Leah,
This thread has been going on and on.  I haven't commented before and
I'll try not to again, but the questions you ask have been posed, one
way or another quite a number of times.  My thoughts could be summarized
by "you ought to do what makes you happy!"  (that's followed by "most of
the time, because of course, nothing's always great).

"happy" includes a number of areas:
        where do you want to live? geography, climate, big city, rural,
easy-access/recreational-close-by, etc.
        what kind of life style do you want? high tech, high fashion, fast
cars, high income demands or (possibly) lower income demands, a big
garden, country living on several acres or ....
        weekends demand what kind of "amenities"? restaurants or barbeques,
fine arts/performance or satellite dish/library book
        then add in work related questions, along the same lines including job
style, likely duties, projects, public contact, etc.
        be sure to ask questions about a spouse/companion/relationship and what
there is important (because support on the home front is the strongest
kind, imo)

Once you've answered those kinds of questions you'll have done a pretty
intensive "self-study" and figured out WHAT is really important to YOU!

the last question to ask is: how long/how hard are you willing to work
to get what you want? you are almost never going to start at the top (of
anything). life is a progression, a series of experiences that
continues, shaping outcomes with each new development.  if you have
demands that can't/won't be met by what you know will be the rewards of
the "job",  then switch tracks now.  The only person who can make you
happy is you. figure out what you want and then work toward those
goals.
one last thought: planners now project that people entering the job
stream today will likely have at least three "careers" in their working
lifetime.

this is the right sort of thing for me, for now - i can't speak for
anyone else.
Linn

Leah Walczak wrote:
>
> As someone who is at the very beginning of pursuing a career in museums,
> I'm getting very discouraged by all this talk of low pay, no respect, and
> limited job opportunities. What I want to know is, is it worth it?  Is it
> worth it to sink myself deeper into debt with more loans for grad
> schools, only to end up waiting tables until I find some low-paying
> internship, and then maybe someday land a lucrative $25,000/year job?
> I'd really like to hear from voices of experience.
> Thanks!