s/o college/student loans/etc.

[TC]

I've just been pondering lately. I think it's interesting that we expect that teens and young adults to know basically nothing, but there is also this strange expectation that you will get college "right" straight out of highschool. Lots of pressure to simultaneously accept that you know nothing about yourself while also making monumental decisions about where you want to go with your life.  

Soooo...
Is your career path now the same as what you thought you wanted as a senior in highschool/first couple years of college? Are you doing what you went to school for? Did you get it right on your first try?

[Deleted]

Yes (since at least 8th grade, actually), yes, and yes, but all that means is that I was always super lame.

[gozf]

Mostly?

I majored in English with a concentration in non-fiction writing. I thought that I wanted to be a journalist up until my senior year, when I saw that the newspaper industry was taking a hit, and realized the extent to which I enjoyed my evenings, weekends and holidays. So I decided to sell out right away and pursue public relations. I've been in the field for 13 years.

[pedanticwench]

I wanted to be a teacher. Then I wanted to be a writer. Now, I'm working on my accounting degree. Go figure.

[wambam]

My career path is not what I wanted at 18, but I didn't waste a lot of time getting there. I wanted to be a pharmacist and I majored in chemistry. One year in, I decided to be an engineer and switched to chemical engineering. At that point, I was not behind at all.

Now I'm like "WTF was I thinking? This is so boring." I'd like to be an RD and I might go back to school after we have kids.

[FastHands]

Pretty much. My aspirations within the field were loftier in high school and early college, but I reevaluated when I realized the sacrifices that would be required. I opted for more work-life balance and less world domination.

[amellis2]

No.  And you know what's funny?  They are making high school students in my county choose a path to graduate high school, and much like college, you take gen ed type stuff, but also take a lot of stuff that is relevant only to what you chose to do as a 9th grader.

[MWOS]

I wanted to be a doctor. Majored in molecular and cellular biology. Took a job in research while trying as hard as I could to get into medical school. failed. still work in research. So I use my degree for one of its intended purposes, just not the one I wanted.

[pixelpassion]

In highschool, I wanted to do advertising design but figured I'd be better off in the mental health/therapy field in my first semester in undergrad. It wasn't until my last year of college I decided to get an MSW

[rex]

I knew I wanted to help children. I did not know in what capacity until I did 2 internships in college.

If I only knew what I wanted to do would pay shit money. Sometimes I fantasize about going to get my Masters to become an OT. Right now it's just not feasible but once L goes to school I might.

[rupertpenny]

I figured out what I wanted to do with my life my last semester in college. I wish I had known a tad bit earlier because I probably would have made more informed grad school choices, but to be honest I consider myself lucky for having figured it out at all.

[LeggsBenedict]

I have literally no idea what I'm doing.

it's really stressful.

[rupertpenny]

Nov 8, 2013 16:53:58 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

I figured out what I wanted to do with my life my last semester in college. I wish I had known a tad bit earlier because I probably would have made more informed grad school choices, but to be honest I consider myself lucky for having figured it out at all.

Also, even though I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, I did find a career path in a subject I've always loved. I'm actually using a history degree without being a history teacher.

[gretchenindisguise]

I changed my major 5 times in undergrad, and my concentration twice in grad school (same degree/prgram - different focus).

[bonquiqui]

I have majored in just about everything at some point.  So clearly, no i have never known.  I just figured it out at 33 haha

[TC]

I hope to still be here when @tambcat decides to go to vet school. That will be a celebratory day Tamb for Best Vet 2016

[Deleted]

I started college thinking I would be a dual biology/art history major and then go to med school. It turns out I'm terrible at biology. Then I was a dual psych/art history major and wanted to be a museum curator. I applied for grad school but didn't get in anywhere.

After a few terrible jobs right out of college I'm now working for the government doing medical community and public outreach. While it isn't what I expected to be doing, I like my job and my coworkers.

I occasionally you with going back to grad school, but my current plan is to transition to museum or gallery work when DH starts making the big bucks. Lol.

But really, I don't mind where I've ended up.

[LeggsBenedict]

STOP LIKING THAT.

[lime]

Nov 8, 2013 16:39:09 GMT -5 TC said:

Is your career path now the same as what you thought you wanted as a senior in highschool/first couple years of college? Are you doing what you went to school for? Did you get it right on your first try?

Actually, yes.

I am working in a slightly different sub-category of my main field. I have a BS/MS, in the same area. 

[Yankees21]

I still have no idea what I want to do. I majored in accounting thinking it would be a safe bet and I was good at it, and I hate my job. It's like a big screw you to my former self for trying to be responsible!

[TC]

Nov 8, 2013 17:00:29 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Nov 8, 2013 16:59:36 GMT -5 TC said:

I hope to still be here when @tambcat decides to go to vet school. That will be a celebratory day Tamb for Best Vet 2016

I would go now if I had the time and money. Sadly, I don't think it will ever happen.

I'll go if you go!

