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I've been in college since 2009, and for a lack of a better term to use for it, I've been having a hard time figuring out what to focus on. Aside from having no idea as to what I wanted to do (I still don't), I felt I wasn't prepared in taking college level courses or studying beneficial majors that would help me financially to take care of myself. It's 2012, and I still don't have any idea as to what I want to do, I work part time as a EMT to make a decent amount of money. But my parents aren't fond of me wanting to join the Paramedic program, truth be told, the work isn't for me.
I'm attending Community College as of now (I used to attend University), because it's less expensive and closer to home. The reason why I don't think it's for me is due to the fact that I was placed in the lowest level math course (Remedial). I failed the course twice, I will not take it a third time. My mother asks me to get a Creative Writing degree, but as much as I love her, it's a stupid idea to invest time in money in a program that probably won't help me find any sort of job. I interned in many different places, Comic Book companies, Newspaper, Career Centers, Hospitals, etc.
I love writing, but I keep it only as hobby and I don't want to kill it by taking college classes (I took English courses, and they killed my love for Writing for an entire summer once). Plus, I don't consider myself to be a GOOD writer, I do it for me, no one else.
What is the best option for me to take at this point? My family wants results soon and they want me to make a decision sooner or later. I'm in a difficult predicament.
free-career-test.com
The above link is a pain in the neck, but it MIGHT help narrow down what you are REALLY possibly interested in doing. I have my own methods.
First, make a short list of the things you did not like about the jobs you did, as EMT and doing various writing stuff. Make another short list of jobs you think you would hate (math instructor).
Second, think about how wealthy you would like to be and visualize the kind of house you think you want, picture it as to whether it's modern or historic, if there's trees around it or desert, how close you need to be to fav places like ocean or skiing or big-city thrills, and if you'd need a fence for a dog, or large property to put some horses. Picture yourself walking around a town you live in and what you want the streets to look like, where you'd stop off to do things.
Third, make a short list of your very favorite things to do in your spare time.
Fourth, go thru your college catalog by department, and if there's a couple areas of study that interest you, jot it down. Then go thru the listing of all courses in the back, flip thru it, jot down courses that look interesting. Sometimes you can really get involved in everything back there...some students have no idea, for example, that they can take courses in how to draw, to take care of animals, design a home, run a hotel, be a detective, archaeologist, or report live news on TV.
So, you'll have four lists. The first one is everything you hate about working. Second is visualizing your future and thus how much cash you may need to make. Third is your favorite pasttimes, which is the core of you. Fourth are some ideas on subjects you may be interested in. Stare at your lists for a little while. Stop and go do something else for a half-hour. Come back and begin a new list and write down subjects you might want to study, for the purpose of work, work that you think would be very interesting, that will give you the cash for the home you want. Then go to the library to the Nonfiction Section. Pull books on the subjects you have selected in your final list. IF you see other books that catch your eye, definitely pull those too.
Come home and spend the week looking thru those books. By the end of the week, you'll have a much better idea of the sorts of jobs you might want to try learning how to do. At some point, it would be very important to arrange an internship or guided visit to places where people do these jobs! Sometimes people have no idea how quiet and regimented drafting engineer workrooms are, or how heartbreaking it can be to be a veterinarian, or how much like high school a TV station can be. And the opposite is true too, could be you will find yourself naturally drawn to a type of job, where you feel like you can almost jump right in and help the people who are already working there!
Keep asking this bunch questions, I sort of did a global thing here, others will have better ideas on how to do this, they'll want to know more about you to help guide you. But hope this helps and keep us in the loop as you go along.
Honestly I would take time off and explore. I was in the same position as you and it took me years to get out of college. By the time I figured out what I wanted to do, I could have travelled and enjoyed my youth a lot more!
Try the aptitude test and see if that helps. Talk to counselors. It is really difficult to decide, but you may not be able to at this time. It took me ten years AFTER college to figure out what I wanted to do.
An option may be to pick a very general major, such as Communications of Business which can match a lot of career areas.
