{text:bookmark-start} Getting a MBA to Change Careers {text:bookmark-end} I should change careers. That is a thought that has haunted me for years. I have known for at least nine years that being a pharmacist was not for me. How to change careers and what new career did I want were questions I had a hard time answering. After searching for answers on the internet and speaking with academic counselors from several colleges, I realized getting a MBA was a possibility. I did not know having a bachelor degree was all one needed to start the MBA program. I was under the impression that thebachelor degree needed to be in an area of business. Hopeful and excited, I decided I needed to get my MBA. Facing my parents with the idea of going back to school and changing careers was not going to be easy. I could hear their objections: you make good money, the MBA will be expensive, you do not have the time, pharmacists are in demand, you won’t ever have trouble finding a job, and finallythat is just not something you do. You have a career, stick with it. Changing careers is not that unheard of these days, as opposed to when my parents were choosing their careers. According to Holmes and Cartwright, in the 1970s and 1980s, more people started changing careers. This change was due to “the rapid rate of social, economic, and technological changes that encouraged the development of successive or multiple careers” (Holmes, 1993). The Vocational Guidance Association states that “between 1985-1988 there was a 30 per cent increase in career changers over 35” (Cole, 1988). Getting my MBA will be costly, but with the help of student loans, it will be obtainable. With online degrees like the ones available at The University of Phoenix, time is not such a large factor. Online classes allow you to “attend” class at a convenient time, anytime, day or night. Pharmacists are in demand and I do make good money, but if I am not happy somewhere I spend so much time every day, it can cause...