I always always always wanted to be a vet growing up. I thought about other things for awhile but always came back to that. Started college aiming for a biology undergrad. Got really freaked out because I am TERRIBLE at chemistry and everyone I knew in bio could not get a job, decided for awhile that I wanted to do economics () so I did a ton of econ and business courses for awhile. And then I decided that didn't make me happy, so I have circled back to animals/medicine. I'm hoping to get into animal physical rehabilitation but that is still very much a grey area for PTs/PTAs rather than DVMs, so I'm focusing on a couple specific areas of people-PT where I think I will be happiest while animal-PT continues evolve. 

[pantsparty]

I really had no idea what I wanted to do in high school. I thought lawyer for awhile (LOL). When I was going to school and working, I got a sales job and started getting promoted. I kind of just fell into sales because I was good at it, and the money was good, too. I moved around several times and have never completed my degree. I'd like to one day, but thus far, my desire for more education has not overcome my laziness.

[missmaddie]

I went to school thinking I wanted to be a clinical psychologist and work with children/youth, perhaps related to spec ed.

Undergrad in psych. Nothing at the masters level interested me in psych, more the M.Ed type programs. Got my B.Ed with no intention of being a classroom teacher, just spec ed.

Work in the spec ed system, and with schools but as spec ed consultant for kids with ASD. Doing my M.Ed with a focus on Autism and behaviour analysis right now.

So, yes, pretty much. Gut was right that I have no desire to teach in the classroom. My BA and BEd are pretty relevant most days too.

[fuckyourcouch]

Yes.

Spent early childhood obsessed with rocks.
Enrolled in college as a music performance major. changed to geology at orientation.
Grad school for geochemistry.
Work as a geochemist. Walla.

[joshlyman]

I agree - I think very few people really know what they want to do with their lives at 18. I thought I wanted to teach - then not so much lol I was a Psych major next, then English. Then Poli Sci. Finally Sociology - which is what I have my undergrad degree in.

I really only figured out what to do with my life in the last couple of months - so off to Grad school I go.

ETA: I do not used current degree at all. I work in commercial real estate lol I HATE it though, but the money is great. But not even close to anything I had imagined for myself, and I know for me the money is not worth the intense stress I am under and the long hours I work.

[rodeored]

Nov 8, 2013 16:39:09 GMT -5 TC said:

Soooo...
Is your career path now the same as what you thought you wanted as a senior in highschool/first couple years of college? Are you doing what you went to school for? Did you get it right on your first try?

Yep, I actually had a pretty specific major in college because I knew what I wanted to do. I am still in school (working on a PhD) but on track with my goal.

People are always amazed that I knew what I wanted to do from early high school on so apparently this is not normal.

[christy082]

No. In my third year working towards my BA in Sociology, I decided I didn't know what I wanted to do with the degree and decided to go into nursing. It was quicker for me to finish my sociology degree and then enter an accelerated BS in nursing program than it would have been to just change majors (and schools- nursing wasn't offered where I got my BA).  So, with the credits I had from taking college classes my senior year of high school, any by taking nursing pre-reqs at community college while I finished my last semester at the 4 year college, I finished my BA in sociology in 3 1/2 years.  A few weeks later I started my 16 month BS in nursing program. 

I earned 2 bachelor degrees in 5 years, so I"m not sure if that is considered getting it right the first time or not. I didn't take a break or have a career in between degrees, so I guess I got it right in the end?  

I went to school to be a nurse and I currently have a job that requires me to have a nursing license. I had no idea in nursing school that nurses work in insurance, but I am using my degree.

[penelope]

I had no idea and am not utilizing my degree in any way, shape or form.

When I see students who have changed there major for the 10th time, I just want to take them and shake them. All of those classes and money just gone to waste. I know some go towards Gen Ed and HAAS electives, but not all of them.

And next year I have to attend a meeting for my (then) 9th grader to choose his career path for his high school courses. Career path? He's 13 for God's sake and still says he wants to play in the NHL. WTH???

[litebright]

Sort of. I loved writing and wanted to be a writer. I studied Literature and German as an undergrad, worked in newspapers for three years, then got a masters in journalism. 

Now I write, but only for work. And because I write for work, I have no desire to do any of the creative writing that was a big part of what I loved. I kind of wish I'd approached the whole thing differently and rather than trying to find a job based on what I liked to do and was/am good at, I wish I'd explored more science/medical/technical stuff as an undergrad and perhaps chosen a different, non-writing-based career that would've preserved my desire to write creatively. And made more money! 

Don't get me wrong, I like what I do and I'm happy with where I'm at, but I'm also convinced I could have done many other things if I'd pushed myself outside my comfort zone of what I knew I was already good at and expanded my skills in other areas. 

I love complicated, technical stuff. I write about it. At times I itch to actually do it, but I have zero engineering or IT skills, just general knowledge. And technical people make a heck of a lot more money than I do. I'm not entirely convinced that someday I won't do some selective study (probably not another degree, though) and patch together enough tech knowledge combined with communication skills to make a big career change. 

[walterismydog]

Hellllll no. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.