I Don't Know What I Want To Do With My Life!

[MetalPants]

It could be worse...

I have a BA in history and an MA in poli-sci, and work at Wal-Mart. I am considering going back and getting an accounting degree.

Life isn't about being happy. It is about being able to pay bills and being able to eat something other than ramen every now and then.

Don't listen to these hippies that tell you to follow your heart and do what makes you happy-go where there is a chance of making money.

 

[Joshua Howard]

^ I know what working at Wal-Mart is like. I used to be an employee. Actually, it went well until I started irritating management; then I got fired for fabricated policy breaches. I was devoted enough to have my store number nailed up on the wall, but as it turns out... there's more demand in the retail business for stupid people than smart ones that have the pesky tendency to actually think. My bad.

After Wal-Mart, I worked at Macy's. Then came the recession, and I got laid off there. Now I sit at home on salary caring for my messed up mother and wondering what the heck the purpose of my life is. I've got dreams and ideas for what I want to be one day, but it just is a long way from where I am now. I reckon the first step is to learn not to take life too seriously.

Nevertheless, there are definitely times when I feel like I'm alone on the bridge of the Enterprise while the Universe gets smaller and smaller and closes in. That isn't fun.

To the OP: Maybe you already know what you really want to do, but you are just not brave enough to actually do it. Maybe what you need to do is just pack up, hit the road, and start fresh; just a wild guess. On the other hand, maybe there isn't anything wrong with just staying where you are for a spell longer. After all, none of us are guaranteed to even be alive tomorrow.

I'm 21, and unwilling to pursue a degree because of folks like ScaryPants who I know of that have degrees and still aren't making much money, and because there is no way on the Lord's happy green planet that I am going to spend 4-12 years of my life going into debt just so that I can maybe get a job which will possibly pay well enough to bail me out in time for retirement.

I don't have all the answers; heck, as a matter of fact... I reckon we're all searching for something. Good luck figuring out your plan.

 

[Kestra]

To be honest, from what you said here, it really sounds to me that you *should not* be getting an advance degree. At least not right now. Think about it but you have to be really certain that you love a field to get an advanced degree. I read your above post AFTER writing my original post, but this just really reconfirms my sense that you don't have a passion for a field that requires an advanced degree.

I don't mean that in a bad way at all. There are some fields that require an advanced degree and others that don't. If you had the passion for one that does require the degree, the answer is clear, go get it! If you don't have that passion for a field that requires the degree, the answer is equally clear, don't get it!

Mr Awe

I appreciate your advice, but I'm a bit confused. I do know that I have a passion for psychology, and I require an advanced degree to do counseling the way I would like to. I am, however, uncertain as to which type of counseling I would like to do, and which degree would best fit my interests.

To the OP: Maybe you already know what you really want to do, but you are just not brave enough to actually do it. Maybe what you need to do is just pack up, hit the road, and start fresh; just a wild guess. On the other hand, maybe there isn't anything wrong with just staying where you are for a spell longer. After all, none of us are guaranteed to even be alive tomorrow.

Well I do have some time because I have to complete my bachelors in Psychology before I apply to grad schools. But I'm trying to look ahead because admissions can be really competitive and I don't want to later find out I had been wasting my time when I could've been doing certain extracurricular activities or research or something. I'm all about planning though I know it won't go according to plan.

 

[Gruß vom Krampus]

It could be worse...

I have a BA in history and an MA in poli-sci, and work at Wal-Mart. I am considering going back and getting an accounting degree.

Life isn't about being happy. It is about being able to pay bills and being able to eat something other than ramen every now and then.

Don't listen to these hippies that tell you to follow your heart and do what makes you happy-go where there is a chance of making money.

Not that there's anything wrong with working at Wal-Mart, but I agree with you on the part about having at least a decent salary to pay the bills. To be honest, I can never understand why someone who has a Ph.D. or a master's degree could end up working in retail, customer service, or any service-related career (non-management level). On the other hand, there are fellow employees where I work who have B.A.'s and M.S.'s but work as clerks and secretaries. Now granted, as civil service employees who work in a public agency, we do get compensated well, professional or otherwise, but I think people are missing a really great opportunity to better themselves and their lives. It's been said that people with college degrees earn two to three times more than those who don't (I forget the stats), so use your skills if you have the credentials.

Now in terms of being successful (not in a financial sense), you don't have to be rich to have a fulfilling life.

One of my favorite quotes is from Elbert Hubbard: "He has achieved success who has worked hard, loved much, and laughed often."

 

[Mr Awe]

To be honest, from what you said here, it really sounds to me that you *should not* be getting an advance degree. At least not right now. Think about it but you have to be really certain that you love a field to get an advanced degree. I read your above post AFTER writing my original post, but this just really reconfirms my sense that you don't have a passion for a field that requires an advanced degree.

I don't mean that in a bad way at all. There are some fields that require an advanced degree and others that don't. If you had the passion for one that does require the degree, the answer is clear, go get it! If you don't have that passion for a field that requires the degree, the answer is equally clear, don't get it!

Mr Awe

I appreciate your advice, but I'm a bit confused. I do know that I have a passion for psychology, and I require an advanced degree to do counseling the way I would like to. I am, however, uncertain as to which type of counseling I would like to do, and which degree would best fit my interests.

If you have a passion for doing a certain thing, just figure out what degree allows you to do that.

But, that's where I got the sense that maybe you're either not passionate about the subject or perhaps not sure where exactly your passion lies. You've stated that you're not sure if you want to do this or that in this thread. And for how long you want to. And, whether it's worth the time investment of years. To me, that suggests a lack of passion about this area. Or, more precisely, enough passion to justify the degree.

I'm not saying don't get a degree. What I'm saying is two fold:

1) Determine if you're passionate enough about this field that justifies the time and money investment. If yes, proceed to 2.

2) Determine exactly where your passion lies and then which degree gets you there. This should be the easy part. If it isn't, then you're internally unclear about somethings that you should be. IN other words, you skipped to step 2 without properly assessing step 1.

Pretty straight forward. The basis for my concern is not specific to you but I've seen plenty of students get an advanced degree and either end up miserable trying to complete it, drop out, or hate the career it leads to, etc. That may well not be you but take extra time to consider that.

Mr Awe

 

[iguana_tonante]

Now, thanks to this thread, I have The White Stripes' version of I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself in my head, you know, the one with Kate Moss doing the pole dancing. Not bad.

Other than that, I'm not sure I can be of help. I'm just finishing my PhD in astrophysics, but the employment opportunities don't look too bright. Now, I love working in research, and I think I did well in my career until now, but it always looks like I have to work twice as hard as anyone else to keep it up. I guess being in a field where there are just so many Very Smart People around can be an humbling (and sometimes frustrating) experience. So, I'm looking around to see if there is something else for me. At the same time, I would just hate to throw 12 years of education and work in the trashbin. Meh. I really need to do a bit of soul searching.