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It about six months into I go off on study leave and start preparing for my GCSE exams.

When Im on study leave I wont be techinally done with school, but I wont go back into my exams.

I've been thinkin' about what I wanna do when I leave hell. Been wondering what Dakkaites did when they left school.

So Dakka, what did you do when you left school?

Went straight to university for 4 years to get my BSc, and then straight into a PhD that went quite badly for me. After a year and a bit of depression and unemployment and then random jobs, I'm back, training to be a teacher, which is hard work but very rewarding.

Make sure you teach Primary school children You do not want to teach in a secondary school.

I'm currently teaching in an inner city secondary school, cheers. It's not as bad as people think. You've just got to remember that whatever happens, it's not about you. I enjoy it.

And assert quiet dominance. Law of the pack is easy. Never challenge for it, just act it from the outset.

Me? I pissed around. 11 years later, I'm still pissing around. I am not a role model, nor should anyone treat me as such.

I actually might end up teaching GCSE Music - I loved my GCSE teacher, her's was the only class I bothered to hand in coursework for!

I went to college, joined a band, then got kicked out for various bad stuff...it's actually really difficult to get kicked out of college! After that I turned into a bit of a wandering homeless gypsy, playing 'difficult' music to the barely-interested.

Go to college, man. Be something. Don't waste your life.

Yeah university is awesome. But thread the balance between work and play. During my PhD I totally worked myself sick, ended up losing my girlfriend and my marbles, and I've got nothing to show for it but a big failure on my CV and 2 wasted years.

Im almost done with my coursework

Im struggling to find a course that Im interested in at the moment.

Stole from the Poor and gave to the Rich.

Then I went to Cancun.

Frazzled wrote:Stole from the Poor and gave to the Rich.

Then I went to Cancun.

So thats what happened to Robin Hood

U.S. Navy right at the time of Desert Storm. Saratoga Battlegroup.

I got out after 4 years with huge plans for......BARTENDING. Yes, I was stupid. Probably the stupidest career move ever made...EVAR! Plenty of tail, no money, no future.

3 years ago at 35 I finally got with it and started a decent career. Law Enforcement.

Lord-Loss wrote:Im almost done with my coursework

Im struggling to find a course that Im interested in at the moment.

There is always the options, post A-Levels, to take a couple of years out of education to explore the world of work (provided you can find a job of course). This can give you breathing space to realise what it is you want to do with your life, and the maturity to seek it.

Just don't do what I did, and get yourself into a load of debt. Do that, and there is no going back.

Yeah, there's totally nothing wrong with taking time out to grow up and figure stuff out. I went straight from school at 17 to Uni, and went straight from graduating at 21 to PhD. I regret it now.

That's probably the biggest problem with the education sysem. Some people take longer to figure out their life plan, but the system wants you to keep pace, without time off.

An ex-girlfriend of mine went from primary, to secondary, to sixth form, to PhD in one sitting. Out of her 23 years by the time she was done, only the first 4 had been spent outside of educational establishments. I don't know how she copes myself! I know this sounds awfully condescending, but the real world is a very different, far tougher place than school or Uni prepare you for.

Hell, with a couple of years out, you can get a better idea of what you DON'T want to do, which helps you study harder.

In my experience, a modern scientific PhD can be a lot more punishing and crappy than the "real world". Bad pay, insane hours, sociopathic bosses, unrealistic targets, a constant race to publish. Very unpleasant, especially if you want to keep scientific integrity.

Maybe so, but I cannot comment due to a lack of experience in higher education. Pissed about during my A Levels, never sat an exam for one, and have been a bum ever since.

If it wasn't for my confidence in my abilities as a comedian, I'd have gone quite quite insane at just how badly I've wasted my intellect.

I'd say that being happy is a lot better than just pushing yourself harder and harder. I like knowing stuff because it makes me happy, but I can do that without getting qualifications and powering up the academic ladder.

I see taking that PhD as the worst decision in my life- though I know others who had very positive experiences. Oddly, mostly in the humanities. I think science has become an awful cynical rat race.

I've got a rough plan layed out.

Step one: Finish school.
Step two: Take a two or three year college course.
Step three: Finish College course.
Step four: Go Backpacking.
Step Five: ?????
Step Six: Profit

Went to college (university for you I suppose). Got excellent grades for 3 years, then dropped the ball my senior year and lost about .6 off my total GPA. Still graduated quite easily, minus a paperwork snafu, and now sit behind a desk at a health club for 80 hours a week.

Hopefully going to graduate school next fall. Either a JD/MA, or a PhD.

In what field?

Da Boss wrote:
I see taking that PhD as the worst decision in my life- though I know others who had very positive experiences. Oddly, mostly in the humanities. I think science has become an awful cynical rat race.

