Career Paths

[Tayla]

After looking through my degree requirements, and basically trying not to pass out when I read how much I'd be spending, it made me curious as to every one else's situations. I'm pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology, with the intent to be admitted to either Auburn University's or Georgia University's Pharmacy School. I came to this decision rather late, with the knowledge I've already blown $8,000 on courses that won't apply towards my degree.

I started college Undeclared, and have been mulling my way towards deciding upon a career. Now that I finally have, I've found myself so much happier in life, like I've found purpose.

SO, what is everyone's plans for a career? Why that certain career? What University do you plan to attend? I'd love to get to know some of you, especially if you're in the same field as I. ( so you can help me with some of the atrocious subjects I'm going to have to take :( )

 

[YTP]

I wanna go into Sports Medicine.

I'm lookin at AASU in Georgia. I love Savannah :o

 

[Vein]

Well, it reminds me that I'm a lot older than most of smogoners... As most of you are studs, this is just to say that finish your goddam studies. It will bring you to your dreams. There's no other way...

Btw, I have already graduated with Math degree and chose Actuarial Sciences as my path and got pretty successful with it. I became a manager in just 4 working years and looking forward to get promoted to executive level soon...

 

[Furosuto]

Something, anything to do with art. Whether it's digital art, website designing, architecture, I don't care. As long as it's art of some form where I can be creative. Creating logos, website designing, and digital art all go together nicely, and that would be a healthy combo to have. I think about fantasy and all sorts of creative and fun things to be stuck in some box writing up codes for computers. Then again, Scott Adams started off in a box, and look at him......

 

[Snkz]

I changed goals three times in my first year of university. Don't be afraid to try courses that interest you in your first year. Could potentially change your life

Doing A.I now

 

[Eraddd]

Med School like all asians.

Except, fuck being a doctor, going into research.

 

[Feathers]

i decided what i wanted to do before i began high school and now that i am in my first year of university i can say that i haven't changed my mind. i love video games and i love drawing so i figure i can get myself into the concept art/game development business. i am aware how unpredictable it is and i know the wages but i can't see myself doing anything else.

i hadn't taken art classes until 10th grade though, which was when i realized that maybe i should take them just in case post secondary wanted me to (i didn't know where i was going until i was going there). i learned nothing and had the most terrible teacher ever.

anyway i went to an open portfolio day where i was accepted into Emily Carr University of Art and Design. i had to apply for a visual arts major this year since i can't apply for the illustration major until second year (???). tuition is about $2,300 per semester which isn't bad but then you have to factor in the cost of art supplies and you realize why every artist is poor until they die. EC is probably 75% international students.

right now i'm days from submitting a portfolio to EA games for an internship of sorts. honestly i'd be happy with just an office tour if i'm not good enough to be taught things. if i have to fetch coffee i will fetch coffee.

i'm rather lucky that i was able to decide what i wanted to do so soon, and that i haven't changed my mind. i doubt i will have any more schooling after i finish my degree, since four years is too long. one of my classmates was an artist for ubisoft, which might give you an idea of the kind of people at EC. of course you also get the real hippies and potheads but hey, art school.

i have to say though, the decision to pursue game art has changed the way i look at the industry as a whole, for the better. though it doesn't explain why nintendo keeps making terrible peripherals.

 

[Alan]

I want to do marketing. Like, really badly. I'm currently an Economics major which isn't that helpful but I plan on picking up a minor in marketing. It's just so interesting and fun to me. I'm hoping to land a internship at Disney or Universal here in the next year. Or at Legoland, but it's like an hour drive.

Currently enrolled at UCF (University of Central Florida) in the Economics program.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Took me a while to figure out the area I wanted to go into but now that I have I'm pretty focused on it. My primary application for next year it to Carleton University in Ottawa to their Bachelor of Commerce program with the intention of majoring in finance and minoring in accounting.

Edit: I had more to say but fickig iPod...

