When will it click and I'll find out my role in this world?

[Mr Awe]

One thing that definitely needs to be stressed here is that going back to school and getting a degree is absolutely no guarantee of stable employment in the future. Even if you study a field with a lot of demand, you might graduate and find yourself right back in retail, unable to find work in a better field. Don't get your hopes up.

Wow, way to take a dump on someone.

You are partly correct. You can certainly get a degree that leads to nowhere. However, there are degrees that are in demand and will get you a high paying job.

Whether the in-demand degrees line up with your preferences is an entirely different matter. And, yet another matter whether you override your preferences to go where the money is anyway. Different strokes for different folks.

However, you definitely need to know that all degrees are not created equal. Find out about the marketability of areas that you're interested in beforehand.

So, yes, do get your hopes up! But, only after you have done your research and know what you're aiming and know that it is marketable. At that point, use your hope and optimism to keep you going towards your (well researched) goal!

Mr Awe

 

[RoJoHen]

For what it's worth, I am going back to school for something I honestly want to do, teach.

You'd make more money staying in retail.

I'm working part time and barely making above minimum wage. I think teaching would pay a lot more than I'm making now

At the risk of being totally pessimistic, I wouldn't be so sure. It, of course, depends on where you live, but a lot of starting teachers around here have to work second jobs just to pay the bills. When you look at their starting salaries, figured hourly, they barely make over minimum wage themselves.

 

[RoJoHen]

One thing that definitely needs to be stressed here is that going back to school and getting a degree is absolutely no guarantee of stable employment in the future. Even if you study a field with a lot of demand, you might graduate and find yourself right back in retail, unable to find work in a better field. Don't get your hopes up.

Wow, way to take a dump on someone.

I'm being realistic. The world fucking blows right now for college grads, even in fields that have high demand.

 

[Aldo]

You'd make more money staying in retail.

I'm working part time and barely making above minimum wage. I think teaching would pay a lot more than I'm making now

At the risk of being totally pessimistic, I wouldn't be so sure. It, of course, depends on where you live, but a lot of starting teachers around here have to work second jobs just to pay the bills. When you look at their starting salaries, figured hourly, they barely make over minimum wage themselves.

That may be, but I know deep down teaching is something I really want to do. And while I don't have any kids of my own, I'm great with them. Mostly because I don't treat them as kids but little human beings (if that makes sense).

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm working part time and barely making above minimum wage. I think teaching would pay a lot more than I'm making now

At the risk of being totally pessimistic, I wouldn't be so sure. It, of course, depends on where you live, but a lot of starting teachers around here have to work second jobs just to pay the bills. When you look at their starting salaries, figured hourly, they barely make over minimum wage themselves.

That may be, but I know deep down teaching is something I really want to do. And while I don't have any kids of my own, I'm great with them. Mostly because I don't treat them as kids but little human beings (if that makes sense).

Well, good! I'm certainly not trying to discourage you. My mom is a teacher. I have a lot of teacher friends. It's a good career (and you get summers off!). A lot of people just have it in their heads that going to college will secure them a solid career...and that's simply not the case. It takes much more than an Bachelor's Degree on your resume to make you successful.

I have a degree in Accounting, and the best job I've ever had was as a bartender. The world is weird.

 

[Mr Awe]

For what it's worth, I am going back to school for something I honestly want to do, teach.

Why is it that you say that you are "not good enough"? Any problems here are thing that you should fix for any potential career.

At any rate, there are teacher shortages in certain subject areas and in certain regions. If you wanted to help ensure that a teaching career works out, you should aim for one of these subject areas and/or geographic regions.

Some places have a blanket shortage of teachers while others need specific subject areas. In general, math, science, bilingual, reading specialists, and special education are in high demand.

This document details this. You should look into this and then figure out in which field you want to specialize in conjunction with where you'd want to teach. Going in with a plan like this will help assure success.

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.pdf

Mr Awe

 

[Mr Awe]

One thing that definitely needs to be stressed here is that going back to school and getting a degree is absolutely no guarantee of stable employment in the future. Even if you study a field with a lot of demand, you might graduate and find yourself right back in retail, unable to find work in a better field. Don't get your hopes up.

Wow, way to take a dump on someone.

I'm being realistic. The world fucking blows right now for college grads, even in fields that have high demand.

If you can't get a job with a degree, it is by definition *not* in high demand.

Teaching DOES pay more than minimum wage. To say otherwise reflects a lack of knowledge.

You do have to be careful though. There are dead end degrees for sure. Takes research and planning.

Mr Awe

 

[RoJoHen]

[
Teaching DOES pay more than minimum wage. To say otherwise reflects a lack of knowledge.

Yes, it does, but it doesn't necessarily pay a LOT more than minimum wage.

 

[Mr Awe]

You'd be incorrect about that. If you look here, you'll see average starting teacher salaries by state. BTW, Aldo, check out this list to see where you can make the most money starting out teaching!

Starting out, you can see that you'd be around $30k, plus or minus depending on the state. Now, let's assume that teachers work 10 months a year and for 40 hours a week. That comes to 1600 hours. $30k/1600= $18.75 an hour.

Now, RoJoHen, a simple question for you. Which one is greater, minimum wage at 7.25 an hour or teaching at $18.75 hour? There's your answer. It's more than twice as much, and that's just the beginning salaries.

Now, take another look at that list. You'll see that the average salary is much higher. This average, of course, includes the teachers with experience. And, you can see that there are lots of 40s and 50k's in there!

