Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Do you wish you majored in something else?

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » The DU Lounge Donate to DU
 
Nikia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 08:28 PM
Original message
Do you wish you majored in something else?
Edited on Thu Oct-23-03 08:29 PM by Nikia
I graduated three years ago with a degree in biology. I guess that I wanted to do research but it seems that such jobs require an advanced degree and I am not sure that I really want to do that anyway now. I now am stuck doing quality assurance at a relatively small food plant ruled by irrational dictators.
Anyway, I sometimes think that I should have majored in something that I enjoyed more like English, history, or government. I would have had a higher GPA that would have helped me get recruited by one of those big companies that targets bright college students. I actually did better in these subjects than my science courses.
Or I could have gone to another college and got an engineering degree which is really practical jobwise. I would get to use both my analytic and creative skills. One of the reasons that I didn't go that route is that most of those degree programs required more courses in the major and less in liberal arts. I wanted variety out of my education.
Anyway, does anyone else wish they majored in something else besides myself and AquariDem, who wants to switch to architecture from child development.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
LeftPeopleFinishFirst Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 08:30 PM
Response to Original message
1. There is a shortage of good biology teachers in highschools.
I mean, I am sure you are probably a hell of a lot smarter than my bio teacher last year.

Even though I haven't gone through college yet, I can only imagine having regrets about the type of degree you got. I mean, I don't even know what I want to do in college so... I understand a little bit. :)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
NightTrain Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 08:32 PM
Response to Original message
2. I simply wish I had majored in something (anything)!

Maybe then, I'd be pulling in more money and wouldn't have to worry so damned often!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Pert_UK Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 08:32 PM
Response to Original message
3. Nope......
Started an English Lit and Lang degree, hated the course and swapped to a Philosophy degree.

I've never looked back and would recommend it to anybody!

Fantastic fun, builds logical thought and deductive reasonning.....and got me a good job in IT, oddly enough.

P.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Droopy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 08:34 PM
Response to Original message
4. I'm thinking of changing my major
I'm about half way through and I'm majoring in psychology. I'm thinking of changing because, like the situation you're in, to get a job working in the field requires an advanced degree. I'm already sweating the work load now, I can't imagine what grad school will be like. I'm thinking of changing to liberal arts also and then getting an office job of some sort.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Rabrrrrrr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 08:35 PM
Response to Original message
5. It is NEVER EVER EVER too late to change, and
go back to school for something else.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
patdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 08:38 PM
Response to Original message
6. Yes...studied Psychology and became an Actuarial Assistant!! go figure?
I really love psychology...and wanted to study the brain...and I guess statistics is a good thing to know if you want to be a researcher..but I ended up being a numbers cruncher and not a brain researcher... Oh well!!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
L.A.dweller Donating Member (477 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 08:42 PM
Response to Original message
7. What about becoming a public health inspector.
That is really in demand today and you all ready have completed the bio courses that are needed. This is only my suggestion.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
RetroLounge Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 08:42 PM
Response to Original message
8. Nope, not really
I majored in Management Information Systems as an undergrad and it has dome me well in my carrer as a software developer.

I have a MA in English and Creative Writing, but did it only for personal growth and pleasure, and the sick need to be in great amounts of student loan debt...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
wickerwoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 09:01 PM
Response to Original message
9. Sometimes...
I majored in English and Classics and got an MA in English. Now I think I would have read all those books anyway (and probably enjoyed them more) on my own and I should have majored in architecture or library science. If I went back tomorrow I'd take classes in Russian, Chinese, economics and international relations just for kicks. Got to get out of debt from the first degrees first though...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mac56 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 09:03 PM
Response to Original message
10. Constantly.
One of a number of regrets in my life. Coincidentally they're all related to events in my early 20s.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
PeakOil2008 Donating Member (200 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 09:10 PM
Response to Original message
11. I don't regret my major. I'm just frustrated about getting a job.
I'm a certified Social Studies teacher (grades 7-12). But I've had absolutely zero luck getting a job in my subject area. There simply aren't any. When I do stumble upon an opening, I'm usually competing against 10 or more other people for the very same job. And with many districts laying-off teachers due to budget cuts, I have found myself -- a relative novice with little practical experience -- competing against established professionals with 3+ years already under their belts. I'm sure you can guess who wins.

