“Someone I worked with once told me they wanted to start their own business because they were fed up of doing paperwork and admin. I didn’t know what to say.”

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Grabbed some responses from this thread as well. 

"I ran a Chow Chow rescue for ten years, back in the 90s, before rescue became mainstream. It's a lifestyle choice with few upsides. Phone calls in the middle of the night from someone being evicted 200 miles away, leaving dogs in the shelter because you know you have no room and it would take all your resources to save that one dog, rescuing a dog and taking on the commitment, only to find out the dog has thousands of dollars' worth of physical issues. And that is not counting the abused dog so afraid of humans that it can't even accept a treat. But, it was also the most worthwhile thing I ever did in my life, I just burned out on my own, after I lost my life partner." 

"Someone I worked with once told me they wanted to start their own business because they were fed up of doing paperwork and admin. I didn't know what to say." 

"Waking up at 2am in freezing rain because some calf decided to come out the wrong way up, and then you have to get your arm up in their business trying not to end up with your animals dead and frozen." 

"My roommate in college was majoring in education and planned to become a math teacher. This dude was a walking stereotype of the hard-drinking, hard-partying frat boy jock and dumb as a sack of bricks. He said he wanted to become a high school teacher because it was the easiest job in the world: out of work by 2:30 every day, guaranteed weekends, holidays, and summers off, and great pay to boot since it's a government job! I have no idea what happened to him, but I really hope he decided to change majors." 

"And unfortunately that's how you end up with cockatoos with the intelligence of a five-year-old human stuck in cages with clipped wings."

"They watch all the scientists come through and head out to these exotic and remote places, while they are stuck cleaning bathrooms in the McMurdo dorms. With that said, the work out at the field camps is not really any more glamorous. I would work 12-hour shifts in -40° temps, drilling and logging ice cores. I've had frostnip multiple times, and nothing heals at those temps. It's incredibly exhausting work, and unless you are really passionate about the science, it can be hard to stay motivated. Thankfully, I do love my work in glaciology, so my deployments have been rewarding...but the days are still incredibly hard. You're always just so cold."

"So much laundry. Wandering around trying to find a grocery store. Wondering if you'll have enough money to do the things you want to do."