You won't get rich teaching but you'll be far better off than minimum wage. Again, to say otherwise reflects a lack of knowledge. It does pay a lot more than minimum to start and then rises from there.

RoJoHen, I'm not surprised that accounting really wasn't your forte!

Mr Awe

 

[RoJoHen]

Again, I was only basing that off of what teachers did in my area and in the school district where my mom works. I have no interest in being a teacher, and I don't feel like doing the research to see what teachers are making nationally. Some teachers make good money. Others make shit. I also believe minimum wage is higher in my state that others, so there's also that to take into account. There are just a lot of factors to consider. I have known plenty of teachers that worked full time and weren't able to support themselves with teaching alone.

 

[Mr Awe]

^ Then you might reconsider taking a dump on someone's dreams especially when it's abundantly clear that you don't even know what you're talking about.

BTW, the highest minimum wage I could find was $8.67 in Washington, still not close.

Teachers generally don't work in the summer so it's not surprising that some will find employment during that period.

Mr Awe

 

[RoJoHen]

Fine. You know what? I can admit when I've been mistaken. I'm not trying to dump on anyone's dream. I'm just trying to

You, however, should work on being less of an ass.

 

[Mr Awe]

The only reason I got riled up was because here's a guy trying to improve his life and it appears you weren't that supportive and giving misinformation. Sure, he's got to be careful about the field that he goes into etc, but at least give accurate info if you're going to give advice.

And, really, I started out nice enough. It wasn't until you "corrected" me with incorrect "facts", repeatedly, that I got annoyed!

Mr Awe

 

[Aldo]

Let's calm down guys. I understand you're both trying to help me out (which I appreciate). But that's no reason to bite each others heads off

I know once I get a degree I wont automatically fall into a high paying job. I do know my chances of doing that will be much better than if I didn't have a degree.

And rather than going back into school without a goal (like I did the first time), I know specifically what field I am interested in.

 

[Kestra]

^ Then you might reconsider taking a dump on someone's dreams especially when it's abundantly clear that you don't even know what you're talking about.

BTW, the highest minimum wage I could find was $8.67 in Washington, still not close.

Teachers generally don't work in the summer so it's not surprising that some will find employment during that period.

Mr Awe

I know a teacher who made more working summers at a restaurant than as a teacher. It's not impossible to make a decent salary as a teacher but they are generally underpaid.

 

[Mr Awe]

Many can make 50k, eventually. That's not bad at all. Of course they start lower down on the pay scale. You don't go into teaching to get rich. But, you can be quite comfortable teaching.

Mr Awe

 

[Servo]

Just do what makes you happy. That's what I do and it's working out ok so far. Don't get bogged down thinking about what you "should" be doing by 30 or whatever. You'll end up trying too hard, and then you'll get more depressed the longer it takes to happen.

Basically, chill the fuck out. Life isn't that serious when you really look at it.

 

[SicOne]

At first, I was going to say something flippant along the lines of "Well, the world needs ditchdiggers, too...", but as I examined the posts and saw serious responses to your situations, I'll toss in my $0.02 as well.

Don't get hung up on what you THINK you should be doing. In a way it's good to do that because it might help you from being a slacker, but it might hinder you a bit because it can easily discourage you. Or prevent you from doing something you enjoy, because you think other people think that work isn't worthwhile. A lady I know works with seriously mentally-disturbed people, helping them to find resources to help themselves and their families. There isn't much money in it, but she's fairly self-sufficient, and she enjoys both the challenge in helping them as well as the satisfaction when everything works out well for them. There are good days and bad days, like in all jobs.

Secondly, don't base your own self-worth upon what you do for a living. As others have said in this thread, your job is the way you support yourself, not your whole life. Company loyalty should only go as far as it needs to in order to demonstrate yourself as a team player, but gone are the days when you could count on a company to take great care of you if you poured yourself into it. Make the most out of your job, but understand that you, like the 99% of us, are as disposable as #2 pencils. And don't take it personally.

It's good that you're investing serious thought in what you want to do, and considering going to school. But make sure you know what you want to do, take whatever courses are needed for it, and try to be sure you don't work yourself into unmanageable debt in the process. A lot of kids these days have worthless degrees in fields of study where they're never going to make enough money to pay their student loans and lead a comfortable life. I have a guy at work who lucked into this job back-asswards, and if he actually had to try to USE his music history degree, he'd be working at fuckin' Burger King the rest of his days.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Please forgive my boldness, Aldo, but I've observed, in general, that there seems to be a conflict in society between an established sense of what one needs to be "marketable" and the actual economic situation. You seem to me to be saying, and this appears to be a common way of looking at things, that your status as a potential family man - as a prospect for relationships/fatherhood, I suppose - depends on your ability to hold a regular well-paid job. But with the ecomony as it is, finding a stable, well-paid job is going to be difficult, for so many.

I think there's a bit of a chicken and egg thing too. I think most people get stable jobs because they've become a family man not that they attract a wife and get kids because they have a stable job.

Anyway, Aldo, if you want to teach, teach. Pay is not the only goal in life. If you feel it will give you a sense of accomplishment, that's perfectly fine.

 

[RoJoHen]

I think most people get stable jobs because they've become a family man not that they attract a wife and get kids because they have a stable job.

I agree. When you're single, you have a lot more freedom to have a more unstable lifestyle. As soon as you have a family to support, stability becomes a requirement.