College and Careers

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-27-2005
College and Careers
9
Fri, 11-09-2007 - 10:46am

Hi everyone, been a while since I last posted on this board. Anyway, I wasnt sure which board to post this on, but I wanted to get several opinions. Lately, I have had a struggle deciding what I want to "do with my life". I'll give you a little backstory. I am 24 years old, still in college. I have struggled through college and gone off and on since I graduated high school. My main problem is math, I have taken more math classes than I care to remember. Most I end up dropping, or failing. I am so fustrated w/ school I want to quit. Yes I know you "NEED" a degree to really do anything, but I have absolutly no idea what I want to do. My major was "undeclared" for most of the last few years. I recently declared "english" as my major. I like to write, but really dont know what I want out of a profession. I also pay for school all myself (no financial aid, or loans or whatever, but thats a different story) I work full time about 40- 50 hours a week, live alone. So on top of school issues, I have "real life issues" I sometimes find myself thinking I'd rather work 2 jobs than go to school. Dont get me wrong, I've had some courses which I;ve really enjoyed. Mainly english & history courses, so its not like I'm not "learning" or "getting anything out of school" because I am. I've often heard people say "School just isnt for me" and I'm beginning to feel like that applies to me. Although, in the job aspect, I feel like I dont know where to go. I work reservations at a hotel. While its an "ok" job, (a typical boring office job) I definatly dont see myself there another few years from now. In fact, I'm trying to give myself a timeline (of my next birthday) to either move departments or change jobs entirely. I feel like I come across as unambitious even writing this post, but its not that I dont have goals, because I do, I just dont know what to do or where to go. I feel like the "loser" of my family. Both my sister and my dad will be graduating w/ bachelors degrees next year. My mom is currently working on a masters degree, and me.... I go from semester to semester, job to job, without any real idea of a "career" I want.


Well, I suppose I'm not exactly looking for advice, but opinions, or if you, yourself have been in this type of situation. Thanks!

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-26-2006
Fri, 11-09-2007 - 12:04pm

I can relate to you in certain ways and you definitely don't sound umambitious to me.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-01-2005
Fri, 11-09-2007 - 12:37pm

Well, when I went to college, I picked my major by looking at that long list of majors on my enrollment form. I checked "journalism" because I also liked to write. I work in corporate communications now, and every job I have held has required a journalism or communications degree.


I don't think the check-box approach to choosing your life's plan is the best model, honestly. It's not until you get out there in the workforce that you really know what each career entails. You do most of your real learning on the job anyway (unless you have a very technical degree like engineering, medicine, science that does require specialized schooling).

It's a catch 22. Yes, I'd say you are better off getting a degree. You get better pay and you are more marketable in general. If there's a way to get a general "liberal arts" degree at your school, maybe that's an option. Many, many people I know don't even work in a field related to their degree - but the degree, any degree, helped them get there.

To figure out what you really want to do, try getting some internships in fields that interest you. Many internships allow you to work 10 hours a week or so (for free or cheap, of course) to get an inside view into the field. Talk to people. Shadow people in fields of interest.

Taking an internship might mean working fewer hours at your paying job, but it might be worth it to set up your future career path.


Also, are there people you can talk to at the hotel where you work? Most larger hotels have marketing departments, event planners, business development people, etc. Interviewing them about their jobs might help you decide if those tracks might be for you - either in the hotel business or not.


Take advantage of the career counseling services at your school. Believe me, people pay a lot of money for classes and services just like that when they get out of school. If it's free to you now (or part of your school fees), USE it. It might help point you in a direction you never considered.


Finally, not all careers require four-year degrees. Massage therapy, cooking

AJ, enjoying life with C.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-01-2005
Fri, 11-09-2007 - 12:44pm
>>I'm from a blue collar family and am a first-gereation college student, so I see nothing wrong with having a working class job.

AJ, enjoying life with C.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-26-2006
Fri, 11-09-2007 - 12:59pm

>>I totally agree, and a lot of those jobs actually pay really well.


Oh yeah!

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-01-2005
Fri, 11-09-2007 - 1:06pm
>> ...PROBABLY not going to be measured in the money I make.

AJ, enjoying life with C.

Avatar for schnappsers
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-09-2007 - 2:12pm

>>Many, many people I know don't even work in a field related to their degree - but the degree, any degree, helped them get there.


This describes me exactly. I got my BA in Spanish....a degree I have never used at work, but just having that degree was enough to get a job that got me some experience...then another better job, and so on. I finally (after 8 years in the work world) got into the type of work I really wanted to do.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-26-2006
Fri, 11-09-2007 - 2:36pm

>>Very good point. I agree with that as well, but I also have learned that there's a very practical aspect to at least making a comfortable amount of money.


Oh, of course.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-11-2007
Sat, 11-10-2007 - 8:53am

It's a tough decision, and once you think you've made the right decision, you are always going to have things happen that make you wonder if your decision was the right one.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-25-2004
Sat, 11-10-2007 - 12:11pm
Be careful with English as a major. Unless you want to become an English teacher or really want to go into book publishing or journalism, you may find yourself stuck at some point. I'd advise double-majoring in English and something else-- and not necessarily another humanities-type of a subject like history or art, but something at the other end like biology, psych, even education. I'm now considering a career change from public relations to something else outside of the writing/communications sphere and I'm finding that many graduate programs in the human services-type fields I'd like to go into like psychology or education require some courses I didn't take in college or dropped out of, like math. Some programs let you fulfill those requirements while going to school, others don't. At the age of 31 it's all coming back to bite me in the a** right now because I'd like to go back to school but there are some prerequisites I'm missing. Right now I'd give anything to go back to college and correct my mistakes, but of course that's not possible. Really examine what you're true interests and passions are and decide if you're someone who may want to switch careers in ten years. There are those lucky people who pinpoint what they really want in college and get great professional degrees that they stick with and then there are those people like me who were a lot more vague, changed my major and career goals and still can't say I'm happy with my choices. If you can afford it definitely double-major and make sure you graduate with more than one option so you're not unhappy with your life in a few years.