 

[Bummer]

I had good overall grades when I finished junior high, with an interest for chemistry and math but with no clear vision of what I wanted to be. So my choice in high school became natural science which basically just postponed my career choice until college, but during that time I got both the knowledge and the motivation to pursue a degree as a clinical laboratory scientist (CLS). Studied for three years, needed another six months to complete it, and I now work at the micriobiological laboratory. Which is fun, because it's a line of work where I can work independently but also have a high interest in, so things worked out for the best.

I did have good grades in art and stuff in high school too, but I preferred to preserve that as a hobby. I want to draw what I want whenever I want, so getting myself into a position where I draw what others want when they want it with less time over for my own projects didn't sit well with me. But I sincerely hope and wish that things work out with you other art guys and gals who posted above, because I still recommend getting a job or degree which either drives or interest you personally.

 

[SMZ]

snip

I am currently third year of Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) :), I may work a bit in a hospital after I graduate, but I do have a strong urge and mind set to continue to M.Sc which is most likely (if things go well) either going to be Molecular Biology and Genetics or Microbiology and Immunology(after a few years of work, or perhaps even directly after B.Sc).

 

[jumpluff]

I dropped out of high school in Year Eleven, but I was doing some university writing classes at the time, so I just stayed in uni and headed for English major. I've always loved reading and somewhat writing. Then I realised doing it for uni took all the joy out of it, I didn't like the shut-in feeling, and there was nothing available / interesting to me with an English major. I always wanted to be a virologist but that wasn't open to me either for various reasons and circumstances, so I just went with the back up plan that was way more suited to me as a person, what with my lifestyle and health. I'm doing computer science with plans to be a web developer right now. Unfortunately my terrible health meant I basically wasted most of last year, and I spent ages wallowing as an unhappy English major, but I should be back on track this first trimester. I'm only 18, so I'm not too scared about time.

I've always been really focused on my ambitions and had plans for the future (even though of course they change sometimes), so that floating feeling of uncertainty as an English major was unbearable for me. It's strange, I'm a very spontaneous person, but when it comes to my interests, I know I could only ever consider something that drives me as a career, because my interests are strong and burning. I could do a crappy uninteresting job if I absolutely had to, and I expect to be doing crappy uninteresting tasks in the future, but because I know what I like to do and what I want, careers are almost never something I've doubted myself in. Maybe when I graduate uni life will change that, but I don't think so.

I sincerely hope you guys can follow the paths you want and accomplish your dreams; if your dreams are beyond you (which hurts, I've been there with the virology thing), then find something else that makes you super happy and keep those dreams as a hobby. I'm usually a very idealistic person and realising I could not become a virologist was immensely painful, but I know I can always follow my interest in virology through the internet, meeting people in the field, and reading books/papers.

ETA: lol Bummer, I basically wanted what you want :) to be a lab scientist in microbiology, but really my interest is viruses.

 

[Steelicks]

i'm a school teacher of 4 and a half years now. a very rewarding career for me personally, but ive got to be honest: its physically and mentally exhausting and draining, and is NOT for everyone! approach this career path with caution...

 

[Thorns]

i get a lot of reactions whenever i 100% honestly tell someone what i want to do, which is just do what i want and not be forced into a job. i intend on developing a good business sense and building up investments to live off that, making some sort of money in a day job to support that. i want to retire early, i don't want to be my father or anyone who is always worried about their retirement. i don't want to work, plain and simple, i want to do what i want and cook for people, like honestly 100% make food that makes people happy but a lot of people dismiss it as being too idealistic

i already have a couple of investments, my portfolio is $1.6 million which seems a bit risky but how can you work day in and day out with no hope of a fun future where you don't have to worry about paying taxes and putting food on the table, how can you even do that when all you need to do is sack up and have some faith in your country's property market. why do people shoot me down for not wanting to be a doctor or a lawyer or an accountant or an engineer, people give me the 'I DON'T HAVE MONEY SO I CAN'T INVEST' and 'DON'T YOU NEED TO BE RICH TO INVEST FIRST' crap but jesus, living in a household where people are worried about money really opens your eyes and makes you realise that they're all just scared. i'm still young but i've taken a step and started securing property, i'm in my last year of high school now and i'm not really sure about my plans for the future, other than i know that it won't lie in a job or career or what have you

tl;dr i don't want to work and i want to sit on investments

 

[SOMALIA]

2nd year BENG Mechanical Engineering, Just entered this degree since I thought it was 'physics and maths' nothing else, but turns out I hate the core of this degree which is Engineering Design and Materials. Might change course when I do a Masters if it is possible, to something more solely Mathematical related.

