need to decide what to do with my life

[creeper]

I'm a sophomore in college right now (WPU) and have absolutely no direction. I'm decent in every subject, but for now I'm just getting the general requirements out of the way.

The typical answer is "follow your dreams" but honestly I just want something practical and realistic that's going to get me a decent/steady paycheck. I'm considering economics or accounting right now, but just wondering what other useful majors or career paths there are.

any thoughts or suggestions on things to consider?

[NastyEllEssWon]

[Vinnie Madrox]

What do you like to do in your free time/hobbies?

[Frosty]

Join the club man, I'm 30 and still have no direction. I've dabbled in different areas of the automotive industry, I do OK now but I still haven't found that field/job/career that just makes me want to work and makes me happy. Like some people have that job or career that they love, gives them motivation and ambition. Eh...I haven't found it yet either.

When you find out what the secret is let me know please. lol

[1994lt1]

I had this problem going into college. I thought I wanted to be a history teacher. I didnt. I thought a bunch and I am now a Criminal Justice major. When I was stuck people used to say "what do you like to do?" I think I really did find my calling and I couldnt give you any advice on how to do this yourself. It just comes to you. Opportunities arise from the most random places. I decided I wanted to be a State Trooper after I got pulled over, haha. Also keep in mind, to keep an open mind. Although you'll come to a conclusion eventually that you definitely want to do this, or that, understand that it may not happen exactly the way youve planned and thats ok.

What major are you currently? Liberal Arts?

[madness410]

if you run out of time before declaring your major i'd say go with any generic major, psychology, political science, business...etc, it will give you a wider array of jobs to select from with that degree. some majors will leave you with strict and limited job choices.

[sweetbmxrider]

Be a doctor or an old person helper or a child care person. Those jobs will never cease to exist.

[DaSkinnyGuy]

Mailman - gov't job
take engeineering classes, get into construction and work as a project manager.

Why didn't you just wait to go to college until you could just focus on your passion?

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by DaSkinnyGuy

Why didn't you just wait to go to college until you could just focus on your passion?

Because he's getting his general subjects/requirements out of the way.

[WildBillyT]

Where do you excel in? Are you just regular across the board?

[LTb1ow]

Find a counselor, and sit down with the school's book of majors. Go through what your options are, and what might interest you. It is a huge annoyance to take classes that will have no bearing or help to your intended major, so while taking genEd courses are good, they can end up not helping you at all, IE most science oriented majors will not rely on basic genEd as much.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

If you're considering accounting, its a career that is in a growing field with great pay

[V]

just don't join the military thinking that'll help, it doesnt lol

[JL8Jeff]

If you like something challenging, just about every company out there needs computer people. And there are lots of different areas of expertise. I've been doing mostly database programming for 22+ years and things keep changing in the industry and you need to adapt. The only downside right now is that the market is swamped with people out of work. That is probably true of every area though.

[BlackTopKing]

I am also in the same boat in many ways. Not with school, but i will say when i went back to school it actually made me worst- i simply learned to do more and in the end...i can do alittle of a lot and a lot of a little. Yet have no idea of what i really want to do.

I started out early in life with one direction and before i knew it was dipping and dabbing into alittle of everything. Went to school for Art Advertising Design (4yr) but when i got out i didnt want to do it for a living.
Since I have done Drafting & CAD work. Welding. Customer Service Management, Purchasing Management, Accounting & HR, Marketing and good old fashion sales....

Now...I find my self looking...looking for work looking for direction looking for the same thing.

My advice, since i cant really give anything- is too keep looking. Even when you find the job that pays you what you want- keep looking trying and exploring-its the only way that you will ever find what you want

[creeper]

thanks for all the responses. the reason I didn't wait was because I got a scholarship, so it's not all that expensive. I stayed home to save money also, since I don't see a point in going across the country since I have no idea what I want to do.

Originally Posted by Vinnie Madrox

What do you like to do in your free time/hobbies?

Cars. I don't think I want a career in that though. My dad was a mechanic for many years and then got out of it because he got sick of it. I like it as a hobby but I don't want to be changing oil for a living I don't think

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

Where do you excel in? Are you just regular across the board?

I do well in everything, school has always come somewhat easily to me. I enjoy science, math, and business the most though probably. I'm good in writing/english but don't really enjoy it, and I like history but not the way it's taught in schools, so I'll stick with the history channel for that hahah.

Originally Posted by LTs1ow

Find a counselor, and sit down with the school's book of majors. Go through what your options are, and what might interest you. It is a huge annoyance to take classes that will have no bearing or help to your intended major, so while taking genEd courses are good, they can end up not helping you at all, IE most science oriented majors will not rely on basic genEd as much.

