The short time I was in college I studied computer animation. Didn't end up much caring for it, which combined with the need to keep food on the table is why I ended up dropping out. Twice.
Psychology.
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My college degree was in mathematics. I studied a much wider range of fields. There wasn’t a major in Quibbling, but I would’ve taken highest honors if there had been.
Life.
My college degree was in mathematics. I studied a much wider range of fields. There wasn’t a major in Quibbling, but I would’ve taken highest honors if there had been.
I...see...
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My college degree was in mathematics. I studied a much wider range of fields. There wasn’t a major in Quibbling, but I would’ve taken highest honors if there had been.I...see...
Spoken like a true Psychology major... *strokes chin*
European History, with a focus on the medieval period.
I started out as a physics/mathematics double major... until it metaphorically broke my brain (and not in a good way).
European History, with a focus on the medieval period.
I started out as a physics/mathematics double major... until it metaphorically broke my brain (and not in a good way).
it is good that you left the evil of math behind.
Minor in communication
B.A. in Philosophy
Gcert in Project Management
M.S. Science and Technical Communication
I wanted to study Physics, but I am too dumb. I found I had a knack for explaining complex concepts to other dumb people. I just cant do the work myself...
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High School: Fell in love with physics
Undergrad: Fell out of love with physics, in love with math. Still graduated as a double major with B.A.s in both
Grad: Ph.D. in "pure" mathematics, which pretty much says all you need to know. "I don't need a job! I love math!"
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WARNING: TL:DR
In high school, I tended to favor science and history. In my junior year (1981) we got the first high school radio station in Arkansas. Yup, my little podunk rural school was on the air! It was a vocational class and I took it three semesters, until graduation. It was pretty loosely structured as our instructor quit when the a-hole superintendent ordered her to sell advertising for it. Wasn't allowed. Public radio station. He kept yelling at her to do it anyway. So she walked. The next guy we got for a "manager" had been the van driver for a tv station in Little Rock. So yeah, not much class structure. We pretty much played what we wanted as far as music went. I had the "Heavy Metal Kid" show. You can probably guess what I played the most.
After high school, I thought I'd major in broadcasting. Arkansas State University in Jonesboro had just completed a brand new building with completely state of the art equipment. I was pretty excited to be going there. I was there 9 days when they told me they had no records I had ever enrolled there. I had a scholarship and everything. I showed them the letters they sent me. Didn't matter. I wasn't in their system despite having registered for classes! They said I could either pay ALL my expenses upfront and stay or reapply for next semester. In a rage, I moved back home and went to night school at a community college so I could keep my Pell Grant. I never got my scholarship back. I was home for six weeks and they called to tell me they found my records. My response to that was a mythic-level stream of profanities and curses that cracked the very foundations of A-State's academia. At least I hoped it did.
But back I went and had a terrific semester. Studied broadcasting like I wanted. But that was just the beginning of an on-again, off-again attendance history. Just when things would get going well I'd have to drop out to help my parents on the farm or somesuch. I took a year and a half off and worked at a local radio station. When I went back to college I realized the instructors had never worked in radio in their lives. What they were teaching was completely at odds with what I experienced. So I changed majors a couple of times then dropped out again after having a major emotional and mental breakdown. I moved home again.
During the time from 1985-1987 (from when I returned to school and then had the breakdown) I discovered D&D, promiscuous women, and how to throw the largest parties ASU had ever seen. I was actually a celebrity of a sort. Professors came to my parties. One fraternity flew in members from California for one of them once. So yeah, dirty girls, dice, and drinking were pretty much my complete pastimes then.
In 1988 I went BACK to try again. No soap. I had just lost my drive. I took a few history classes and enjoyed them but I'd lost my fire to graduate. When I ended my final attempt before my son was born in 1993 I actually had more than enough credits to graduate, but not enough in any single subject to have declared it a major. Not even the right classes for a General Studies degree. So I wasted years and money, essentially, but I made friends that I'm still close to this day and that's the best thing I took away from the whole experience. I'm sorry this took so long, but my college history was complicated and couldn't really be condensed much.
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In high school, I fell directly and intensely into an interest in theater.
