Stuck between what I want to do and what I "should" do. (college major)

[mollymae]

First off: sorry if this isn't the kind of thing you guys usually talk about here in chit chat, but... well, I'm posting it anyway. :P

I'm at the point in my life where I have to decide what I'm going to study in college. Originally I was determined to study environmental science because it's useful, and it will most likely be a much-needed skill in my lifetime... but not necessarily because I want to study it. I wouldn't hate studying environmental science, but if I had it my way, without fear of the consequences, I would study something I really like. "Something I really like" would probably mean history, politics, philosophy (why else would I be here on RevLeft :rolleyes:), things like that. But I'm just worried that a degree in that sort of thing would only get me jobs that would just barely cover the bills, and I don't want to live that way if I can avoid it. People say "do what you want, follow your heart" etc, but is it really worth it? Advice? :confused:

[Tyrlop]

There is no doubt that you should do that. It is best for you.

[Crusade]

First off: sorry if this isn't the kind of thing you guys usually talk about here in chit chat, but... well, I'm posting it anyway. :P

I'm at the point in my life where I have to decide what I'm going to study in college. Originally I was determined to study environmental science because it's useful, and it will most likely be a much-needed skill in my lifetime... but not necessarily because I want to study it. I wouldn't hate studying environmental science, but if I had it my way, without fear of the consequences, I would study something I really like. "Something I really like" would probably mean history, politics, philosophy (why else would I be here on RevLeft :rolleyes:), things like that. But I'm just worried that a degree in that sort of thing would only get me jobs that would just barely cover the bills, and I don't want to live that way if I can avoid it. People say "do what you want, follow your heart" etc, but is it really worth it? Advice? :confused:

I'm kind of in the same position. I'm about to go to school to be a social worker, which doesn't pay much at all. My parents want me to do something involving law or advertisement for the money. :bored:

[Rusty Shackleford]

i have no career goal :D i have a plan on getting a job but im not educating for a specific work path. my real work is in socialism. as long as i can stay alive comfortably, pay dues and assist activism and do activism my self ill be happy.


so i guess im saying, do what you want to do. fuck the money.

[Invincible Summer]

First off: sorry if this isn't the kind of thing you guys usually talk about here in chit chat, but... well, I'm posting it anyway. :P

I'm at the point in my life where I have to decide what I'm going to study in college. Originally I was determined to study environmental science because it's useful, and it will most likely be a much-needed skill in my lifetime... but not necessarily because I want to study it. I wouldn't hate studying environmental science, but if I had it my way, without fear of the consequences, I would study something I really like. "Something I really like" would probably mean history, politics, philosophy (why else would I be here on RevLeft :rolleyes:), things like that. But I'm just worried that a degree in that sort of thing would only get me jobs that would just barely cover the bills, and I don't want to live that way if I can avoid it. People say "do what you want, follow your heart" etc, but is it really worth it? Advice? :confused:

I'm sort of in the same boat, except I'm graduating next year with a major in sociology.

Is there any way you could maybe do a double major? That way you could study what you enjoy while studying something you sort of enjoy and that will most likely get you more/better work?

I hate to be a wet blanket and contradict what some romantics on this board will say, but "following your heart" is Disney bullshit. I mean, to some extent you should do something you enjoy. However, I'm finding right now that I am not enjoying my education because I have a bad feeling that I will not be employed at a job where I can utilize all the sociology skills I acquired. I love studying the stuff, but I just don't see how I can use any of it unless I become an academic, which I (and most people I know) really don't want to do.



i have no career goal :D i have a plan on getting a job but im not educating for a specific work path. my real work is in socialism. as long as i can stay alive comfortably, pay dues and assist activism and do activism my self ill be happy.


so i guess im saying, do what you want to do. fuck the money.

Living around/below the poverty line doesn't seem like fun to me, even if I'm working a "dream job" or whatever.



*Prepares to be called a petit-bourgeois middle class liberal*

[Foldered]

There's nothing stopping you from doing both. Take some political science classes, some philosophy classes, and environmental science classes; chances are, if you find a point of interest, the classes you took will count as electives towards your major.
And I would be quite comfortable hovering around the poverty line if I had a job that I loved, but I don't think I'll be stuck in that position.

[Nwoye]

Is there any way you could maybe do a double major? That way you could study what you enjoy while studying something you sort of enjoy and that will most likely get you more/better work?
this. Do a major in something that is useful while still taking classes in those fields that are interesting to you, maybe going so far as a minor or double major.


so i guess im saying, do what you want to do. fuck the money.
terrible advice. I know it's not very romantic, but at some point in the future you're going to want a family, and you're not going to want to raise a family on or around the poverty line, if you can avoid it.

[Vendetta]

Drop out, smoke weed, and rap.

[Nwoye]

Drop out, smoke weed, and rap.
this works too.

[Blake's Baby]

Drop out, smoke weed, and rap.

Yeah.

But first, go to college and study something you don't really like, just because you think that'll it'll get you a better job. Then you can feel justified in dropping out and smoking weed (but probably not rapping).