I've been in college since 2009, and for a lack of a better term to use for it, I've been having a hard time figuring out what to focus on. Aside from having no idea as to what I wanted to do (I still don't), I felt I wasn't prepared in taking college level courses or studying beneficial majors that would help me financially to take care of myself. It's 2012, and I still don't have any idea as to what I want to do, I work part time as a EMT to make a decent amount of money. But my parents aren't fond of me wanting to join the Paramedic program, truth be told, the work isn't for me.
I'm attending Community College as of now (I used to attend University), because it's less expensive and closer to home. The reason why I don't think it's for me is due to the fact that I was placed in the lowest level math course (Remedial). I failed the course twice, I will not take it a third time. My mother asks me to get a Creative Writing degree, but as much as I love her, it's a stupid idea to invest time in money in a program that probably won't help me find any sort of job. I interned in many different places, Comic Book companies, Newspaper, Career Centers, Hospitals, etc.
I love writing, but I keep it only as hobby and I don't want to kill it by taking college classes (I took English courses, and they killed my love for Writing for an entire summer once). Plus, I don't consider myself to be a GOOD writer, I do it for me, no one else.
What is the best option for me to take at this point? My family wants results soon and they want me to make a decision sooner or later. I'm in a difficult predicament.
Why do you think you failed the remedial math class?
BTW. I do not think any website or anything else will help you to find a suitable major. You've been in College for a while now. I would think you know pretty much every major at least by name. There's probably nothing you haven't seen/heard. Maybe you just don't exactly know what every major is really about. Take computer engineering. Most people won't know 90% of it is electrical engineering. So my idea would be that you go to an adviser of each department and ask for a brochure that will tell you what their majors are really about and what you can do with it etc. Forget the "financially to take care of". That's the least pressing issue right now. I don't think many people with a College degree are homeless.
Last edited by Glucorious; 04-10-2012 at 04:26 PM..
Reason: Fix
I completely disagree with the aptitude test recommendation. A person's path in life should not be decided on by some bogus test. You need to find out what you're passionate about instead. Any human being with a pulse can do anything with the right motivation and drive. Unless you have some kind of mental handicap, you can do anything.
Force yourself to understand that no matter what, you will NEED to work to make a living in society. There is no escaping that (unless of course you are one of the lucky few). With that being said, you need to take a look at what interests you... If you have to work, why not make it as fun as it can be?
Are you an analytical person?
Are you outgoing or introverted?
Are you the number cruncher type or do you like looking at the big picture?
Do you like outdoor work environments or indoor?
Ask yourself those questions. Sit down and think about a list of careers that you might fit your answers. From there, focus on what I said earlier... You need to work. You need to work. Find a path that sounds interesting and stick with it.
I've been in college since 2009, and for a lack of a better term to use for it, I've been having a hard time figuring out what to focus on. Aside from having no idea as to what I wanted to do (I still don't), I felt I wasn't prepared in taking college level courses or studying beneficial majors that would help me financially to take care of myself. It's 2012, and I still don't have any idea as to what I want to do, I work part time as a EMT to make a decent amount of money. But my parents aren't fond of me wanting to join the Paramedic program, truth be told, the work isn't for me.
I'm attending Community College as of now (I used to attend University), because it's less expensive and closer to home. The reason why I don't think it's for me is due to the fact that I was placed in the lowest level math course (Remedial). I failed the course twice, I will not take it a third time. My mother asks me to get a Creative Writing degree, but as much as I love her, it's a stupid idea to invest time in money in a program that probably won't help me find any sort of job. I interned in many different places, Comic Book companies, Newspaper, Career Centers, Hospitals, etc.
I love writing, but I keep it only as hobby and I don't want to kill it by taking college classes (I took English courses, and they killed my love for Writing for an entire summer once). Plus, I don't consider myself to be a GOOD writer, I do it for me, no one else.
What is the best option for me to take at this point? My family wants results soon and they want me to make a decision sooner or later. I'm in a difficult predicament.