So I majored in it for my undergrad.
During my four years at Indiana University, my love of theater was gradually beaten out of me by the culture of the IU theater department, although I finished the major. But I picked up a second major in Folklore and Ethnomusicology, which I enjoyed a lot more.
Not that either major helped me find a job afterward. I spent the years between 22 and 33 tossing what amounted to a generic BA at job applications and bouncing from job to job.
At age 33, I started a Master's program in Homeland Security and Emergency Management (the, uh, second part there is what I actually enjoyed and want to work on), which I completed at age 36. I haven't had much more luck landing a job in that field, but I gotta say, it looks a lot more impressive on my resume...
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I can shave an angry bear with a skid loader, which isn't something you can learn in school.
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I can also turn a boulder into a fountain.
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I am also Madison's foremost expert on pebble mosaics.
Or so I assume as I have yet to meet anyone else that has done pebble mosaics.
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English Literature.
I wanted to do a concentration in foreign languages and literature, but I couldn't stick to just one language (I ended up taking courses in four), so I didn't actually get it.
I also took a bunch of 5000-level electives in specific history and psychology courses that I *thought* would end up informing my eventual graduate study, and then I took a gap year after my BA instead of going straight into my Masters program, and never went back.
My career goals totally shifted along the way... I had assumed I would go straight through and have my Doctorate by 25 and teach literature at a small and leafy New England university, ended up in early childhood education in Texas.
Whoops.
I had no idea at first. I went to college because that's what I was supposed to do. I worked full time to support tuition, because I didn't have the money coming from anywhere else, and I was too financially ignorant to much about a loan. I also didn't know how to ask for help on such things, but that at least was more of a willful ignorance.
Anyway, I went to community college and then to a four year university (all while working full time) without a real direction, but about halfway through all of that, I settled on a B.S. in Professional Writing with the intent to become a technical writer. My grades improved dramatically once I had a direction. The second-to-last semester before I graduated I realized that I did not in fact want to use my creative energy on technical manuals, but I was so close to the finish line I stuck with it anyway.
I've never held a job that is directly relevant to my degree (although you could argue that communicating effectively is always useful for any job). I work an I.T./Information Management job today.
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I'm sorry this took so long
Um, don't apologize for that epic yarn...
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I was going to be a chef and then I realized I didn't want to be around so many a+~~*%%s so then I was a baker and had just as many a+!**@!s to deal with.
I then got a job (no experience necessary) as a landscaper, my first day first thing in the morning this guy asks "You ever run a jackhammer before?" "No" "well, here's the starter there's the steps I need you to remove!"
My second day he hands me a big ass saw and a twenty pound hammer and says "Destroy that shed!"
Thus, I found where I belong.
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In high school, my favorite subject was English/Writing.
In college, I studied engineering. Specifically, my degree is in Mechanical Engineering.
I was also crazy enough to allow my last employer to convince me to spend a lot of time and money to become a licensed Professional Engineer. They laid me off two months after I became licensed.
In high school, my favorite subject was English/Writing.
In college, I studied engineering. Specifically, my degree is in Mechanical Engineering.
I was also crazy enough to allow my last employer to convince me to spend a lot of time and money to become a licensed Professional Engineer. They laid me off two months after I became licensed.
what the actual f%&+?
That is not okay!
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I loved chemistry in high school. When I went to college, I found that my level of patience for painstaking procedures was insufficient. So I changed over to Natural Resources Management. Many years later I finished that and went for my MS in Natural Resource Sciences/Focus in Plant Science/Specialization in Ecology and Environmental Physiology. I don't use that degree though other than to make the occasional comment how to keep the plants alive in the garden center or when working on the yard.
From what I remember my favourites at school were maths and history, though I liked pretty much everything I did.
I enrolled in a BSc for university but the real world didn't agree with me. Still got a major in pure mathematics. Didn't have a enough units for a degree so transferred to a BA as history really was my thing.
Then I did a MA in history on the history of horror films. Should have gone on to a Phd but...
Some years latter decided to retrain and did a Dip in It (programming) which they wouldn't give to me 'cause I skipped some idiot level 1st year courses and the IT bubble burst so it was worth nothing.
