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Hey guys, I honestly am just wondering if any older, more experienced people on this site could provide some advice for me.

I'm 18 years old, at a community college, and have no idea what I want to do with my life. I would really like to go away to a bigger university next year and live in a dorm, but as expensive as it is, I really want to have nailed down a major and somewhat of a career path by the time I get there. Whenever I try to explore different career options I feel stressed, and I start to panic when I see everyone else around me finding their niche and responding to different majors when nothing seems to fit me.

How did you deal with this part of life, picking a career and all? Some people have suggested the military but I really don't want to.

Thanks in advance.

If you don't want to go into the military you aren't cut out for the military.

Half those people you think are "settled" are gonna change their mind and end up in something completely different. Don't sweat it. If possible, try to schedule classes that give you some flexibility down the road. Get some general requirements out of the way and that kind of thing. You'll get a better sense of what you like as you're exposed to things. Obviously, if you're starting in something like engineering, your schedule is dictated to you and this isn't as workable.

I started school thinking pharmacy and ended up in communications (I now work in advertising).

I'm a little confused by your post.

That's kind of a big question, broseph. What do you feel passionate about? Don't worry if it sounds ridiculous, just think aloud. Whatever your wildest dream is, that's a good place to start. Then you work backwards, of course...

Albatross wrote:That's kind of a big question, broseph. What do you feel passionate about? Don't worry if it sounds ridiculous, just think aloud. Whatever your wildest dream is, that's a good place to start. Then you work backwards, of course...

Well yeah, I'm not asking for anyone to tell me what to major in haha but I was wondering what steps other people took to figure these things out. I really like English, but I worry a lot about the job prospects of that. Music is also one of my big interests, but likewise, I don't really know how I could turn that into a career.


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Yeah, I mean it just stresses me out because I really want to graduate with little debt, but at the same time I despise community college. And even though this is my first semester, I'll probably be almost done with gen ed by this year, I'm taking 15 credits a semester and passed 5 AP courses in high school (each one gives me credit for a college course) so I'm expecting to have 40+ credits once the year is over.

imark789 wrote:I'm 18 years old, at a community college, and have no idea what I want to do with my life.

Welcome to being 18. You're not the only one, trust me. 90+ percent of kids don't know what they want to do with their lives.

imark789 wrote:I would really like to go away to a bigger university next year and live in a dorm

Don't go to a bigger university "to livein a dorm." In fact, don't go for the social reasons at all. If you want to go to college to party, drink, and have no responsibilities, just get an apartment at the big university but go to a nearby community college instead. You'll get the same experience and save a ton of money.

The advice I would give you is to take classes that are both challenging and interesting.

Also, have a career path in mind before you start on a major. Then take the major that will best prepare you for that. I'm sure others can sing the praises of a Liberal Arts degree, but in my experience the best job prospects are for those who have a scientific or technical degree.

If you're at all interested in Engineering, it is a difficult but enjoyable curriculum.

imark789 wrote:
I'm 18 years old, at a community college, and have no idea what I want to do with my life.

Congratulations, you've taken that first step.

Most people your age don't yet realise they don't know what they want to do with their lives. You at least have realised this.

Some people are just slower at finding their niche - or just tend to fall into it.

First of all AP credits while nice ended up screwing me over because I began with higher level classes and was not used to the atmosphere that a university offers. I took some community college classes and those also didn't prepare me for anything I am taking now because they are two completely different beasts.

If you like English or some sort of academic major that can be used to teach then you can become a teacher and depending on whether or not you want to risk your neck there are ways to get a lower tuition, one of those being an inner-city teacher. Check out local programs because chances are there are some programs that will pay for part of your tuition so much as you dedicate a certain amount of time to teaching in the inner-city.

If you don't want to teach then maybe you can work for some sort of paper or magazine, there are options but they're incredibly competitive.

Find something practical and coupe it with your major, I really like psychology but I don't see myself getting a job with it so I chose a biochemistry major because I like chemistry and this presents more job opportunities. The other cool thing about a major/minor combination is that should things turn sour you can always fall back on the other.

The one thing I am finding out now is that I just want to be done with it. I've put in four years and I just want to graduate with my BS so I can go to the local hospital and get into their program and start making money and actually doing something worthwhile.

I don't want to go to a university to party and drink, but I do miss having a social life. That and the fact that I'm finishing up my gen ed makes me more inclined to go away to college, but I guess there are cheaper ways to go about it. I'm just wary of commuting anymore because as involved as I am at my college, I can't seem to make any friends.