At any rate, I'm currently working for an insurance company. The job is far from the worst that I've had, and I am counting my blessings that I DO have one right now. Still, it's hardly where I want to be and what I want to be doing on a daily basis. I keep hearing about an upcoming teacher shortage in a few years, but I can't see it. Thanks to Shrub's damned Texanization of public schools with the Leave Every Child Behind Act, and the fact that many 30+ year veterans won't retire as soon as they would like to with skyrocketing health care costs, it seems that most school districts can't afford to hire new teachers.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
BeatleBoot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 09:15 PM
Response to Original message
12. Its really cool to think about that kind of thing....
Edited on Thu Oct-23-03 09:17 PM by BeatleBoot
and its incredibly healthy.

Don't be stagnant!

Life is a journey.

I always wished that I majored in something else. I always will, but that is because I love to learn.

I am never going to stop learning - ever.

Either should any of us.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
kodi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 09:19 PM
Response to Original message
13. i majored in animal husbandry, but got caught at it & switched to chem.
yes, all my kids call me Daaaaaaddy
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
uberotto Donating Member (589 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 09:20 PM
Response to Original message
14. When I first started college I was majoring in Phychology...
but I drank and partied too much and missed too many classes so my GPA started falling as the classes started to get more difficult. I wound up dropping out with less than a year to go before graduation.

I decided to take some time off to think about what I really wanted to do. I was interested in research and thought it would be something that could really hold my interest for many years, but as with biology, I would have needed to get at least a masters before I would even be considered for a job such as that.

My parents weren't too pleased with my choice of taking a break from school while "I descovered myself", but it turned out to be the best decision I ever made. While taking a break from college, I joined the Navy. In the Navy I learned about electronics, I worked on Radar Systems, and found that I really enjoyed the work. Much like with psychology, my job dealt with trying to figure out why something was behaving in a particular way. Only now, instead of people, I was diagnosing machines.

Well to finish the story, I finished up my time in the military, went back to school, got my degree in Computer Engineering instead of trying to finish up my Psychology degree, and am now doing somthing I truely enjoy, for a reasonably good company and I am living where I wanted to live since I was ten years old.

The moral of the story, if at first you don't succeed, get drunk and stay that way for a while. And when you finally sober up, go try something else.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
populistmom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 09:21 PM
Response to Original message
15. Yes...
More than once. I started out majoring in business because it was something I did well at and was practical, but I suppose a big part of me didn't want to have to surrender myself to the 'man' in years to come. I had my daughter when I was 20 and switched majors to early childhood education and got a 2 year degree, so basically I'm qualified to teach preschool which pays next to nothing. I started to work on my bachelor's in early childhood ed, but decided it wasn't for me. Now I'm pursuing a degree in nursing. Hopefully, eventually, I'd like to work either in women's health or some type of public health related field. I'm not always sure about this either, but at least with nursing there's so many different fields and places it can take you that I'll eventually have to find my nitch somewhere.

Sarah (so many credits under my belt with no sense of purpose)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bookworm65t Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 09:33 PM
Response to Original message
16. good major, bad region to practice
I majored In International Studies at a Catholic university in the OH, but I was unable to go on for a higher degree at that time, nor was I able to move to a large city where there were jobs in this field. Now I wish that I had at least double majored in English or Communications, so that I could find a job easier.

In the Dayton-Springfield (OH) area, having advanced skills in geography and culture studies doesn't mean squat. I hope someday to be able to escape this area and move to a more cosmopolitian area.

Theresa

33 months down/15 months to go until Shrub is gone!!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
morningglory Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 10:04 PM
Response to Original message
17. When we were in graduate school we knew of a girl who majored in
biology and got a job counting roach legs in Stouffer's chocolate. I majored in Anthropology and have had many interesting jobs and wouldn't trade my degree for anything. Only had one job using my degree, a foot survey of the Big Cypress Swamp (archaeological).
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
BlackVelvetElvis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-23-03 11:59 PM
Response to Original message
18. Sometimes when I look at my underachiever students
who have been coddled by parents and schools, I think "McJob". I hate that but it's reality right now at this point.
Let's be thankful for the brains, the desire, and the knowledge that we have. Let's all do something we enjoy!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mykpart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-24-03 12:01 AM
Response to Original message
19. Hell, I wish I'd just gone to beauty school.
I think it would be easier to find work in a depressed economy.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Thu Dec 26th 2024, 06:56 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » The DU Lounge Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC