BF4MVP's Blog (Yes, I am copying Partial)

[BF4MVP]

Dear Blog,

I am seriously considering changing majors. I just had a (very) long talk with one of the Computer Science professors and he told me that it seems that Computer Science may not necessarily be the right path for me. He said it doesn't make me any less valuable as a human being, but that there are certain people who just aren't called to be Computer Science majors, and I may be one of them. He said I don't want to be stuck for 40 years doing something that I don't want to do. He told me that I should take a semester of strictly "Gen Ed" (general education) courses so that I can think about it. Hopefully I can somehow find my calling, but how the hell do I, as a 19-year-old college sophomore, know what career I will most enjoy, and what career will best utilize my strengths? I can't predict the future. This is going to be difficult. Help.

[Bretsky]

BF,

My best advice to give you is give it time and you will find your place in the world. Too often people feel pressued into making a choice in college; the reality is a high % of graduates end up in a field having nothing to do with their major. Take some deep breaths, relax, go the strip club, have a good time...etc.... TOO EARLY to feel all the pressures.

I have a teaching degree; went from High School Teacher to Sales Manager at a ISP/Networking Company to a Residential Lending Officer at a Bank. Enjoy my job and do quite well. But my career path has already changed three times and if the right opportunity came along it could happen again.

College is a nice stepping stone for so many careers. It lets potential employers know you are capable of setting out and accomplishing a difficult long term goal regardless of major. So just take your time, and you'll find your place. Light will be end of the tunnel; we just don't know how long that dam tunnel is sometimes.

B

[CyclonePackFan]

Let's do this in the model of Office Space...

BF4MVP, if you had a million dollars, what would you do with your life?

[Bretsky]

Let's do this in the model of Office Space...

BF4MVP, if you had a million dollars, what would you do with your life?

If he had a million dollars, he wouldn't be too worried about what he majored in.

:mrgreen: B

[CyclonePackFan]

Let's do this in the model of Office Space...

BF4MVP, if you had a million dollars, what would you do with your life?

If he had a million dollars, he wouldn't be too worried about what he majored in.

:mrgreen: B

Naturally...

I'll tell you what I'd do....two chicks at the same time, man.

[Bretsky]

Let's do this in the model of Office Space...

BF4MVP, if you had a million dollars, what would you do with your life?

If he had a million dollars, he wouldn't be too worried about what he majored in.

:mrgreen: B

Naturally...

I'll tell you what I'd do....two chicks at the same time, man.

HECK YES; without a doubt.

[Partial]

Dear Blog,

I am seriously considering changing majors. I just had a (very) long talk with one of the Computer Science professors and he told me that it seems that Computer Science may not necessarily be the right path for me. He said it doesn't make me any less valuable as a human being, but that there are certain people who just aren't called to be Computer Science majors, and I may be one of them. He said I don't want to be stuck for 40 years doing something that I don't want to do. He told me that I should take a semester of strictly "Gen Ed" (general education) courses so that I can think about it. Hopefully I can somehow find my calling, but how the hell do I, as a 19-year-old college sophomore, know what career I will most enjoy, and what career will best utilize my strengths? I can't predict the future. This is going to be difficult. Help.

Story of my life.

[CyclonePackFan]

Dear Blog,

I am seriously considering changing majors. I just had a (very) long talk with one of the Computer Science professors and he told me that it seems that Computer Science may not necessarily be the right path for me. He said it doesn't make me any less valuable as a human being, but that there are certain people who just aren't called to be Computer Science majors, and I may be one of them. He said I don't want to be stuck for 40 years doing something that I don't want to do. He told me that I should take a semester of strictly "Gen Ed" (general education) courses so that I can think about it. Hopefully I can somehow find my calling, but how the hell do I, as a 19-year-old college sophomore, know what career I will most enjoy, and what career will best utilize my strengths? I can't predict the future. This is going to be difficult. Help.

OK, I've had my Office Space fun, here's my REAL help (although I DO believe that doing two chicks at the same time might help, too :wink: )

This is a question you might want to head to the admissions office about. That may seem a little counter-intuitive, but I'm sure they deal with LOTS and LOTS of incoming freshmen who have absolutely NO idea what the hell they want to do with their life. I'm sure they can give you some assistance.

Otherwise, try a career test. Here's a link to a free one (I haven't taken it, so I can't vouch for it, but hey, I'm trying here...

http://www.careerkey.org/cgi-bin/ck.pl?action=choices

Good luck

[the_idle_threat]

Some great advice here from the Grail Champ. It seems like a big deal in college to declare a major, as if the choice is irreversible. Pick something you're interested in and will be motivated to complete. Get the best grades you can. With a degree and a decent GPA, the doors will be open later on.

[Scott Campbell]

First off, what precipitated the heart to heart with the counselor?

I agree with all of the advice given. College is not necessarily about finding a career. Get some skills. Learn to compete. You write very well, so you're ahead of the curve already.

There is value in learning what you don't want to do.

[Pack0514]

First off, what precipitated the heart to heart with the counselor?


This is a very good place to start..... who initiated the conversation?

As far as picking a major...... I think that is why you were told to take your gen-ed classes..... see what you like and what interests you. You are going to want to do something that makes you happy.

[MadtownPacker]

Maybe you where born to work in the fields.

[GBRulz]

copying Partial? Na...actually both of you are copying Tank, he was the first to start this "My official blog" stuff.

People following Tank.....what is becoming of our society? :shock:

[retailguy]

Maybe you where born to work in the fields.


you are a cruel cruel man. :shock:

[jack's smirking revenge]

You are in a difficult spot and I can relate. I went to college for a Biz degree (well, mostly for soccer) and then redirected to Journalism because I loved to write and Biz bored me at the time. As I got more into Journalism, I realized how somewhat evil of a person you had to be in order to be an effective and successful journalist, so I settled on English. Never got my teaching certification, though I wanted to. But my path since then has been solely IT and graphic design focused. The IT and design skills are nothing I learned in school, wholly self-taught. Some people go to college knowing exactly what they want to do; others use school to guide them. The easiest path is knowing exactly what you want to do, but that isn't always the most rewarding.

You're a sophomore--do what your counselor has suggested. Take some general eds. Find something you're passionate about and interested in. Get a degree in it, even if the degree itself won't lock you into a six-figure salary.

Knowledge is power--the more you know and the more diverse your knowledge-base, the more successful and fulfilled you will be as a person.

Just my opinion. Take it for what its worth. Best of luck.

tyler

[Willard]

Have you considered becoming a guidance counselor? Then you can f@#* with the minds of other 19 year-olds and get them to worry non-stop about their future and the futility of it all. Sounds like a good gig.

[jack's smirking revenge]

Have you considered becoming a guidance counselor? Then you can f@#* with the minds of other 19 year-olds and get them to worry non-stop about their future and the futility of it all. Sounds like a good gig.

Diabollicaly good point. You would also have an easy angle on young college action too.

tyler

[MJZiggy]

Or you could check with the school to find out if there is a careers office there where while you're taking your gen ed credits you can get some help figuring out what you want to do. These might steer you a bit, but don't take the answers too seriously as they are not comprehensive tests by any means. Another thing to do is pick up a copy of "What Color is your Parachute" at the library.

http://web.tickle.com/channel/career/
http://web.tickle.com/tests/jobinterests/

I'm going through the same thing, and trust me, it's easier to do at your stage of life than mine.

[BlueBrewer]

My advice is to go into General Business Administration, it leaves the door wide open, a wide variety of courses to choose from, get a minor later on if to take a shine to something inparticular. Go get em tiger :cool:

[Tyrone Bigguns]

First thing is determine what you are good at AND enjoy. Myself, I could program, but I HATED every minute of it. When things went wrong with the code, I didn't find it CHALLENGING, I found it painful and annoying. Whereas my buddy Nick graduated as quick as possible in liberal arts and just loved coding so it was no problem for him. He is a freak who can go 3 days with the headphones on coding, talking to no one.

So, even if you are smart enough it won't be fun, and ultimately you won't be good at it because it will always be work.

I second taking some career assessment tests. Don't go in with any preconcieved notions. Take them and figure out where your strengths are. Don't worry about the career, figure out who and what you are.

If you can, try to do as many internships as you can. You will find what you like and don't like regardless of the position. If you find that you crave human interaction, then comp sci, accounting, etc. are going to leave you unfulfilled. Or if you can't stand being bothered by annoying people then figure out a career that works within that paradigm.

Lastly there is a big difference between studying something and actually doing it. I knew many girls who were high gpa biz majors at UW, but once they got in the real world hated business. Conversely, comp sci in college is a LONG way from the real world of programming. Almost all those profs are great on theory, but if you gave them an hour to come up with an original solution they couldn't do it. Anyone, can write code if they have enough time, but in the real world, you never have enough time...and that applies to all fields. You gotta be able to PRODUCE.

Also, just get thru with school. Most likely a couple of years of work and you'll have a better idea of what you want. Then off to grad school where you'll be much more interested and focused. It really doesn't matter what your major is, just keep a high gpa.

[justanotherpackfan]

I want to be a strength and conditioning coach for a college or pro football team. :cool:

[jack's smirking revenge]

I want to be a strength and conditioning coach for a college or pro football team. :cool:

I want to be a strength and conditioning coach for Jessica Alba. Can you hook that up for me?