I think you love writing and don't like math. Community College is a one size fits all solution that does not seem to fit you at all. That does not mean that college is not for you. It could well mean that standard colleges do not work for you, and an alternative college might.
Good college courses should not kill your love of something, they should nurture it. I think you communicate well and that you should try another approach to education.
If this sounds interesting to you and you think that you would still like to learn,, but not in a standard way, you should explore alternative education. A good place to start is a book called "Cool Colleges" It's available on Amazon.
A college education from an accredited college is no longer a luxury. It's a necessity. You just need to find out where to do that.
I took general aptitude tests in high school, said I should be an outdoor writer.
After two years of mental health jobs, the rehab people ran me through a lot of their aptitude stuff, and I was surprised by what came out. I had this idea that I was a free spirit or something, and it all came out like police chief, military officer, vice president. Basically I have the aptitude of a facist bureaucrat while I had the (mistaken) self-image of a roving artiste without a skill.
Folks, just to help clarify this discussion a little better, while tests are not the solution, they can at least give a person IDEAS, which our original poster is all out of. I would say ANYTHING that would get the OP to think about the situation in a more or less directed way is appreciated here. And I must strongly emphasize again that how much money earned is indeed important, and this is because if you think your 20s is a long time, try the age brackets three times that, and if you come down with a choice between two professions and one makes a gazillion dollars more, I'm sorry, work is work, and I'd go for the cash.
I very much liked the idea of perhaps taking some time off and joining the forces they suggested, or perhaps the Peace Corps for a couple years. Also, state-run universities have some unreal catalogs, and while you may not go to one on account of you've been there and have come back to cc, altho state university is very inexpensive compared to other sorts of places to do your education, their catalogs are filled with all sorts of interesting ideas. I also liked the suggestion of talking to professors from various departments you think you may be interested in, and also the one about talking to a career counselor at the school. The larger state universities have whole buildings filled with staff dedicated to that one thing.
I do think being goal-oriented is important in your task to finish college. At the very least, be willing to get your B.A. or B.S. in SOMEthing you are good at, and if you want to tweak it by taking some grad courses, there are indeed programs at all sorts of schools that only require one year to get you a good job. I might add that while I DO think you should just GO AHEAD and get a degree and then do some more education after that if you're still unsure, because it would be a shame to waste so much effort (and you can get a tutor in math to get credits in the basic math you must have to graduate), I also think you COULD look at any nearby technical colleges, they will teach you how to do all sorts of jobs that are perfectly good. For example, since you are an EMT person, you are already familiar with the many various jobs it takes to work in a hospital, and at a technical school is where a nurse can get a degree, and also do the internship I had talked about, and do hands-on stuff to get their A.S. degree or whatever certification is required to do tech jobs.
BRIGHTDOG, I was amused to read about your aptitude test. I was told I could be a preacher. Ye gads, not much help, huh!!! Basically I think the test was kind of referring to you being a self-starter, which those kinds of people always make more cash than someone with a low-level job like typing letters for a lawyer or something, where they need guidance. For example, a physician is a self-starter, they have to investigate, make a decision on diagnosis, come up with a treatment plan, talk to and instruct people. Not everybody can do that sort of stuff. If you were in the health field, and I see you have dog in your user name, you might could make a smooth transition to starting as a vet tech at an animal hospital, and once you save some cash, go on to be a veterinarian, which takes a self-starter. This is just an example of how career-searching people should go about their decisions. But if you happen to be taking me seriously, volunteer at a shelter for a while before you make the leap. In fact to anyone reading this who is looking into a career, try to spend some time in that environment helping out as a volunteer before you go into it.
You can't wait until you "know what you want to do" to start living your life; the way it works is that at some point you pick a path that seems like it will work, go down that path and give it your best, and then make adjustments from there. Sometimes it's better to do something and approach it with a good attitude rather than never do anything because you're not 100% sure that it will work out perfectly (it won't). Sounds like you shouldn't do something that's very math intensive, but there much be other things you could pick. If you're not willing to commit to something and work hard to see it through, then college is probably not right for you and you'll want to look into a simpler trade school.
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