Senior year has finally arrived. We're beginning to experience the frustrations that accompany finding a job, or sometimes as equally challenging, submitting applications to graduate school in today's less-than-stellar economy.

I'm almost completely done with my applications to medical school, and I'm fortunate to have a career in mind that I'm really excited about.

I have considered other careers, such as a journalist, a neuroscience researcher, or a professor, while at Brandeis. However, I always arrived back at physician. I cannot wait to begin studying medicine. Even the hard work of writing dozens of essays for applications to medical school has been strangely gratifying.

I've done plenty of shadowing and gathered as much clinical experience as a college student can amass through Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps and the local ambulance company in my hometown. I've also shadowed a number of physicians, which has given me the opportunity to ask them for advice and to find out about their busy lifestyles. Completing all of these requirements and courses has been rewarding, but it has also been fraught with some expected disappointments.

One disappointment for which I was not ready was the admonitions from established physicians not to enter their career. And I'm not alone.

A number of my friends have received similar feedback while talking to professionals in the fields of scientific research, urban design and academia.

Perhaps the turbulent economy has contributed to this air of pessimism among professionals.

I can imagine that everyone is working a little harder and jumping through more administrative hoops than before to achieve the same profits and prestige.

But now, more than ever, it is important for today's professionals to put on a smile and make us feel like we made a good decision to aspire toward their career. Maybe these hardships are overshadowing the parts of their job that they still really love. Perhaps these professionals have been working in their field for a long time and now take for granted the aspects of their job that they thought were too good to be true when they first began.

I'm thrilled with my decision to pursue a career as a physician, but making an expensive and long-term commitment to a career in medicine can be overwhelming. I am scared to become a dependent member of today's economy.

The competition for jobs or admittance into graduate school is fierce, but it is still important to be reminded by the people who have "been there" that one day it is possible for those just starting out to find security and satisfaction in our own careers.

This is not to say that I want to be lied to. I know that every career-perhaps especially a career in medicine-comes with its own set of frustrations and significant sacrifices. I want to know all about these so I can make an informed decision about my future. However, professionals should do their best to reign in their pessimism. If you truly regret your career decision, tell me that. But please be ready to explain why, and only do so after careful consideration.
Please don't dissuade me from a promising, noble career in a field toward which I have been working because your specific circumstances did not turn out exactly as you had hoped.

Do not mistake our enthusiasm for na??vet?(c). If someone has done the research, class work, shadowing, internships and standardized testing necessary to be competitive for a career, then they are about as well informed as anyone can be before actually working a job.

If we are not enthusiastic now, do you expect us to become more excited as we become weighed down by adult commitments? In order for us to maintain this level of excitement as we face our careers, it is important to feel welcomed and encouraged by those who have already found success. I encourage professionals to embrace their position as role models.

Please be encouraging, but realistic, as you help to guide our decisions about our future. After all, you were once in our shoes.