Another decade down the track did a MMs (master of museum studies). The head of department wanted me to extend with a dissertation on the ownership of cultural property, but it was going to cost me a lot of money for no careeer advantage so I declined.
History is the favourite.
My mom, who only received an 8th-grade education because the rural one-room school she attended only went that high, told me my last two years of high school I should study computers. Looking back, I should have probably listened to her.
If I'd listened to my own heart, I'd be a paleontologist today.
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I was home schooled my entire scholastic period.
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Finishing my BA in History in the fall (focus on Colonialism/Imperialism).
I used to be more interested in world history and broadly US history, but as time has gone on I find myself more and more drawn to local history, which still includes the above. I wrote my paper on Anishinaabe treaty rights in regards to current pipeline plans, and how historians have a role to play in the outcome.
I am working on my application to grad school to become a teacher (social studies).
By accident, I've almost got a minor in religious studies. I'm an atheist, but the roleplayer in me is fascinated by religion. I've studied Native American philosophy, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. I haven't studied any African religions as a course, but you cannot help but encounter it when studying early African history. I've also taken a scientific philosophy class, and it has definitely ruined some science fiction for me.
My study of history has definitely infected my gaming. Not in that I look for some sort of realism to it, but that the past in my games is always in dispute. Just because my players find a source that makes a claim about the truth does not mean the source is correct.
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I've also taken a scientific philosophy class, and it has definitely ruined some science fiction for me.
Can you elaborate? I don't know what you mean.
I've also taken a scientific philosophy class, and it has definitely ruined some science fiction for me.Can you elaborate? I don't know what you mean.
This sounds like Christian Rock to me. And this perception that I had also applied to the show. I don't think that the show was largely Christian, but it had as much scientific literacy as your average Sunday mass. It definitely turned me off.
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This sounds like Christian Rock to me. And this perception that I had also applied to the show. I don't think that the show was largely Christian, but it had as much scientific literacy as your average Sunday mass. It definitely turned me off.I've also taken a scientific philosophy class, and it has definitely ruined some science fiction for me.Can you elaborate? I don't know what you mean.
TV SF has its own issues--the constraints of the medium, and the desire to maximize the potential audience, make it difficult to manage scientific literacy--especially when the elevator pitch is "Wagon Train to the stars."
If you really want to ruin a lot of written SF, though, take some courses in evolutionary biology.
I think I'll stick with my "History of Rock Music 1970 to the Present" next semester.
(due to how the GI Bill and the U of MN both work, I get to take some random classes that aren't for my degree this next semester)
I'm well aware that many shows/movies get aspects of science wrong. It's just when I perceive a glaring disregard for scientific literacy... I'm getting less tolerant of it now.
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I think I'll stick with my "History of Rock Music 1970 to the Present" next semester.
I took a class just like that...(like 20 years ago man im getting old!)
I actually enjoyed it because it was a mix of pop culture-philosophy, history, and general music knowledge. Was for a sure a nice break from my regular studies.On a side note, the professor I had at the time told us an incredible story. He was on a road trip with his wife during college. One night they stayed at the same motel that Jimmy Hoffa was last seen. He was even interviewed by the FBI about his stay. Doesnt sound like he heard or seen anything worth talking about, but what an interesting story.
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This sounds like Christian Rock to me. And this perception that I had also applied to the show. I don't think that the show was largely Christian, but it had as much scientific literacy as your average Sunday mass. It definitely turned me off.I've also taken a scientific philosophy class, and it has definitely ruined some science fiction for me.Can you elaborate? I don't know what you mean.
Oh man, I forgot how bad that theme song was. My ex-GF used to get mad at me because i'd mock it and mix up the "from there to here" part. I still dont know how it properly goes. :)
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My degree is in trees (environmental forest biology and forest resource management)
Which is rather funny considering how many guides i make for doing things online...
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I can shave an angry bear with a skid loader, which isn't something you can learn in school.
The PETA objections alone...
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I can shave an angry bear with a skid loader, which isn't something you can learn in school.The PETA objections alone...