:D

tyler

[retailguy]

I want to be a strength and conditioning coach for a college or pro football team. :cool:


I wanna retire.

[justanotherpackfan]

I want to be a strength and conditioning coach for a college or pro football team. :cool:

I want to be a strength and conditioning coach for Jessica Alba. Can you hook that up for me?

:D

tyler
I've got a long way to go before that happens.

[BallHawk]

I want to be Justin Gatlin's massage therapist.

[Deputy Nutz]

I wanna be a potter or a level 4 wizard.

[BallHawk]

Jack, can you explain more about how you say you have to be a somewhat evil person to be a succesful journalist. It's a career I've always considered heavily, and I'm interested why you say what you do.

[jack's smirking revenge]

Jack, can you explain more about how you say you have to be a somewhat evil person to be a succesful journalist. It's a career I've always considered heavily, and I'm interested why you say what you do.

Well, in order to get the prime story, you have to be ruthless and somewhat callous, regardless of situation or person. Sex and death, pain and suffering, loss and defeat--they all sell better than the positive, uplifting story. They're the headlines. You have to dig up dirt when you don't want to, expose the truth no matter who gets hurt.

Most of the time, the truth is a very painful thing to reveal. And, realistically, the truth is often a very difficult thing to nail down.

That's not discounting or discrediting the positive reporters that are out there, but in our time, in our society, unless you're part of the battle between left and right or god and godlessness, it's really hard to have your voice heard.

It's been a very long time since I was standing at that fork in the road. To make a decent living at journalism, you have to be an attack dog. Get that story nobody else wants to or is willing to get. Go to that part of the world where your life may be in danger. Take a side that you may not be uncomfortable in taking.

Sounds like a fun adventure, but it may not always be if you want to make your living at it.

tyler

[Scott Campbell]

You are in a difficult spot and I can relate. I went to college for a Biz degree (well, mostly for soccer) and then redirected to Journalism because I loved to write and Biz bored me at the time. As I got more into Journalism, I realized how somewhat evil of a person you had to be in order to be an effective and successful journalist, so I settled on English. Never got my teaching certification, though I wanted to. But my path since then has been solely IT and graphic design focused. The IT and design skills are nothing I learned in school, wholly self-taught. Some people go to college knowing exactly what they want to do; others use school to guide them. The easiest path is knowing exactly what you want to do, but that isn't always the most rewarding.

You're a sophomore--do what your counselor has suggested. Take some general eds. Find something you're passionate about and interested in. Get a degree in it, even if the degree itself won't lock you into a six-figure salary.

Knowledge is power--the more you know and the more diverse your knowledge-base, the more successful and fulfilled you will be as a person.

Just my opinion. Take it for what its worth. Best of luck.

tyler

This is terrific advice. And I think English makes for a very useful degree.

[Scott Campbell]

I want to be a strength and conditioning coach for a college or pro football team. :cool:


I wanna retire.

Do it young, because retirement is wasted on old people.

[Scott Campbell]

.........just keep a high gpa.


I forgot about that part.

[BF4MVP]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I really appreciate it. I guess I better start takin some of those career tests :cool:


First off, what precipitated the heart to heart with the counselor?
I wanted to take Software Design, but I didn't meet the prerequisite..So I had to ask the professor of a lower level class if I could get into his class, even though it was closed at the time. That way if I performed well in that class, I would be able to take Software Design next semester. He said he would let me into the class if it was what I really wanted, but it turns out he had a talk with one of my other Computer Science professors, and that's when he decided to talk to me about this.


You write very well, so you're ahead of the curve already.
Thank you :D


I want to be Justin Gatlin's massage therapist.
:shock: If you want to rub naked juiced-up black guys, then go right ahead, but it sounds pretty gay to me.

[BallHawk]

Yeah, Jack, it can be ruthless. I'd like to target more towards sports journalism, but I don't know if that is something you just fall into, or you target righting soley sports from the beginning.

[MJZiggy]

You target sports. Maybe you do a few features, but you learn the ins and outs of talking to highly paid, highly egoed athletes. If that is what you want to be doing, you should be writing for your local weekly offering to do a kid's perspective on the local high school sports teams. Then when you get to college you have that on your cv already and could likely pick up some games writing for the school paper, then work up from there. That's what I didn't do.

[Scott Campbell]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I really appreciate it. I guess I better start takin some of those career tests :cool:


First off, what precipitated the heart to heart with the counselor?
I wanted to take Software Design, but I didn't meet the prerequisite..So I had to ask the professor of a lower level class if I could get into his class, even though it was closed at the time. That way if I performed well in that class, I would be able to take Software Design next semester. He said he would let me into the class if it was what I really wanted, but it turns out he had a talk with one of my other Computer Science professors, and that's when he decided to talk to me about this.