Where I go to Uni we call Engineering majors "Future History majors".

Life is a triangle of what you want to do and have to do. One side is social, one is education, and the other is work. If you want to have a social life you need to sacrifice either education or work, if you want an education you need to sacrifice work or social life, and if you want to work you need to sacrifice either social life or education.

Once you're educated with a job then you should have the ability to have a social life.

halonachos wrote:Where I go to Uni we call Engineering majors "Future History majors".

Funny. We used to ask History majors what they would do if they didn't get into Law School.

imark789 wrote:Hey guys, I honestly am just wondering if any older, more experienced people on this site could provide some advice for me.

I'm 18 years old, at a community college, and have no idea what I want to do with my life. I would really like to go away to a bigger university next year and live in a dorm, but as expensive as it is, I really want to have nailed down a major and somewhat of a career path by the time I get there. Whenever I try to explore different career options I feel stressed, and I start to panic when I see everyone else around me finding their niche and responding to different majors when nothing seems to fit me.

How did you deal with this part of life, picking a career and all? Some people have suggested the military but I really don't want to.

Thanks in advance.

I went to Jr. College. Then I went to University. Then MBA program. Then because I'm a true masochist - Law school.
If you start at a Jr. college you have to make sure the classes transfer at this point. This will be helpful if you want to shift to something trade school oriented as well.

What do you like to do?
What are you good at?


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imark789 wrote:I'm a little confused by your post.

He means your eyes are lying to you. Half (I say 3/4) of those people are going to change up over time. You think everyone knows what they're doing? 80% of them don't have a clue. You're not alone.

imark789 wrote:

Albatross wrote:That's kind of a big question, broseph. What do you feel passionate about? Don't worry if it sounds ridiculous, just think aloud. Whatever your wildest dream is, that's a good place to start. Then you work backwards, of course...

Well yeah, I'm not asking for anyone to tell me what to major in haha but I was wondering what steps other people took to figure these things out. I really like English, but I worry a lot about the job prospects of that. Music is also one of my big interests, but likewise, I don't really know how I could turn that into a career.

I'm probably not the best person to ask, mainly because at 16 I decided I wanted to be a rock-star. So that's what I tried to do!

Still trying... *sigh*

Anyway, in case THAT doesn't work out ( ), I'm studying for a degree in music, with a view towards getting involved in academia. What, in an ideal world, would be your dream job?



Astronaut? Perhaps that won't possible. Ok, so maybe you could design spacecraft? Or engineer them? Or maybe just build them? Or feth it, you could clean them!
My point is, you should do something you have a genuine love and passion for, because that will give you the best chance of success, and by extension, a happy life.

Albatross wrote:

Astronaut? Perhaps that won't possible. Ok, so maybe you could design spacecraft? Or engineer them? Or maybe just build them? Or feth it, you could clean them!
My point is, you should do something you have a genuine love and passion for, because that will give you the best chance of success, and by extension, a happy life.

This is an excellent way to start brainstorming to a brighter future. Also. You have the internet. Google the crap out of things. I googled how do I determine what career I want and came up with a slew of things - use those as key words into fields you can research up. You want the nexus of making the most money and having the most fun doing it. Alas we can't all be "petty dictator."

Frazzled wrote:

imark789 wrote:Hey guys, I honestly am just wondering if any older, more experienced people on this site could provide some advice for me.

I'm 18 years old, at a community college, and have no idea what I want to do with my life. I would really like to go away to a bigger university next year and live in a dorm, but as expensive as it is, I really want to have nailed down a major and somewhat of a career path by the time I get there. Whenever I try to explore different career options I feel stressed, and I start to panic when I see everyone else around me finding their niche and responding to different majors when nothing seems to fit me.

How did you deal with this part of life, picking a career and all? Some people have suggested the military but I really don't want to.

Thanks in advance.

I went to Jr. College. Then I went to University. Then MBA program. Then because I'm a true masochist - Law school.
If you start at a Jr. college you have to make sure the classes transfer at this point. This will be helpful if you want to shift to something trade school oriented as well.

What do you like to do?
What are you good at?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

imark789 wrote:I'm a little confused by your post.

He means your eyes are lying to you. Half (I say 3/4) of those people are going to change up over time. You think everyone knows what they're doing? 80% of them don't have a clue. You're not alone.

I wasn't confused by that post, but the one about joining the military.

I already am at a jr college. I'm thinking a lot about all those questions right now, and hopefully they will lead me towards picking a career.