Yeah, but no one is going to say anything while you're doing it.
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Study something cool that you care about.
Study it at a college where you pay for education not reputation.
Especially if it's a graduate degree, 2 years after you finish it, no one will care whether it came from a Tier One university or not. Don't pay extra for the name of the school on your diploma.
If you're looking for a middle-class job where a masters degree is an unspoken requirement, all you need is to be able to check the box. Generally, the degree doesn't even need to be very relevant to the job you're looking for. It's an endurance certificate, not a knowledge certificate.
If you can, take advantage of your current company's tuition reimbursement program. I had to stay with my current employer for 4 years but they paid for the degree. No debt!
My goal is to have no debt. That was totally achievable for undergraduate work it turns out but looks harder from this side of the mountain for graduate school.
If you can't get the university to pay you to be there, try to find an employer who will
University:
Free money: search out peculiar grants and scholarships narrowly tailored to specific criteria.
Sometimes it's a hobby-specific grant, or an ancestry, or a particular background, or life situation. For example one college I know has a grant program for women who have been out of school for more than 5 years and want to return to finish undergraduate or graduate degrees.
There's a whole bunch of scholarships for people who are former golf caddies.
Weird stuff. Ask around in religious circles, civic betterment clubs, and the university office that wrings money out of alums who want to leave a 'legacy'. People can put the strangest strings on their donations.
Jobs:
Teaching assistant, grading assistant, research assistant with tuition reimbursement. Work-study positions.
IRL jobs in order:
See if the degree you want can be done as a coop degree: Company hires you, you alternate working and school with a commitment to a fixed number of years at that company after you graduate. Company pays all the bills and gives you a living stipend as well.
Company benefit: They pay your tuition. You have to pay it back if you drop the class or don't pass.
Company benefit: You pay tuition, and company reimburses you after successful completion of class.
Often the company-paid tuition benes have a catch: HR has to agree that your class will benefit the company.
Something you actually enjoy doing or learning. College isn't the place to find your calling and you don't want to spend a bunch of money on a degree only to find out you hate the work. Also, make sure you'll actually get a pay increase out of it.
Having been on hiring committees for 20 years now, +++.
I don't particularly care what college you went to, as long as it's accredited and not some fly-by-night place (Phoenix U comes to mind).
I don't particularly care what grades you got as long as you got a degree. Heck, I don't even ask for a transcript!
I don't particularly care what major you had, as long as it's somewhat remotely akin to what we're doing, and even then you might get a pass. We hired a truck driver to teach defense contractors how to program missile guidance systems because:
(a) He had *a* college degree, and
(b) He was impressive as heck at the interview.
A 4-year college degree is demonstrating that you can stick with something you aren't being forced to do for at least 4 years. It's more about proving you have a work ethic and a willingness to do things you don't like (requirements or electives) in pursuit of your goals. It's a measure of character more than anything else.
So do something in college you like that's remotely market-related and you'll be fine. (The example that comes to mind is a Phys Ed major. You're pretty much pigeonholed into personal trainer or P.E. teacher, but you can probably extend it to physical therapist. But it is limiting. Whereas something like Physics is just, "Oooh! They're a Physics major! They must be smart!"
"But this is a marketing position!"
"Who cares? Physics major!")
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So do something in college you like that's remotely market-related and you'll be fine. (The example that comes to mind is a Phys Ed major. You're pretty much pigeonholed into personal trainer or P.E. teacher, but you can probably extend it to physical therapist. But it is limiting. Whereas something like Physics is just, "Oooh! They're a Physics major! They must be smart!"
"But this is a marketing position!"
"Who cares? Physics major!")
Somewhat famously, Bloomberg made his fortune hiring math and physics degrees instead of people with MBAs. Both fields are eminently admired and can apply to many, many jobs. It's now become somewhat common in the financial industry to hire at least a few mathematicians or physicists.
A couple months ago, I was on my commute home when the thought occurred to me: taking multiple history classes at the same time was no issue for me, but just the thought of taking more than one math class during the same semester made absolutely no sense to my brain. I couldn't even wrap my head around the idea of trying to learn two separate math concepts simultaneously.