Anachronism wrote:Dear Kathleen,
I am four and half months away from graduating with a 5-year degree in a highly specialized field where I'm doing a so-so job academically. However, in completing the final few requirements for said degree, I just now realized that it may not have been the best choice for me; I lost interest in a lot of the things we're doing and no longer see myself pursing a career in the field. Given that...
a.) I need reprimanding.
b.) What, in your opinion, are my options re: the rest of my life?
c.) A new academic year is about to begin in a few weeks. What advise can you give to college freshmen re: academics? (e.g. advise I could have used yeeears ago)
d.) I like The Killers.
I'm going to assume you're an engineer. (He he)
Ok, you're not happy with your degree, and now you're freaking out becuase you have to spend the rest of your life doing something you have no passion for.
No you don't!
It is a common misconception that you need to use your degree to work in your field. My degree is in Political Science, and I work for an energy company. My most useful skills are my newspaper layout and design ones, and I didn't learn those as part of my degree!!
My advice to you is this: Do not rush into another degree, instead work a bit to understand what you want to do with your life. Yes, you have a specialized degree, but that degree means you have a lot of organizational skills, and are intelligent. People look for those skills when they hire you! I suggest you cast your job search net wide, and apply on all sorts of different things. You will be surprized what you can do, if you are willing to do something new, and possibly re-locate.
Also, grades don't matter in the real world. Unless you want to go to grad school/get scholarships.
eiopqrtuwy wrote:I've been having alot of trouble keeping up with my school work in college. With school starting up soon, I was wondering:
What can I do to keep myself motivated to do all my schoolwork on time?
Ha ha! The eternal question of university. I had a hard time keeping up with all my assignments and reading and papers and other things, and I think everyone in the world does! My advice to you is to make a list of everything you have to do in a week, and organize it in order of priority, then keep going back to it during the week. Then make a calendar of the date of your midterms/lab assignments/papers for the semester.
It will remind you of things - "oh crap! That lab report is worth 5% of my final grade!!!", and help you pick what you do. "Hmm, I can do my math assingment for Math 260, which is worth 3% of my grade, but maybe I should go over my notes for Biology 300, which I'm not doing that well in, and there's a test coming up in 2 weeks...."
Good luck!