I always dreamed of becoming a rockstar too haha, I still do play guitar and mourn the break up of a band I was in. It's definitely something I want to stick with as at least a hobby. Now I almost dream of becoming an author, because I like to write and it comes easy to me, but I'm not really sure what I could do with that.

NPR covered this today. These are scary times. Here's something from that show:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/talk/

Loan Debt Changes Students' Decisions
Total student loan debt in the U.S. will cross the 1 trillion dollar threshold this year, an amount that's doubled in five years and now surpasses the nation's combined credit card debt. President Obama last week enacted changes to help students and graduates, but many complain it won't help nearly enough. Faced with tens of thousands of dollars of debt, many students and graduates are altering their decisions — about whether and where to go to school, what job to take, where to live and how to pay their bills. Host Neal Conan speaks with NPR education correspondent Claudio Sanchez about the record levels of student debt and how it's affecting people's decisions and lives.

Things have been tough for years. When I got out of college it was "Reaganomics" with "trickle-down theory" and things were nearly this tough then too with high unemployment, double-digit interest rates, etc. That crap didn't work then and it sure as hell doesn't work now. Good luck because the only thing that trickles down from the top 1% is their lies about why the status quo should be maintained.

imark789 wrote:
How did you deal with this part of life, picking a career and all? Some people have suggested the military but I really don't want to.

Joining any branch of the military is not something you do when you "don't really want to" so I was ruling that out before anything else was discussed.

I definitely agree with you about all that, I've been hearing about how it's reaching the point where it makes more financial sense to skip college.

I'll try not let it make me feel any more depressed than I do now...




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corpsesarefun wrote:

imark789 wrote:
How did you deal with this part of life, picking a career and all? Some people have suggested the military but I really don't want to.

Joining any branch of the military is not something you do when you "don't really want to" so I was ruling that out before anything else was discussed.

Yup, I think I've already ruled it out. I'm adamantly opposed to killing anyone.

Keep your eyes open for anything interesting. If you find a lecture interesting, get to know the teacher. It might not work so well at undergraduate level (depending on how big your classes are and how well you get to know your lecturer) but certainly at postgraduate level there is scope to pretty much write your own research topics/dissertation topic/etc if you can get lecturers on board. Not to mention potentially sorting out work placements, references, etc, etc.

Networking at a professional level is something that can be really hard to do, but will open more doors for you than you would ever dream of.

imark789 wrote:Some people have suggested the military but I really don't want to.

Dont go in the military then!

Just get a gakky job, spend your time doing as little work as possible, spend your cash and enjoy your life.

Plenty of time to figure stuff out yet, just sit back, chill out, relax a wee bit, and take some time to figure this gak out for yourself. Very few teenagers know EXACTLY what they want at your age, and how many people start a university course, qualification or job, and then totally change direction a few years down the line because they pick something else they fancy?

Just relax. You've got time on your side.

Yeah, right now my plan is to apply to some universities and spend this year trying to figure out what I want to do. That way when I get to the university I can go in with a declared major.

Going to university for the social side of things is no bad thing, because of you know... girls and stuff. Given the expense though, just make sure that the subject is something you'll enjoy doing, so you get a decent mark at the end of it.

I'd go for something suitably generic that's perceived to be valuable (i.e. not media studies), work hard it and have lots of sex at the weekends.

Haha, already have a girlfriend so I'm all set in that department. I just want to justify the cost of going away by not switching majors too much.


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halonachos wrote:
Life is a triangle of what you want to do and have to do. One side is social, one is education, and the other is work. If you want to have a social life you need to sacrifice either education or work, if you want an education you need to sacrifice work or social life, and if you want to work you need to sacrifice either social life or education.

Once you're educated with a job then you should have the ability to have a social life.

I believe in moderation in everything. Not having a social life isn't healthy.

biccat wrote:

halonachos wrote:Where I go to Uni we call Engineering majors "Future History majors".

Funny. We used to ask History majors what they would do if they didn't get into Law School.

Hey, as a History Major I object! It was a great way to take overlapping classes so you only had to go to one class a day instead of 5 and still get great grades! Then, in your off time work two full time jobs!

As a History major, I'm a wage slave just like most other college graduates!

gorgon wrote:Half those people you think are "settled" are gonna change their mind and end up in something completely different. Don't sweat it. If possible, try to schedule classes that give you some flexibility down the road. Get some general requirements out of the way and that kind of thing. You'll get a better sense of what you like as you're exposed to things. Obviously, if you're starting in something like engineering, your schedule is dictated to you and this isn't as workable.

