Any Massage Therapists out there?

Hey there,
I'm currently looking at furthering my education after getting my BA in Anthropology this summer. Apparently you're not very special if you "just" have a BA these days, and need more college or university. So, I've set to the task of figuring out what I want to do for the next little while, if not for the rest of my life (underlining makes it sound scarier and more dramatic). I've come up with the idea that I, a person who loves to work with people and make them feel better; would love to have a low stress work environment; and am already pretty good at massages would be pretty happy as a massage therapist. I'm still in the "considering it" mode though, and was wondering what it was like to be one, and what the schooling is like.
I don't know why I've had such a hard time choosing "what I want to be when I grow up". Perhaps its just because I'm not interested in business, or maybe I have a lack of direction in my life. Either way, at the tender age of 23 it's time to choose!
Does anyone else have a job that they absolutely ?? I'd love to hear about it!
Thanks
Jess

I am a massage therapist, and I love it! The only thing I regret about doing it is that I didn't do it years ago when I first thought about it. There is nothing like the feeling of laying your hands on someone and making them feel better.
I don't know how the courses are where you are, but it was not a particularly easy course here. There was a lot more to it than I thought. It was a very interesting and exciting course, and I loved every minute of it. I am sure you can do it with no problem if a forgetful old broad like me can end up with a 3.87 GPA.
I have only been out of school for a few months, and just got my state license. I have had my national certification since last September, but could not practice and get paid without my state license. I have begun to be compulsive, and have caught myself grabbing my friends and turning them around to work on their shoulders. I work on my s/o in my sleep.
As soon as I have practiced for awhile, I would like to specialize in pre-natal, labor and delivery massage, (a doula), and infant massage. I am working at a day spa right now, just to get some experience. A friend of mine works for a chiropractor, and one of their therapists is leaving in October. I hope to take over that position to get a different kind of experience. My current employer is going to work for 2 weeks on a cruise ship this Spring. A classmate of mine is touring as the resident therapist for Cirque de' Soleil touring company. There are just so many opportunities for massage therapists now since it has become popular again.
If you like working with people, and especailly since it sounds like you have a touch for it, you should really consider it. It is a good living, and often the therapist will get as much out of the massage as the client. In the short time I have been practicing, and with the clinic hours I did in school, I am starting to get in a little better shape already.
If you have any specific questions, or if their is any help or advice I can offer, please feel free to pm me.
You want to know about a really CRAPPY job? I was a body piercer before I went back to school. YUCK!!!!!

I do love my job -- although I wish I was paid more for the amount of work and time I put in.
I work as a Vet. Technician and it's a lot of fun. I assist the drs. in the rooms, run lab tests, assist in surgery, work in reception.

I am currently taking an at home course so hopefully when I complete it I will get a raise! But low pay and *long* hours aside lol I love the work that I do.

When I am older and more settled I would love to run my own shelter. I figure working here will be great experience if I ever get a chance to.

I am the same way - majored in anthropology in college in NZ but have decided that I want to study something thats hands on and not theory. So I am thinking of going back to school when I go back home in NZ - probably will do either vet med technican or medical lab technican, or even forensic lab technican.

Good luck!

Krazy Kat - sounds like you found your true calling, the way you behave around people - can you come and live with me, I love massages!

Good luck from me also!

I thought about looking into vet tech. The problem is that I'm such a "soft heart" that I'd find it very draining to see sick animals all day every day. That combined with the low pay and high hours makes it....less than appealing. It's a shame that there aren't more jobs involving animals, because they really do have my heart. I hope that your course works out for you.

Sylorna, something in your first post jumped out at me, and that was that you felt you had to perhaps have more direction in your life? That hit a nerve with me because my family would always "expect" that from me, too, but I was a late-bloomer, I guess. And I think you've done plenty already! Achieving a B.A. in Anthro is no cake walk and you're only 23. I feel that our society puts much too much pressure on young people to just "know" what their life's calling will be, when really all that is is some disguise to say that you aren't making enough money to be obsessed with material goods in a consumer-driven culture, at least in the U.S.
I mean, WOW! You seem awfully together to me! Sometimes it takes 1 or 2 jobs to fill in the picture of our life's path and even then, it's the whole person, not just what you do, that will give you direction! Anyhoo, I just had to respond to that and don't mean to go off!

To answer your question, I work as a Personal Assistant for the owner of a major cruise line and I have a B.S. and a B.A. that I never use. But I went to school (at age 31) to better myself as a person and let the chips then fall where they may. I like my job and any grad work can wait for now. I wanted to have fun and live my life on my own terms for awhile too.
,

Wow Sashacat, thanks for that message. It's exactly how I feel! While I've been growing up, I've always edged towards jobs that would bring happiness through others or animals, and the responce that I always seem to get, no matter what job it is is "well, how much will you make at that?" It really angers me to know that in our society we can't have a job simply because it makes us happy, but we also have to consider about the material things we'll have in life. My parents make realitively good money, and I'd have to say that I was probably in the best off household amongst my friends growing up. Even considering that, it always seemed that my parents didn't feel like they had enough. I've always wondered what it is that they're doing wrong, what it is about the way they manage their funds when my friends who are in welfare houses can have a very similar life to mine. I think that sometimes when we have too much we squander the extra and don't put it to good use.
I would so much love to find my "calling" in life. I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was a kid, for most of my childhood and then just "didn't" once I got to the point of picking schools. But I was forced to pick a study and go with it. I'm glad that I chose anthropology, I sure have learned a lot about people and places, history and myself. It also gave me the chance to take some philosophy and some religion and culture classes, which really broadened my mind. When people ask me what I studied in, the next question out of their mouths is usually "well what are you going to do with that". I usually try to explain to them that maybe there's more to the learning/growth process then the title you are given and that I've grown so much in the last four years. You should see the looks I get! It's amazing! They think I'm totally off my rocker, and sometimes I even get people saying "but that wont earn you anything". For awhile I wanted to be a recreational therapist for the mentally ill. Fortunately I was given another opportunity to practise those skills in a grown-up environment instead of a student environment (I had assisted one summer and loved it) and found that maybe I didn't want to do that anymore, it didn't hold enough for me. I started thinking "maybe I don't want to take people camping for the rest of my life".
And now we arrive here, at my place of being forced into decisions about money and potential happiness. I suppose I sometimes have the mindset of this being a final decision, but these days even that isn't true. All I can say is that massage therapy sounds like something where I'd really enjoy helping people, and it would be a wonderful, low stress environment.
Thank you for letting me ramble and vent a bit. It's so good to know that I'm not the only one, and that other people can understand me for once.
Meows from Chester,
Jess