Then 20 years later when you already have a family that thinks 'going on holiday' means 'spending a long weekend staying with grandparents' because you've been on welfare for 15 years, you can do a college course that you wanted to do in the first place.

Me? No, I'm not bitter. Anyway, I was talking about afriend. Yeah, a friend, that's right.

My advice is don't do something you don't think you'll like because you think you 'have too'. At least try to find something that you can stomach doing, otherwise you're likely to do it badly (if at all) and then you end up worse off than you are now. Dual-majoring or minoring in political philosophy or even examining the philosophy of environmentalism might help, it really depends what courses are out there. Look hard, find something good.

Good luck.

[Invincible Summer]

Yeah.

But first, go to college and study something you don't really like, just because you think that'll it'll get you a better job. Then you can feel justified in dropping out and smoking weed (but probably not rapping).

Then 20 years later when you already have a family that thinks 'going on holiday' means 'spending a long weekend staying with grandparents' because you've been on welfare for 15 years, you can do a college course that you wanted to do in the first place.

Me? No, I'm not bitter. Anyway, I was talking about afriend. Yeah, a friend, that's right.

My advice is don't do something you don't think you'll like because you think you 'have too'. At least try to find something that you can stomach doing, otherwise you're likely to do it badly (if at all) and then you end up worse off than you are now. Dual-majoring or minoring in political philosophy or even examining the philosophy of environmentalism might help, it really depends what courses are out there. Look hard, find something good.

Good luck.


Indeed. I know people who go into business degrees or other silly things because "they'll make money later." They have little interest in it, but go through the motions because they believe money'll fall from the sky once they get a business administration degree or pharmacy education.

There needs to be a happy medium; finding something that you are interested in, yet not something that would lead you to nothing in terms of employment

[Rusty Shackleford]

terrible advice. I know it's not very romantic, but at some point in the future you're going to want a family, and you're not going to want to raise a family on or around the poverty line, if you can avoid it.

if the person is single and does not care then they can do it. if they have a family that is obviously more important than the self.

[gorillafuck]

Yeah.

But first, go to college and study something you don't really like, just because you think that'll it'll get you a better job. Then you can feel justified in dropping out and smoking weed (but probably not rapping).
But the rapping is what makes or breaks the plan!

[Animal Farm Pig]

I can't give you any advice, but questions like this really bother me. I'm bothered because it seems like much of "higher education" is totally divorced from reality. If there are so few jobs where a degree in history or English or philosophy would be useful, why do so many universities offer those courses of study? Why do we as a society pump so many resources into running such programs?

Even for college degrees related directly to fields of work that are in demand, something doesn't seem right. My step-brother is graduating from university soon (I think) with a degree in Computer Science (or EE... or something like that). I hear that he's already lined up a job with a major online retailer helping with internal software. Good for him, but does anyone honestly expect me to believe that it required four fucking years and $30,000+ plus whatever public money went into the public school to train him for this? That seems totally unbelievable to me. I'm actually taking a break from a programming project at this very minute. It sure as shit didn't take me four years of full time study to learn how to write code.

What's interesting to me, is that often businesses will require degrees for certain jobs, when non-degree holders can do just as well. I recently came across a job posting from a competitor. It would be doing my exact same job in a different city. Seriously-- exactly the same job. That job posting said an MBA was required. Why!? There's not a single thing that I do that would have taken 5 - 6 years of full time study to figure out.

I know what some of you are already thinking-- "Well, a college degree at least guarantees a minimal level of competence." Maybe. I wouldn't be so sure. I've met plenty of idiots who have degrees. You probably have also. Still, if the issue is some standard way to guarantee competence, why not just have tests? Outline the key areas of knowledge that someone needs as a foundation before starting a job, offer the test to the applicants, and interview the ones who pass. It's not rocket science.

Forgive my angst. The education system in the USA always pisses me off.

Anyway, advice to mollymae:

Study whatever you want. It doesn't really matter. If, down the line, you find you didn't study the correct thing, the solution is simple-- read books about whatever you need to know, and lie on your resume.

[leftace53]

I wish I could thank in here just for Animal Farm Pig.
I made a website today at "work", I learnt html from skimming through half a book about 6-7 years ago. Granted html isn't tough or anything, but its not like I'm studying anything technical in the least in school. I can program to an extent in C and in assembly, yet a degree in philosophy won't get me anywhere, so I compromised with economics in the other half of my degree. Maybe my initial major in physics would have resulted in jobs, but with this economy and the capitalist mentality, scientific research is always at the top of the line to scrap when there is money needed for corporations. If I had my way, I'd be majoring in philosophy and physics right now, but that would probably get me less than no jobs (also my school doesn't like mixing faculties).

[Franz Fanonipants]

If you're stressing out about your BA, you're not thinking this through. You can do public policy/political science addressing conservation biology etc. in your Masters, and working in the field of public conservation probably will afford you more opportunities to work for the broader public good than just a straight polisci degree.

I went with a "trade" in my undergraduate (teaching) and supplemented it with other coursework (history), I've been able to fall back on teaching regularly while pursuing an advanced degree in history.