I know a number of people working towards their scientific PhDs. Most of them hate it, some of them are ambivalent, and a few really love it. I think, like anything academic, it comes down to how much you enjoy research, and the extent of your talent for the subject.

To a man the people I know who enjoy their PhDs are the types that can recall information verbatim after a single read, and spontaneously generate information they don't know from deduction. The punishing deadlines don't bother them simply because they're that good at what they do.

Its certainly a tough business though. Its the kind of thing you don't want to do unless you really know yourself, as it is absolutely cutthroat, even in the humanities (though the sciences are worse). In many ways its not a career choice, but a lifestyle one.

Straight from High School to Uni, (Economics & Law), then from one Big 4 Accounting Firm to another - both nearly killed me. Now working in a Uni finance division, loving life & work.

I would recommend taking some time to actually think about what you want to do - and talk to people in that industry. Once you have a good idea, do everything you need to to get where you want.

Da Boss wrote:In what field?

International politics, probably with an emphasis on security. Though I may end up going into political theory, or switching to philosophy/logic, after the taught portion of the course.

darkkt wrote:
I would recommend taking some time to actually think about what you want to do - and talk to people in that industry. Once you have a good idea, do everything you need to to get where you want.

I agree with this completely. I'll be two years out of my BA by the time I go to grad school, and its been really rewarding in terms of finance, freedom, and exploration.

Hmm.
High School --> College.
Engineering for 2 years, switched to Economics and played catch up through all vacation time and graduated 'on time'.

Now an admin for a year now after College in a Financial Firm...not crazy motivated...so they are getting a great deal out of me...lol. Highly functional at menial tasks...and a general random helper.
Totally expendable!!

/sigh. As long as it pays for food and greenstuff... at least for now.

dogma wrote:
I know a number of people working towards their scientific PhDs. Most of them hate it, some of them are ambivalent, and a few really love it. I think, like anything academic, it comes down to how much you enjoy research, and the extent of your talent for the subject.

To a man the people I know who enjoy their PhDs are the types that can recall information verbatim after a single read, and spontaneously generate information they don't know from deduction. The punishing deadlines don't bother them simply because they're that good at what they do.

Its certainly a tough business though. Its the kind of thing you don't want to do unless you really know yourself, as it is absolutely cutthroat, even in the humanities (though the sciences are worse). In many ways its not a career choice, but a lifestyle one.

I'd agree with what you've said there almost entirely. Although you've missed a major factor- your supervisor. This person will entirely control your enjoyment of your PhD. A good supervisor who syncs well with a student can guide even a mediocre student to succcess. A bad supervisor can ruin even the most dedicated student. I enjoyed the hell out of research, but my relationship with my boss was so incredibly unhealthy it eventually withered. Didn't help at all that he wasn't a specialist in the field I was working in. So he set deadlines that weren't punishing, but actually completely unachievable. (My research was in veterinary epidemics, which have seasonal life cycles. There's no way to make the seasons turn faster, no matter what the funding bodies want )He was good at playing the game and getting funding though, and really, that's what it's about.

As an aside, it's shocking how many people in the biological sciences at postgraduate level have a poor understanding of statistics. It's really, really bad. (I could rant about this stuff for pages, so I'll cut it short here.)
Edit to add: Heh, this post comes off as nice and defensive doesn't it? Sorry about that.

Graduated, got a job.

Though being an engineer its a bit less confusing as to where/what/when etc. Need to pass consulting licensing (incredibly horrible), then I might get my Masters.

Straight to College, and then onto uni to take a degree in War Studies, which I'm not halfway through. Planning on going to Kings College University in London to get my Masters, and then I've got a few specific options:-

-Intelligence
-Military
-Arms Industry(join Qinteq or the like)

As well as all the other standard careers for the lost and aimless.

Me. im going to a community college then well i dont know. Im still have problems with my carrer choice.

I left High School early, after trying to do independent studies through an alternative program. Having gone through around a dozen different school (not by choice, or by reprimand, but by parent) I decided to get into a skilled trade. I took some classes in Welding, with one of the least interested teachers I have ever encountered, worked with several of the most uninterested carpenters I have ever encountered.

I went onto landscaping, moving, and general labor, after trying for many years to get a meaningful apprenticeship in carpentry. With my hopes to start a small business before going to school entirely crushed under the weight of this ongoing recession, I ended up homeless for lack of work (and some problems with the family).

I have been attending courses at a local community college, working towards a degree in L.S. Architecture, for the past few years now though. Life doesn't suck as much as it used to... but in all honesty, it really hasn't gotten any better... besides getting a roof over my head that is.

All I have ever wanted, was a few acres of land, to hell with what I do with it; I just hate the fething city. I will get this, even if my last step is just to look at the ground I have worked for.

I graduated from college, and I now sell alcohol to old people. I am hoping to get a real job and save up some money to go in to a PhD program, or maybe even a JD program. I really can't wait to leave California though...