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

[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

[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.

[jack's smirking revenge]

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

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



tyler

[retailguy]

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

I wanna retire.

[justanotherpackfan]

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

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



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.

I wanna retire.

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