[Foldered]

I think a lot of people just automatically believe there are no jobs in fields capitalists tell you there are no jobs in.
I'm going to have a job teaching esl at the university I go to (hopefully) before I even finish my undergrad (I have a semester left).

[bcbm]

once the economy completely tanks and the ice caps melt and there is a global famine, i don't think any degree you get will be worth shit. i'd advise stocking up on canned goods and guns and having a place to retreat to in the woods, but hey thats just me

[Invincible Summer]

I think a lot of people just automatically believe there are no jobs in fields capitalists tell you there are no jobs in.
I'm going to have a job teaching esl at the university I go to (hopefully) before I even finish my undergrad (I have a semester left).

All I do as a sociology student is write research papers lamenting the capitalist system and subtlely hinting at socialism being the solution.

What kind of non-academic job field do you think I should go into?

[mollymae]

Thanks for all your advice. I'm only starting in the fall, so I still have some time to decide. At this point my plan is to take courses from each of the two subjects and just see what happens.

[Il Medico]

Do what you want mate. If you like History, go for history. You like science, then go for science. Getting a degree for money is kinda stupid imo. I think it is a waste of time and energy. If you're going to blow 30-40 grand, then at least spend your time studying something you like.

[Mendax]

Go for something classy like Surf Studies or David Beckham studies or golf course Management.

On a side note go for something you could stand doing as job afterwards - theres like 10 different degrees I'd like to do but most of them would lead to pretty fairly cuboard holed jobs that I wouldn't be able to stand getting up to do everyday.

[Ligeia]

Originally I was determined to study environmental science because it's useful, and it will most likely be a much-needed skill in my lifetime... but not necessarily because I want to study it.
For this exact same reasons I started to study biology. But that was wrong, I don't hate natural sciences,too but that's not enough. You really have to like it and be interested in those subjects, otherwise you'll end up avoiding it as good as you can and only going for the most necessary material which at the end will (probably) turn out bad for you as a student/scientist (and this in turn could make you unhappy and so on).

"Something I really like" would probably mean history, politics, philosophy (why else would I be here on RevLeft :rolleyes:), things like that. But I'm just worried that a degree in that sort of thing would only get me jobs that would just barely cover the bills, and I don't want to live that way if I can avoid it. People say "do what you want, follow your heart" etc, but is it really worth it? Advice? :confused:Not sure about this. I will start studying in fall, as well. I'm inclined to choose geography (since it can be useful and at the same time has study fields very much linked to the humanities). I have already taken some geography classes while I was studying biology and was pretty impressed, thinking about why I didn't consider studying geography before. Didn't enter my mind at all.

Well, anyway,....I can't tell you how this will turn out for me but I've read that students studying something they don't really like are likely to drop out. And I think it's pretty obvious that if you study something you like you'll be good at it because you know more about it than classes teach you. Then again....jobs....
My advice would be,...you talk to either students of those fields you're intrested in and/or talk to those who've already gained their degrees in any field or just somehow who seems to know a lot about life....:)

[Honggweilo]

for me it was the choice between 2 things i like, sociology or graphic design, and it was just a question of what should become my hobby and what my career. I chose the latter, because it may actually provide me with enough to live without selling out to some liberal think-tank (only way you really can make a living after studying sociology)

[Raúl Duke]

First off: sorry if this isn't the kind of thing you guys usually talk about here in chit chat, but... well, I'm posting it anyway. :P

I'm at the point in my life where I have to decide what I'm going to study in college. Originally I was determined to study environmental science because it's useful, and it will most likely be a much-needed skill in my lifetime... but not necessarily because I want to study it. I wouldn't hate studying environmental science, but if I had it my way, without fear of the consequences, I would study something I really like. "Something I really like" would probably mean history, politics, philosophy (why else would I be here on RevLeft :rolleyes:), things like that. But I'm just worried that a degree in that sort of thing would only get me jobs that would just barely cover the bills, and I don't want to live that way if I can avoid it. People say "do what you want, follow your heart" etc, but is it really worth it? Advice? :confused:

I'm a person who tends to have an idealistic streak and yet consider myself a bit of a realist.

I plan to study journalism. But I'm actually majoring in History right now
(I plan to go to grad school for journalism).

Personally, I would suggest you studying history, maybe philosophy, and/or perhaps anthropology (I'm minoring in this) if it's what you like. However, philosophy is a limited kind of degree (in fact the same somewhat applies to the other two) than environmental science. Consider this: What do you want to do? What kind of job would you like? With a degree in social science you are mostly either going to be a researcher or an educator (or use the degree to get into law school). Environmental science probably has more different career choices.

[AK]

I'm kind of in the same position. I'm about to go to school to be a social worker, which doesn't pay much at all. My parents want me to do something involving law or advertisement for the money. :bored:
That used to be me until I realised that

i have no career goal :D i have a plan on getting a job but im not educating for a specific work path. my real work is in socialism. as long as i can stay alive comfortably, pay dues and assist activism and do activism my self ill be happy.


so i guess im saying, do what you want to do. fuck the money.