Blargh! Career paths!!
As an impatient student who's entering as a college freshmen this next semester to the University of Texas, I'm worrying about what the heck I'm going to be majoring in. The school I applied for and got into was the school of Liberal Arts, majoring in Psychology.
However, from taking an AP Psychology class my last semester of high school with an extremely accomplished teacher (meaning I learned a lot), I realized that while I love LEARNING about psychology, I would rather not be a psychologist and solve people's psychological problems all day. I predict that I would either feel sorry for them or feel impatient after meeting with my clients. Not a fun job.
Now I'm wondering, what would I like to do?? I thought back in elementary school that being an engineer would be a great career path; I'm really good at math (I was then and I still am now), I've always enjoyed a good calculus problem as much as an English major would enjoy a good crossword puzzle, and my uncle and deceased grandfather have/had a knack for being extremely accomplished engineers in their field. My uncle has sort of been pushing me into engineering for the past few years, he doesn't have any kids of his own and I feel like I've become his foster kid. He wanted me to go to the same college he did, gave me all these engineer related books and gadgets to learn from, and generally gave me lots of advice on why engineering would be a good job for me.
Sadly... I can't see myself enjoying being an engineer either. The stress of deadlines and trying to compete with other engineers... I mean, I know it's somewhat childish to reject career options because they don't sound 'fun,' but I really do want something I can really enjoy. My boyfriend of nearly 3 and a half years is wanting to become a production potter-- talk about doing something just for the enjoyment-- and while I didn't support him when he first told me about his change in majors, he's been proving to me the past year and a half that he really can profit from his passion; he's been having sales and making contacts and is becoming more successful all the time, so it's kind of inspired me to do something I really enjoy as well. If I end up marrying him (which is very likely to happen) and have a job I hate while he's having the time of his life, I know I'll end up bitter, haha.
I've been pondering on possible options for the past few months ever since I decided I didn't want to go into psychology, and I'm thinking that becoming a math teacher would be really fun. I'm seriously considering it, since I've always gotten along great with kids, and I've been told that I'm a really good teacher whenever I've helped anyone with some math that they didn't understand the first time it was explained to them in class. There's the economic situation to think about though: if my husband's going to be a potter, is a teacher's salary going to be enough? I'm beginning to think so, with the work that he's producing. In any case...
I guess what I really want to know is what other people think about it. I've asked my parents for advice but they're not much help, they both tell me not to worry about it since I'll be able to decide when I get there and take a few classes. I think my mom sees me doing well in whatever I decide to do so she doesn't care where I end up, as long as it's SOMETHING, and my dad just says that he knows too many people who wanted to teach until their junior year in college, when they figured out they hated being in a classroom teaching annoying students. He was also against the psychology idea, which makes me paranoid that he's right about me teaching too.
I've considered the situations I would have to face if I were a teacher, and I'm confident that I could deal with the brats when I have to, or deal with any other annoyances I would face. It's still a premature idea, but I think that I would find teaching (math) to be worth it. Is anyone else on the forums thinking about being some sort of teacher or is actually teaching? Or if not, do any of you have any other suggestions of what would be a fun career? Let me hear your stories! I want to go into college this September with some knowledge of what I'm getting myself into.
However, from taking an AP Psychology class my last semester of high school with an extremely accomplished teacher (meaning I learned a lot), I realized that while I love LEARNING about psychology, I would rather not be a psychologist and solve people's psychological problems all day. I predict that I would either feel sorry for them or feel impatient after meeting with my clients. Not a fun job.
Now I'm wondering, what would I like to do?? I thought back in elementary school that being an engineer would be a great career path; I'm really good at math (I was then and I still am now), I've always enjoyed a good calculus problem as much as an English major would enjoy a good crossword puzzle, and my uncle and deceased grandfather have/had a knack for being extremely accomplished engineers in their field. My uncle has sort of been pushing me into engineering for the past few years, he doesn't have any kids of his own and I feel like I've become his foster kid. He wanted me to go to the same college he did, gave me all these engineer related books and gadgets to learn from, and generally gave me lots of advice on why engineering would be a good job for me.
Sadly... I can't see myself enjoying being an engineer either. The stress of deadlines and trying to compete with other engineers... I mean, I know it's somewhat childish to reject career options because they don't sound 'fun,' but I really do want something I can really enjoy. My boyfriend of nearly 3 and a half years is wanting to become a production potter-- talk about doing something just for the enjoyment-- and while I didn't support him when he first told me about his change in majors, he's been proving to me the past year and a half that he really can profit from his passion; he's been having sales and making contacts and is becoming more successful all the time, so it's kind of inspired me to do something I really enjoy as well. If I end up marrying him (which is very likely to happen) and have a job I hate while he's having the time of his life, I know I'll end up bitter, haha.
I've been pondering on possible options for the past few months ever since I decided I didn't want to go into psychology, and I'm thinking that becoming a math teacher would be really fun. I'm seriously considering it, since I've always gotten along great with kids, and I've been told that I'm a really good teacher whenever I've helped anyone with some math that they didn't understand the first time it was explained to them in class. There's the economic situation to think about though: if my husband's going to be a potter, is a teacher's salary going to be enough? I'm beginning to think so, with the work that he's producing. In any case...