Ahhh. So if I'm reading the situation correctly, they're telling you that you may not have natural aptitude for writing code?

Two things you can do. If you're completely passionate about writing code, then you can commit yourself to working a lot harder than everyone else and go about proving these two guys wrong.

Or you can take their advice and look around some. There is nothing wrong with dabbling in a few things to find out what you like and are good at. And there is value in finding out what you don't like and are not good at.

I've been in your situation, and it was more of a slap to my ego than it was dissapointing because I really wanted to do it.

[FavreChild]

Picking a major is NOT the same as picking a career. Never, never, never pick a major based on the career you *think* you might want. Always pick a major based on classes you like and are interested in. The potential job comes later. Way later.

That is, *if* you like the classes you take and like what you are studying. Don't overthink it.

[justanotherpackfan]

Picking a major is NOT the same as picking a career. Never, never, never pick a major based on the career you *think* you might want. Always pick a major based on classes you like and are interested in. The potential job comes later. Way later.

That is, *if* you like the classes you take and like what you are studying. Don't overthink it.
I want to major in kinesiology which will lead me down the path of becoming a strength and conditioning coach for a major college university and then making my way up the ladder as I move on to the NFL.

[Partial]

Jack, can you explain more about how you say you have to be a somewhat evil person to be a succesful journalist. It's a career I've always considered heavily, and I'm interested why you say what you do.

If you like not having a job, steady hours, or good pay this is the field to go in. I know a UW graduate who barely makes any money and struggles for a job despite being at the top of their class.

[Partial]

Do you write Pseudocode? What prog classes have you taken? In my opinion, start your programs early and work hard, you'll get it. It just takes practice and a lot of repetition.

[BF4MVP]

Do you write Pseudocode? What prog classes have you taken? In my opinion, start your programs early and work hard, you'll get it. It just takes practice and a lot of repetition.
I haven't written pseudocode..Maybe that would've helped..The only programming class I've taken is VisualBasic.Net

[Partial]

Do you write Pseudocode? What prog classes have you taken? In my opinion, start your programs early and work hard, you'll get it. It just takes practice and a lot of repetition.
I haven't written pseudocode..Maybe that would've helped..The only programming class I've taken is VisualBasic.Net

Take C++ or Java. It'll be a fricking hard class. I also don't think too many people are just naturally good at it. It pretty much comes down to your understanding of creating logical arguments. My guess is if you can do discrete (which sucks, its hard and stupid and I suck at it), you will do well in programming. I am by no means a great programmer, but I write psuedocode and an outline of a logical way to approach the problem and then I sit down and I work on it until I am done. I don't do my programs for classes in my room because I just come on here and surf or talk on aim, so I go to a computer lab. Everynight they have student tutors in the main lab who help out the students who are in their working on homework or their programs for free.. LOTS of SE students go there for that. Also, the UW system offers tutoring for 1.50 an hour (they cover the rest of the fees) for any student, or its free to any first-generation college student. I did that for my circuits class for a while last semester and it helped me a lot. I don't know if thats helpful to you at all, but as they say, its better out then in, right?

[BF4MVP]

Do you write Pseudocode? What prog classes have you taken? In my opinion, start your programs early and work hard, you'll get it. It just takes practice and a lot of repetition.
I haven't written pseudocode..Maybe that would've helped..The only programming class I've taken is VisualBasic.Net

Take C++ or Java. It'll be a fricking hard class. I also don't think too many people are just naturally good at it. It pretty much comes down to your understanding of creating logical arguments. My guess is if you can do discrete (which sucks, its hard and stupid and I suck at it), you will do well in programming. I am by no means a great programmer, but I write psuedocode and an outline of a logical way to approach the problem and then I sit down and I work on it until I am done. I don't do my programs for classes in my room because I just come on here and surf or talk on aim, so I go to a computer lab. Everynight they have student tutors in the main lab who help out the students who are in their working on homework or their programs for free.. LOTS of SE students go there for that. Also, the UW system offers tutoring for 1.50 an hour (they cover the rest of the fees) for any student, or its free to any first-generation college student. I did that for my circuits class for a while last semester and it helped me a lot. I don't know if thats helpful to you at all, but as they say, its better out then in, right?
Thanks for the advice.

The thing about discrete math for me when i took it was, the concepts were either painfully easy or impossible. There was no gray area. For instance, adding, subtracting, and multiplying matrices was painfully easy. Encryption was impossible.