My adviser kind of screwed me over in just that way. I was loosely considering engineering, but this school only offers a pre-engineering program and then you transfer to NJIT. Classes are assigned the first semester of Freshman year, so I had no choices in that. My adviser told me not to take any science/math classes until sophomore year, so I signed up for all the gen eds she recommended. Then sophomore year when I went to meet with her to get my pin to register for classes I found out that she had quit, but I had never been assigned a new adviser. I had to go from office to office and it ended up taking me weeks to get the pin to sign up for classes, so all the engineering related prerequisites were full. Now this semester I went to look into what I needed to take to continue on that path, and barely any of my classes would have counted. It would end up taking me another 5 years to finish. I figure since I'm in 2 years already, I can finish a degree in 2. and then if I realize engineering is what I really want to do I can go for that, but since I'm half done already I'd rather not scrap all of these classes.

[WildBillyT]

If you are good at math go for engineering or one of the sciences. From what I remember, the early (fresh/soph) year had easier math, but junior and senior year were much harder.

[BonzoHansen]

If you like math and business every business needs finance and accounting, you are less likely to be pigeonholed into any single industry.

Why does this thread title make me hear someone say "I wanna rock".?

[LTb1ow]

Originally Posted by creeper

My adviser kind of screwed me over in just that way. I was loosely considering engineering, but this school only offers a pre-engineering program and then you transfer to NJIT. Classes are assigned the first semester of Freshman year, so I had no choices in that. My adviser told me not to take any science/math classes until sophomore year, so I signed up for all the gen eds she recommended. Then sophomore year when I went to meet with her to get my pin to register for classes I found out that she had quit, but I had never been assigned a new adviser. I had to go from office to office and it ended up taking me weeks to get the pin to sign up for classes, so all the engineering related prerequisites were full. Now this semester I went to look into what I needed to take to continue on that path, and barely any of my classes would have counted. It would end up taking me another 5 years to finish. I figure since I'm in 2 years already, I can finish a degree in 2. and then if I realize engineering is what I really want to do I can go for that, but since I'm half done already I'd rather not scrap all of these classes.

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

If you are good at math go for engineering or one of the sciences. From what I remember, the early (fresh/soph) year had easier math, but junior and senior year were much harder.

Yea, I had a rough start into college as well, two transfers, and 5 years later, I am gonna get a MechE degree. I would def get a new person to talk to, and if your serious about doing a science type degree, ditch the genEd stuff ASAP.

NJIT is fairly ok for transferring into, but you will need to fight for every credit you earned in community college. The math stuff will def transfer, but you need to talk to NJIT or wherever and find out exactly what they will transfer in.

I believe both NJIT and RU have a program with local community colleges that they are "required" to accept you as a JR if you do the two years before hand.

[coolmanvette75]

you should consider engineering. when i got to college in a year and a half i will be taking all of the classes needed for my dream job, an automotive engineer. its a great job with a great base salery.

[91chevywt]

I just went through this as well. I went to Lincoln Tech, thinking I wanted to work on cars, but that didn't pan out. I'm at Rowan now, as a Chemistry major, and there is a lot you can do with that. It is tough though. If you want to stick with college, in my opinion, math and science is the ONLY way to go in this economy. There just isn't much you can do as a fresh out-of-college B.A. student.

I'm almost 23 now, If I could do it all again, I would look at the trades now. Yes, home construction is slow, but people still need an electrician, plumber, heating/ac help. The trade I work in now I love, but it's a dying field, and I can't see it lasting much beyond another generation. But from what I understand, because of so many high school grads going to college, there aren't as many people interested in these fields. It also gives you an opportunity to own your own business, which is one of the best things in the world, I think. If I'm wrong on these fields, please correct me, but these are just observations of my own.

The best thing you can do for yourself right now, is to keep some sort of job. Job experience is the best thing you can have right now. Don't leave anything because it's "beneath you" or you can think of other things to do with your time. The biggest thing that sets younger people like us apart, is job history. You'll get hired based on your job history over education.

[NastyEllEssWon]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

Why does this thread title make me hear someone say "I wanna rock".?

ah you sir, man....how...i dont know...i cant believe i missed that great opportunity and ruined it with the ron jeremy

[edpontiac91]

Get into something like becoming a Police Officer. Retire at 55, have a pension, get into the right town and sit inside your car while others (PSE&G for instance) do the outside dirty jobs, give out tickets and have great benefits. In some towns it is the best job, but if you live in Newark/ Irvingtion/ East Orange/ Camden etc., you risk your life everyday. Look at the LOOOOOOOONG term, such as turnover, pay scale and what is going to be the future in what you can do. Don't just try to cover today, because tomorrow comes REALLY fast, and not having goals DOWN THE ROAD is what will stall you out.

[btownws6]

i personally never went to college so im not sure what to say as to what you should do in there but what i can say is you never truely know where life will take you. i came straight outta high school and started working in a body shop. i thought thats what i wanted to do but it didn't pay the way i had hoped it would, so one i day i was asking around to people i know as to what kinda jobs were available in the area and was offered a job for citi bank. now im an engineer and was in control of one of the largest data centers for citbank on the east coast. then economy took a huge hit and i started a body shop of my own and now im just enjoying my life so like i said you never know where you will end up or what you will like doing. i'm only 23 and im a painter, an engineer and a business owner.

[qwikz28]

Have you considered medical school? It seems like you might enjoy the challenge and philanthropy of spending your life helping others.

Like I said before, unless the market changes, avoid law school like the plague.