 

[Nastyjungle]

hope to make art my career, basically my dream
though often those sorts of things dont work out so

if not, computer engineering and/or programming seems like a good choice for me

 

[King Serperior]

Working on getting a degree in Library Science. There are way too many people who don't enjoy reading.....and that makes me sad...

 

[Jimbo]

I'm pursuing a BS in Biochemistry at the moment and intend to go to Med School after I finish college to become an Oncologist. I think as long as you really like what you're going for, money will (hopefully) not be an issue in the long run in the future. That's really the only optimism I have; do what you want to do and don't worry about things so much!

 

[Danmire]

I'm studying journalism to become a film critic. I've always loved movies ever since I was young, and I usually never shut up whenever I see one. Maybe one day I'll get a job for the Rolling Stone magazine. Maybe or maybe not. But who's to say I can't pursue it.

 

[CrazyBacon]

When I was 7 I wanted to be a fireman, at 9 I wanted to be an ambulance driver (I like the nee nor sounds :D) then for some reason at 15 I wanted to be a maths teacher but after barely passing maths in college, I chose to study psychcology at university (because its the only thing I actually passed with a high grade), now I'm in my 2nd year of uni studying that. I'll most likely pursue a career in eduational psychology, as that interests me most.

 

[Furosuto]

Now that I think about it, being a teacher if all else fails would be nice. I want to keep art into my career, and luckily in the school I go to, in high school there are different kinds of arts you can take like painting, media (video etc), and digital art. I think it would also help that I've been in the school ever since kindergarden (it's a gigantic school that has every single grade), so I know how the school system runs and such. It's weird for me to think of doing that now because I just wanted to get school over with. XD

 

[Kromlech]

i'm a school teacher of 4 and a half years now. a very rewarding career for me personally, but ive got to be honest: its physically and mentally exhausting and draining, and is NOT for everyone! approach this career path with caution...

This. So this. What subject(s) do you teach?

 

[Venom]

Everybody here aiming for University's in other states and shit and I'm trying to make it to Community College and still don't know what to do. Just graduated from HS in 11' too. I'm aiming towards Computer Science right now but idk

 

[Ryfle]

Everybody here aiming for University's in other states and shit and I'm trying to make it to Community College and still don't know what to do. Just graduated from HS in 11' too. I'm aiming towards Computer Science right now but idk

Ese Venom. Community College is nothing bro. As long as you have a high school diploma or a GED you're good. Classes are pretty cheap too, like a little over a G for a semester with books included, and even then since you live in Texas you qualify for free money as long as you apply for it before March, I think. Just talk to the people at the financial aid office.

I tried doing it but I registered late so all my classes were scattered across different campuses. I didn't make it a week. Work, gas money, laziness all got in the way. I wasn't even able to drop my classes in time so not only did I waste a thousand dollars of my parents money but I failed all my classes. If you're gonna commit to doing it you better be 100% sure you're able to do it.

Luckily I had enlisted in the Marine Corps earlier that year, and I was only doing a semester in college to try to get enough credits to get a higher rank before I shipped off to boot camp. I was able to qualify for construction engineering and I start basic training in April.

Just find what you like doing and stick with it.

 

[Yajirone]

I am going into an apprenticeship as a plumber. The more I think about it the more I like the idea, I enjoy it a ton and the money isn't too shabby either. It's enough to support myself and a family without putting too much effort into it.. I can go home and leave my work at work, you know what I mean?