I started school thinking pharmacy and ended up in communications (I now work in advertising).

This is quite funny. I went straight into college after highschool working for a Computer Science degree. Now that I look back at it, I think I would have dropped out of college if I had started changing majors. It still took me 5 years to get my degree. Just the sheer amount of math and science courses that went along with the computer science major to graduate at my college, if I basically took a few more classes in both math and science, I could have had a minor in both math and science to go along with this computer science degree.

While I can agree with some people that once they get into the nitty-gritty of some degrees (anything Math/Science wise) they decide against it because of the amount of work you need to put into it to complete it. But I think someone who has done their homework will know what they are getting into and thus settled into their careers.

The earlier you can make your decision, the less money and time you will have to spent in college.


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halonachos wrote:First of all AP credits while nice ended up screwing me over because I began with higher level classes and was not used to the atmosphere that a university offers. I took some community college classes and those also didn't prepare me for anything I am taking now because they are two completely different beasts...

Oh man, I failed most of my first semester at a 4-year university when I got my Associate's Degree at a community college for Computer Science. I was not ready at all. My programming courses for the community college, we studied basic polymorphisms and OOP (object-oriented programming) and other basics of computer science in a C++ environment. When I transfered to the university, they said those courses would cover Programming I and stuck me in Programming II. After that first day of class, I was so confused. Talking about more advanced Data Structures and telling me that I have to provide Make files for all my programs. Also, all the files had to be submitted onto the Computer Science department's Unix server for the instructors to compile and check.

Man, that was such a jump for me...

Well, I am definitely not an old guy on Dakka, but I think I can provide you with some valuable insight. But realistically, you need to ask yourself several questions before you really start hammering out where to go/what to do. Do your best in answering these questions, but I will also put in my two cents for these:

-Public, Private or Religious? People strongly disagree with me, but I am a firm believer that private schools generally provide a better education. They tend to have smaller class sizes, more rigorous curriculum, smaller professor to student ratios, etc. Not one of my friends that attended a state school really knew their professors, much less became friends with them. Of course if you interested in English like you mentioned, or any other humanities for that matter, having a strong personal relationship with your professors can have a huge impact on your development as a writer/academic/future English teacher or whatever it is you decide to do.

-In state or out of state? This is another major factor. Out of state public schools will rise exorbitantly in cost, and it definitely makes private or religious schools more attractive at that point. I think it should also be noted that many private and religious schools are trending towards bringing students in from out of state to increase diversity on campus, and are thus willing to work much harder on scholarship packages. At least that was my experience.

-School size? This may not seem like that big of a deal, but trust me it is. The mood and community on campus is definitely linked to how many people are wandering around between classes. You can go to a big school like Texas and feel like nothing more then a number, but a smaller school feels like it has a much more tightly knit community. Keep in mind though that there are also many advantages to going to a larger school. I guarantee Texas has better facilities then Blinn College where Frazzled teaches ancient history from experience rather then a text book.

-Study abroad options? Do you even want to leave this country while in school? If so, you had better find a school with ample options or you will find yourself sorely disappointed. I personally think that ever student should study in a foreign country if only to expand their horizons and to let them see how similar and different life can be. I can write an entire essay on this, but I will spare you the agony for now.

-Last but not least: Sports? Do these matter to you? I know that physical activity is going to be a foreign concept to most people on here, and that the finger pilates and shake weight imitations will be the limit of their athletic involvement, but that doesn't mean there aren't fans! I feel I should note it that Dogma is an exception to this rule, and that Fraz relies on his rascal for athletic involvement so we can't hold that against him. But in all sincerity, I find that a sports program can make all the difference. It will tie you to your school much stronger then simple being educated there. I don't know how you will feel about it, but don't knock it before you try it....

I went to a moderately sized, private 4 year institution and I found it to be both the most enjoyable period of my life thus far, as well as the most rewarding. I understand that people will say that the education is the same whether its at a JC or a 4 year, but I strongly disagree. I took some classes at the local JC while I was in school, but I found them to be much less challenging, enlightening and educational then even my most basic classes in my regular course schedule. Sorry I didn't offer you the abridged version, but that simply isn't my style. Besides, I my quota for egging on Frazzled is really low....

You could go into trades it can get you a decent amount of money at least.

watch it all


http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/403953.page


no one had anything to say but at least they looked