I guess what I really want to know is what other people think about it. I've asked my parents for advice but they're not much help, they both tell me not to worry about it since I'll be able to decide when I get there and take a few classes. I think my mom sees me doing well in whatever I decide to do so she doesn't care where I end up, as long as it's SOMETHING, and my dad just says that he knows too many people who wanted to teach until their junior year in college, when they figured out they hated being in a classroom teaching annoying students. He was also against the psychology idea, which makes me paranoid that he's right about me teaching too.
I've considered the situations I would have to face if I were a teacher, and I'm confident that I could deal with the brats when I have to, or deal with any other annoyances I would face. It's still a premature idea, but I think that I would find teaching (math) to be worth it. Is anyone else on the forums thinking about being some sort of teacher or is actually teaching? Or if not, do any of you have any other suggestions of what would be a fun career? Let me hear your stories! I want to go into college this September with some knowledge of what I'm getting myself into.
Comments
Don't worry about it too much, pick a major you're truly interested in and you'll find a job.
If you really like Psych, major in it, and try for a second major or a minor in education. If you get a degree in Psychology, you don't have to become a shrink. You could teach or work on case-studies. My favorite classes were my psychology classes. This would be a really exciting time to do it, too. a lot of 20-year studies started in the 1980'2 are finishing up now. Plus, if you take psych or education, you'll have to take educational psychology (probably) which will teach you how to deal with all the little brats.
At least I'm glad that I'm going to be starting out in Liberal Arts. I get the impression that my classes will be even more general than the other schools I could have been accepted to, and so I have more room to figure out what I like.
(Although I did live in Plano for almost 5 years, and I do recognize the importance of knowing Spanish in Texas)
Yes. She should definitely get a job as a MythBuster.
You might want to look into sociology. It's kind of like applying psychology to society. I took an intro to psyche and intro to sociology course and I really enjoyed and learned a lot from both of them. I don't know anything about job prospects for sociologists though, it's not really a science that can be used in the business world so it might be a little tough finding a job.
Intergalactic bounty hunting.
Agreed, while yes, you can get away with that, i pretty much fumbled my way through registration the first couple years, and ended up taking classes I didn't need to. i.e. I found out later that my AP physics class got me out of having to take the most boring class i've ever had with the most bastardly teacher - Geology. (He would lock the door after 5 minutes of class and called that a full absence. 3 absences = dropped.) And I ended up taking more than one class in other requirements accidentally too... Even i you haven't picked a major by the end of year 1 - start mapping out what you're going to take for the next three years to meet all you graduation requirements. Your plan may not work perfectly because of full classes and what not, but I spent about all night poking around registration every semester just seeing what was open and what it met and what I'd already done, and never quite got it perfect.
Apparently the overwhelming consensus for advice is "don't listen to Mario." I still say you can go at least through the first semester or two without knowing your major, since most of the general education crap is the same for any major; get those classes out of the way. I held off on doing much general ed at the beginning, and now I'm suffering for it by continuing to try and get them taken care of.
So listen to me, just don't follow me by example.
If you're deciding to stay in one college within your university, then I agree with Mario, knock off your gen eds. Just look at the program and pick out all the classes you'll take no matter what.
If you're not sure what college you'll be in, then spend a little time doing some comparison and find out what gen eds are absolutely necessary for every college, and do those, although you'll probably have less time remaining to decide on a future.
The only thing I can say that doesn't help you at all is that the sooner you decide what you want to be, the easier things will go. You're not really at college for the grades, you're there to build up a portfolio to get your first job, but you can't do that very well until you decide roughly what you want to do, so try not to take too long.
But this brings me into an interesting thought about old people, particularly in America (or possibly elsewhere too?). They define themselves by what they do for work. They work the same job their entire lives and they become their job. They retire and they become nothing. Just another old person. These days it's getting so people don't work the same job their whole life anymore, though. They move around abit. Escape the rut. It's not easy. God knows a full time job takes a lot out of a person, but it can be done.
Perhaps this is something to think about? I don't think this helps you decide, but you can consider that it doesn't have to be for the rest of your life at least.
That's enough half-asleep, failed attempts at advice for me now.
Which is silly, of course; there's another voice inside my head that tells me not to worry about anything, that as long as I don't end up dropping out I'll be fine, even if I DO have to spend a little more money in the end. I guess I just wanted to hear which side of my conscience is more logical; it appears that both arguments are acceptable methods to go by. Now I know to research what classes I want to take before I get to registration, which is something I probably wouldn't have done before hand.
Oh, and NoLonger... the "no, seriously" was probably the closest reaction that skeptical people had when my boyfriend told them he was switching from a music major (Vocal performance) to an art major (ceramics). He never really had much of a background in art though, just a few classes he took his senior year in high school. I'd imagine people who knew you would have a better, more enthusiastic reaction when you told them your plans, assuming you live in a somewhat accepting environment!
Wow that was harder than I thought.
I'm not sure if you can do the same thing with psychology, it might be something to look into. But if you want to teach, don't let 'little brats' stop you. You can always increase the age of your students until you're comfortable. Me, I wanted to be able to teach literature and writing and not be a disciplinarian, so I knew I would have to go pretty high on the age level. I haven't taught yet, but I'm really excited to start in the fall.
But as far as everyone else's advice, I think it's a good idea to start with gen eds and go from there. Inquire about what you need to teach at an age level you're comfortable with, and go from there.
And if you don't want to teach... well, I am conflicted. My fiancee and I are both English majors, and the job prospects for us are really slim. Sometimes I think it's great to follow what you love, but sometimes I think it might also be good to follow something that you can use and pursue your passion in your spare time. It's a hard call.
Four and a half years and twenty thousand dollars well spent.