advice?

Question:Would I have a "better" (for lack of a better word) life If I were I professional ballet dancer or a doctor..?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Would I have a "better" (for lack of a better word) life If I were I professional ballet dancer or a doctor..?

Both careers have positives and negatives and it would be a judgment call only you can make to determine which is right (better) for you.

Both are highly competitive and require a lot of training. Depending on your age and skill level, becoming a professional ballet dancer may be more difficult. You also have to consider how many other young women are working toward the same goal and whether you would be happy working exceedingly hard to be in the chorus (since it is unlikely for anyone to go straight from ameteur to prima ballerina).

Working to be an MD will certainly be challenging as well both on a physical and mental level. You must have the drive and determination to get through your studies and the ability to stay awake and alert for long hours.

Once you have completed your training/schooling/interning for either career they both require your full dedication and time so that outside interests and friends may suffer unless you are very good at balancing work/life. while you may make more money as a doctor, if you get used to spending that higher paycheck then you could be in the same relative financial position as you would if you became a ballerina and spend your lower paycheck frugally.

I think many people would say that both careers have been romanticized in movies and on TV. Both are difficult career paths but I think the general consensus is to revere doctors so that career path would be more socially acceptable (general speaking). You could also study to be a doctor while continuing to take dance classes as a means of stress relief and "you" time. Working to be a professional dancer with a medical career on the side wouldn't be as practical :)

I hope this helps .. each career path is better in different ways. Perhaps making a list of the positives and negatives of each will help you most of all. We can all give our opinions here, but you will know best which would give you a better life. Good luck!

Doctor, your skills help others too. Dancer is only for you.

The stress is in being a doctor and dancing is relaxing and enjoyable. I'd prefer dancing but thats my own opinion. And i think you'd get more money in being a doctor than being a dancer.

you could be a doctor by day and a dancer by night....dance could be the stress reliever of all the things your job piles on you

It's hard to say. If you were a Docter you would make a lot of money, but you have to be a genius to even get accepted into medical school.
But being a professional Dancer is something that doesn't happen everyday, it's the joy of dancing because you love it not because of the money. Going down the road to become a professional dancer would be easier. :)
And much more enjoyable. :)
Happy Dancing!!! :)

It all depends on what you want! Being a doctor is a great job and you must be very brave if that is one of your options! (I could never handle any of the bloodiness! I fainted when my teacher dissected a pig!) A dancer would be great too, though, not to mention great excercise! But the only bad thing about that is you can't do it for a long time. You will become too old to stay pro even if you are not that old, and with a doctor, it will be more of a lifetime profession. So just think about what would better suit you and what would make you happier and go with it! Best of luck! : )

Who is coming up with these two possible options for your life? You or other people? This is absolutely key to answering your question.

As the mother of a college (senior) dance major who is just about to set out on her dance career (hopefully), I've seen that the life of a dancer has many, many hardships, full of sacrifices, physical pain, long hours, little money, interpersonal politics and favoritism, public ignorance, and a transient lifestyle to stay employed or to get ahead leading to possible loneliness. It is NOT easy AT ALL to become a professional ballet dancer! The odds are about the same for a guy to become a professional football player - and the pay is at the total opposite end of the scale and with far less personal support built into the process of "making it." You have to want being a dancer SO BAD that you can't possibly imagine doing anything else.

Therefore, if you CAN imagine doing anything else, then you really should pursue that and not dancing, because you wouldn't have the singular drive to endure all the hardships. My daughter is still just a dance student and already, at her age, I had a much happier life and still am very happy with the life I chose based around a regular college education.

Meanwhile, the odds of getting into medical school are actually far, far better than getting into a ballet company. Plus, society needs more doctors due to our aging population and are thus rewarded well for their efforts.

There are ways to keep dancing at a high level through your college years and I've known many pre-med and other students who have done this and have been very happy pursuing that path.

Best of luck to you.