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I feel that sometimes so many people know what they want to do with their lives or have some kind of path. For me, going and getting a degree in something for the sheer hell of it and just to get a job seems so empty.
It feels like a lot of younger people are pressured into this route, studying something just to get a job at the end of it, all the while having to get into vast amounts of debt doing so.
I do not have a degree, but i do love education, and learning about many different things, from science to history, but i just don't have a clear idea on a specific area of interest; i love all different things.
Did you always have a clear idea or set career path when you were younger?
I had no idea.
I got into internet startups by accident and stayed in software development because it's pretty easy for me.
Often I wonder if I'd be more successful if I had a clearer direction and worked really hard at it, rather than just taking the path of least resistance.
Most people I know didn't have a path. For me, I bounced around in college, I have changed my career twice. I probably will a third time as I get later in life.
I feel that sometimes so many people know what they want to do with their lives or have some kind of path. For me, going and getting a degree in something for the sheer hell of it and just to get a job seems so empty.
It feels like a lot of younger people are pressured into this route, studying something just to get a job at the end of it, all the while having to get into vast amounts of debt doing so.
The fact that you recognize this now shows that your smarter than probably 3/4s of college students.
Quote:
Originally Posted by California_Aspirer
I do not have a degree, but i do love education, and learning about many different things, from science to history, but i just don't have a clear idea on a specific area of interest; i love all different things.
Did you always have a clear idea or set career path when you were younger?
I didn't. It took me 5 years after I finished high school to figure out what I wanted to do. I'm so glad I waited. Who knows what useless degree I would have chosen when I was a teen.
Figure out what you want to do first, and then get the degree that's need for that career, if any. Too many people these days are coming out of college with the question "Now what can I do with my degree?".
That is because most do not do what they would pick in work. Not much would get done that is vital rather than just earns money at what people prefer. The thing is tho plenty still get satisfaction doing other than their first choice. Also for many the higher salaries can mean a life they would never have known outside work, I often wander how someone see a job as their life. So basically work isn't always your first love but a good job opens the ability to do what you love so often versus not able to afford. i have seen so many learn that what they love means work if done for a living.
I had no idea what I wanted to do all throughout college and even after graduation!!! I was just going through college because that was the norm and my parents would kick my ass if I didn't. Needless to say, I earned that degree and even 6 months post-grad, I still didn't know what I wanted to do. Thank god I "fell" into my career after 6 months of job searching/hopping around and I couldn't be happier. The only thing I gained from college that was useful was the "B.S Diploma".. I'm not even working in the major I studied for lol. Could I have done my current role without a college degree? Yes, but by industry standard a degree is required nonetheless..
I feel that sometimes so many people know what they want to do with their lives or have some kind of path. For me, going and getting a degree in something for the sheer hell of it and just to get a job seems so empty.
It feels like a lot of younger people are pressured into this route, studying something just to get a job at the end of it, all the while having to get into vast amounts of debt doing so.
I do not have a degree, but i do love education, and learning about many different things, from science to history, but i just don't have a clear idea on a specific area of interest; i love all different things.
Did you always have a clear idea or set career path when you were younger?
I learned what I'm interested in as a career while taking college classes towards an AA degree. I didn't make a commitment to a 4-year university until I knew what I wanted to get out of it. I'm like you where I have a lot of interests and love education, but you have to narrow it down and decide on something to support yourself at some point. Many people who set themselves on a path early change directions later, and there is nothing wrong with that.
The thing is, there could be many paths. You don't have just one "right" one. Maybe I didn't go to college and discovered something else I'd want to do while working out of high school. Maybe I'd go to school later with a specific outcome in mind instead of exploring possible, viable interests without a set career choice. Maybe I would be comfortable without ever going to college. There is no right or wrong way. Any of these paths could work out great in the end, or not. Just don't do nothing!
I did not have any clue what I wanted to do with my life when I was 30 let alone 18, even when I started my company I wrote the business plan with an exit plan for 5 years and a different one for 10 years. Just in case I either did not enjoy it quickly after getting a year or two into it, or in case I got burned out and decided I would rather do something else 10 years into it.
Fact is I feel into my accounting career, while I was good at it in high school, I was in sales for the 1st half of my adult life, and from talking to many adults the same kind of things happened to them.
There is nothing wrong with not knowing exactly who you want to be when you grow up, especially when you do not know really who you are at 19 or 20 years old.
My suggestion is to take some college courses in subjects that interest you, maybe spend some time contacting people in different career fields through linkedin or your alumnus groups from your school, and buy them a cup of coffee to find out about their career and lifestyle and see if that is something you can see yourself doing.
Also remember that if you choose wrong and in 15 years you want to do something else, there are usually ways to find your way to that career, so it is not always about the rest of your life, start with the next 10 years and go from there.
It's not so much that I know what job I want to do. After years in the workforce, I know what I'm good at that someone will pay me to do.
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