Career planning

Fourth semester is done! And I already had my first meeting for my internship on Friday last week which went really well. I basically have myself a career coach / mentor who's advising me on where I fit / will fit in the industry (being a consultant herself, she's worked in many areas of it). I know in my last post I said I was veering away from being a fitness specialist “because it was never the only thing I was interested in.” Originally, the idea of teaching group exercise and doing fitness assessments / prescriptions appealed to me because it was a way to get out from behind a desk and a way to cure myself of my own health issues. But as I've mentioned, my health issues actually elevated themselves in the last semester and came to interfere with my ability to do that exercise stuff I was originally gonna do. That's an additional reason why I started crossing over into health promotion. And while there may be a little bit of question as to whether I chose the right graduate degree, I can say that it was probably the only degree program I would've gotten accepted into. (And I was lucky I applied when I did because they've now upped the criteria to get in; I probably wouldn't get in if I applied now). So I don't have any huge regrets; my degree is kind of like a door opener that will allow me to pursue other certifications. Originally, I would've gone for the HFS from ACSM, but I'm scrapping that. I want to get my wellness coaching certification from WellCoaches. It does have a training program you have to go through instead of simply studying on your own like some certifications, but I do qualify for it because of my degree (they accept a range of health related degrees). Getting the specific work that that will allow me to do seems like the most immediate job search strategy for me – in other words, it's what I'd qualify for the quickest. The other interest I have, health promotion / education, seems a little further from my reach. Some of the job ads I saw for wellness coaches actually did incorporate that, though, which was cool. They were a combo of one-on-one coaching and implementing wellness programs. If I can do that, I'll be happy and fulfilling my goal. But some health education jobs require the CHES certification (certified health education specialist) which I don't qualify for. For that, I'd need some further education (like an MPH degree). And another upward move from wellness coaching would be licensure for counseling (there are actually a lot of different licenses out there related to behavioral health). But again, I have to focus on the now. It seems to be continually evolving, but I'm moving forward.