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This fall, I will be starting college. I got into CCNY's engineering program, but I am definitely not enthralled by the idea majoring in engineering. I applied because my parents say my strengths lie in math and science, and that those skills are what make money. My initial plan was to major in environmental engineering, because I would get to be outside often and possibly help with reversing climate change. Noble motive, indeed.
However, I don't have fun trying to find tangents, or finding atomic masses to the nearest thousandth, or calculating the energy of a spring. I wouldn't go as far as to say I hate those subjects, but they do bore me more than a typical engineering major should be.
Conversely, a lot of my enjoyment comes from storytelling. Novel writing, animation, film-making, song writing, take your pick. Just the idea of something I create affecting someone else on a deep level is just... I don't know, but I like it.
But the related college majors (English, art, film studies, music, etc.) are majors that statistically have higher unemployment. Even if you do get a job, either you get some entry position that takes any college degree, or a low paying job that while related to your interests, doesn't pay the bills. (I don't want to be a teacher, by the way; it's too socially demanding for an introverted person like myself. I know because I recently had a part time job as a teacher's assistant for a summer school.)
People talk about how engineering gets outsourced, which is true. However, I'd say a larger percentage animation gets outsourced. I'd also say that a lot of people are competing to become authors, or animators, or anything creative, really. I haven't heard about rampant competition for engineering jobs in the states, which leads me to conclude that getting a job, regardless of pay, isn't too challenging.
I guess my question is this: should I pursue a creative major in college, or should I stick to engineering (or something else with low unemployment), and keep my storytelling passion as a hobby?
Or hey, maybe suggest a third option for me. I would greatly appreciate some insight.
Thanks for reading.
EDIT: I noticed my thread title has a grammar error. Sorry about that.
Last edited by DemureDoll; 08-12-2013 at 04:58 PM..
Reason: Grammar
This fall, I will be starting college. I got into CCNY's engineering program, but I am definitely not enthralled by the idea majoring in engineering. I applied because my parents say my strengths lie in math and science, and that those skills are what make money. My initial plan was to major in environmental engineering, because I would get to be outside often and possibly help with reversing climate change. Noble motive, indeed.
However, I don't have fun trying to find tangents, or finding atomic masses to the nearest thousandth, or calculating the energy of a spring. I wouldn't go as far as to say I hate those subjects, but they do bore me more than a typical engineering major should be.
Conversely, a lot of my enjoyment comes from storytelling. Novel writing, animation, film-making, song writing, take your pick. Just the idea of something I create affecting someone else on a deep level is just... I don't know, but I like it.
But the related college majors (English, art, film studies, music, etc.) are majors that statistically have higher unemployment. Even if you do get a job, either you get some entry position that takes any college degree, or a low paying job that while related to your interests, doesn't pay the bills. (I don't want to be a teacher, by the way; it's too socially demanding for an introverted person like myself. I know because I recently had a part time job as a teacher's assistant for a summer school.)
People talk about how engineering gets outsourced, which is true. However, I'd say a larger percentage animation gets outsourced. I'd also say that a lot of people are competing to become authors, or animators, or anything creative, really. I haven't heard about rampant competition for engineering jobs in the states, which leads me to conclude that getting a job, regardless of pay, isn't too challenging.
I guess my question is this: should I pursue a creative major in college, or should I stick to engineering (or something else with low unemployment), and keep my storytelling passion as a hobby?
Or hey, maybe suggest a third option for me. I would greatly appreciate some insight.
Thanks for reading.
It really depends on your endgame.
What kind of a lifestyle do you need to support? How much $ do you need to make?
Do you expect to be able to marry a person who makes at least as much as you or significantly more? (I'm serious)
How stressful of a job can you endure?
These are things I'd be asking myself if I could do it all over. Of course, I have the answers to those questions now. But had no clue back then.
being successful at creative work often requires you to really try to sell/promote yourself and your work. factor that in, since you say you're not comfortable being social
i recommend you take a few engr. courses and see how you like them. most engineering jobs require you to work more with computers than things like calculating things by hand
you can also major in an art and minor in a science, or visa versa. this is what i did
Well, there are engineering-related jobs that require creativity. It's not necessarily an either-or. Also lots of engineering careers involve coming up with imaginative ways to solve problems. It's not all just crunching numbers. Really it's too many things to name, it really just depends on the aspect of engineering you choose to pursue (Civil? Electrical? Chemical? Aerospace? Etc).
Research & Development sounds like it's worth investigating for you. You should also think about getting creative when thinking up possibilities that might combine the two - like say the people who render machines and whatnot for instruction manuals and textbooks, people who build interactive pieces for children's museums, lots of toy companies employ engineers, etc.
Think of it like this....Engineering would be your job. Get the degree if you feel that it interests you. Your passion, will be fulfilled on YOUR TIME and on "their dime." I am passionate about my career, but have so many other interests. I work so I can travel, go to concerts, buy overpriced candles, eat amazing gourmet meals and create the life I deserve. The key is to find a way to combine both your interests and keep a steady income so that you can live the life you want.
If you do not feel comfortable socially, I worry you would have an even harder time in an "artsy" field where so much of who gets what opportunity is political and based on who you know, not what you can do. This is much more true in artsy fields than in things like engineering, where you may have a room full of nerds and no one gives a damn about anything except your skills. If you truly want to pursue your art, you need to do that, but you need to be realistic.
1. You could become an engineer and still write novels at night.
2. You could major in art and wind up working at Starbucks.
If there isn't a perfect scenario (where artists can easily find jobs doing what they love), which of the two above choices would make you LESS unhappy?
I would pursue the engineering as a major and the art/English etc.. as a minor. I assume you can handle the workload for engineering, therefore it is better to go for the surer thing. The Engineering does not have to define you, a job doesn't have to define you. As long as you are good at it and perform it well, that is good enough. You often hear the saying "starving artist", whilst "starving engineer" has yet to enter popular culture
How about both? Something like UX Interaction Design? It's all about storytelling, psychology and anthropology and applying it to technological interfaces (smartphones, tablets, web applications, cars, accessibility tools, etc.). The field is growing rapidly (thanks to pioneers like Steve Jobs), and is quite creative in nature.
Carnegie Mellon has an excellent program for HCI (which UX is a subset of). The starting salary I pay for UX folks aout of CMU is is $85k... but that's in the NYC area.
Carnegie Mellon has an excellent program for HCI (which UX is a subset of). The starting salary I pay for UX folks aout of CMU is is $85k... but that's in the NYC area.
HCI isn't a bad suggestion, i also was wondering about graphic design, but neither really relate to OP's interest of writing/storytelling
also, where's the CMU connection? was it just to give an idea of salary? OP said she was admitted to CCNY, which sadly does not offer any HCI classes in the CS dept. starting salary for a CMU grad in a computing field is going to be somewhat higher than what is typical for other universities as their program is among the best in the world in that field. but yes in general UX pays well if one is skilled at it
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Really it's too many things to name, it really just depends on the aspect of engineering you choose to pursue (Civil? Electrical? Chemical? Aerospace? Etc).
