready for work and see Dr Arber Malaj, Clinical Psychologist - that's when I know that I made the right choice and the same goes to all of those reading and not knowing if they want to make that change, your future you will thank you.