A frequent question in the minds of parents and students as they begin to enter high school is, ‘which field of study or profession has the highest scope?’
In the context of this article, the word scope is meant to define a particular field or profession’s capacity to make one wealthy.
The issue of defining a scope for a field confounds me. How can we define our scope? And should we really do so? Should we compartmentalize our vast capability as human beings into narrowly demarcated areas of accepted acknowledgement?
For instance, several decades ago, one of my uncles decided to pursue Botany as his field of interest after completing College. This was a time when Medicine, Engineering and other Pure Sciences like Physics and Chemistry were sought after areas for their ‘scope’. Nevertheless, he took up Botany because it excited him. Because he took it up for his love, he naturally did well with it and went on to various countries on scholarship, completed his post doctorate, won several awards and named a new plant species as well!
I can say with certainty that the world still has undiscovered flora and quite a few scholarships for bright Botany students, but somehow choosing this field as a career will still raise many skeptical eyebrows in my part of the world at least!
My uncle’s example and of so many others who did well in areas they felt passionate about, just goes to show that it’s wiser to approach life with the attitude of “How can I contribute/make it better”? rather than “What does it pay me/What do I get from it”. Because when you choose to contribute with passion, you’re liberating yourself from the conditions you’ve imposed upon your flight upwards.
We in fact limit ourselves by our own definitions.
I know of so many students who opted out of ‘good scope’ fields like IT, fashion designing, Chartered Accountancy and so on after a couple of years because they realized that what is ‘in’ may not be what they had an inner calling for. Some of them were ridiculed by family but I’d call them really brave for not trading the rest of their lives for a dogged pursuit of ideals defined by others for them.
Ironically every few years, in Pakistan specially, we have a wave of graduates in fields that are considered ‘promising’. And then these talented young graduates become disillusioned in searching for jobs in an economy that cannot sustain too many of the same qualification. A society doesn’t just need IT professionals, MBAs, fashion designers or finance experts… it needs poets, plumbers, veterinaries, teachers and scientists too.
In any case, what guarantee does one have of a secure financial future if one does opt for a lucrative career? Don’t we all know of some doctors, writers, teachers and artistes who make more money than many business managers.
And even if one is financially secure having preempted and chosen a lucrative field, what chances does one have of preempting, calculating and choosing paths in life that bring you inner contentment, a good spouse, wonderful children and so on? Can you really calculate life down to the last decimal place accurately?
The scope to excel for a human being is beyond definition. An individual could have the scope to climb mountains, invent new technologies, make the world a better place and be happy with that or sit on bags full of money with an ever hungry heart that never has its fill.