This is going to be the most important question I could ever ask...

[Waldo]

As the mom of two teen girls I tell them to do what they LOVE and the money will come.

This can be taken much too far.....

I have a friend from college that decided to change his major to essentially "growing pot", another that changed from chemE to a few others to eventually "making beer", and another that decided he enjoyed his geology classes, dumping his CivE degree for "rocks" (he sells houses now)(yes I understand that Geo Engineering is extremely lucrative, but its not the same thing as Geology). Needless to say none is especially happy with the choice well after the fact, especially given the loans racked up in pursuit of the degrees.

[Garth]

How about something like business/marketing if making money with your degree is a concern?

It could also come in handy with the wrestling as well as you will essentially be a small business man, with yourself and your skills as the product. If you can learn to sell and market yourself, all the better, right?

[Hermione Gainser]

you've all convinced me. i'm going to work in a bar, live in a tiny little loft apartment and write for a living. lol

........ that sounds awesome to me....

[GreenEyesBright]

I played it safe the first time and went to school for teaching even though I loved marine biology. After my divorce (a great time to throw caution to the wind and just go for it) I decided to go back to school for marine biology and will end up taking engineering classes just for fun. I like learning about engineering but I do not have the discipline or desire to do it day in and day out. Engineers I salute you! Do what you love. I can't promise that money will follow, but a whole lot of happiness will!

[Guest Snake McClain]

I played it safe the first time and went to school for teaching even though I loved marine biology. After my divorce (a great time to throw caution to the wind and just go for it) I decided to go back to school for marine biology and will end up taking engineering classes just for fun. I like learning about engineering but I do not have the discipline or desire to do it day in and day out. Engineers I salute you! Do what you love. I can't promise that money will follow, but a whole lot of happiness will!

No joke. As a kid my dream job was either wrestling or a scuba diver. Marine Biology would be awesome but I don't think there is anything like that where I live. and unfortunately moving is not an option for about a year.

[Guest guest4729]

No joke. As a kid my dream job was either wrestling or a scuba diver. Marine Biology would be awesome but I don't think there is anything like that where I live. and unfortunately moving is not an option for about a year.

How do you KNOW it's not where you live? Have you tried looking around? You'd be surprised what schools have to offer. My school has a really small science department but they still have marine biology and oceanography courses. They're also adding an engineering program.

A lot of colleges are really trying to focus on the STEM courses - Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

To quote my own signature, “If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.”

When you're talking about your future, finding a job you like and finding happiness, there are NO excuses. So stop making them and find out what YOU want to do and go out and get it. Stop making excuses for why you can't do it.

[Guest Snake McClain]

Yes I have looked. Not excuses. I'm in the middle of nowheresville indiana. Marine biology (any animal focused biology) isn't going on around here.

[weirdquark]

Yes I have looked. Not excuses. I'm in the middle of nowheresville indiana. Marine biology (any animal focused biology) isn't going on around here.

Why not look into non-local programs, figure out how many transfer credits they'll accept, apply for next year when moving is possible, and see if you can get some requirements out of the way by taking classes locally this year?

You could also look into online programs-- I don't know if any marine biology programs offer online options, but that would be another way to get general requirements out of the way and you wouldn't be limited by your location.

[Waldo]

I like learning about engineering but I do not have the discipline or desire to do it day in and day out. Engineers I salute you! Do what you love. I can't promise that money will follow, but a whole lot of happiness will!

Engineering school is pretty much nothing like actually doing it in the real world (maybe it is for some, but that is a rarety). We don't really just sit around and do math all day. In hindsight aside from a lot of basic little facts and where to find information, what engineering school really taught was how to focus on and solve extremely difficult problems, being able to plan a course to a solution and being able to critique the solution or the path. Though the teaching tool in school was math, in practical application it rarely is (that is what computers are for).

[Oogiem]

Yes I have looked. Not excuses. I'm in the middle of nowheresville indiana. Marine biology (any animal focused biology) isn't going on around here.

Indiana should have a good animal science focused on farm animal program somewhere. That's a good start for marine biology.

Just did a quick google search and found 5 colleges with animal science degrees in Indiana some with multiple campuses.

http://www.edref.com/college-degrees/agricultural-science/animal-sciences/indiana

[Guest Snake McClain]

Indiana should have a good animal science focused on farm animal program somewhere. That's a good start for marine biology.

Just did a quick google search and found 5 colleges with animal science degrees in Indiana some with multiple campuses.

http://www.edref.com/college-degrees/agricultural-science/animal-sciences/indiana

awesome! Checking that out now. Thanks a ton.

[concretecavewoman]

This can be taken much too far.....

I have a friend from college that decided to change his major to essentially "growing pot", another that changed from chemE to a few others to eventually "making beer", and another that decided he enjoyed his geology classes, dumping his CivE degree for "rocks" (he sells houses now)(yes I understand that Geo Engineering is extremely lucrative, but its not the same thing as Geology). Needless to say none is especially happy with the choice well after the fact, especially given the loans racked up in pursuit of the degrees.

Concur, if the hundreds of thousands of bankrupt college graduates with social justice and dance majors are any indicator, doing what you love does NOT mean that the money will come. Student debt now exceeds credit debt in the US.

The advice should instead read: Do what you love and hopefully the love of your work will outweigh any compensation you may or may not get.

I started as an English major with dreams of a professorial job (at the time I had not yet been enlightened to the fact that tenured professorships are all but dead to the thousands of new PhDs minted every year). My funding dried up after my first year and suddenly I realized that 11 years of schooling might not be the most financially sustainable route. I'd always been a nerd and was pretty fluent with computers, but I'd never programmed and had taken almost no math. But I still thought it'd be a good idea to switch to Computer Science. Best decision I ever made. 6 years after graduation I've worked at a startup and two major companies. Now, it's not roses and cupcakes every day, but it's challenging, stable, in-demand, I get to work with uber smart people every day, and it allows me to do lots of other cool things in my free time. Remember, if work didn't suck at least some of the time, we wouldn't get paid for it

Anyhow, a couple of links worth considering:

1) College majors, employment rates, and earnings. Sort employment rate in ascending order for a real eye-opener.

2) Reasons not to go to college, especially if you have an entrepreneurial/investors spirit.

3) Current trends in student debt. Key line: "if you borrow more than your expected starting salary after you graduate, you're going to struggle to pay your loans" I finished school in 2005 and fees at my UC have tripled since then. You really have to weigh if the $100k+ investment you're looking to make is going to have sufficient returns to make it worthwhile. For some career paths, you're better of just going to your local public library and reading like a madman for a year or two. Cost: Free.

Good luck with your journey. Deciding the next branch in your life is always an exciting step.

[21katykat01]

Do what you want to do!

Honestly, school is important. It is hell if you don't enjoy it. I know degrees work a bit differently in the US to the UK, but I did a Psychology degree (minor in English 1st and 2nd year). I love it. I live it and breathe it and am doing a PhD in it.

Life's just too short to do what you're only "kind of" interested in. The fact that you're a mature student (i.e. over 25, I'm not being insulting!) means you've got life experience that stands you in good stead until you can find work/get published. Do you really want to spend all that money on something you're not 100% passionate about?

Some of the suggestions people have made are great and practical, but education is something I am passionate about and if you want to fulfil your potential completely, love what you do. I'm not saying you're going to love it all the time, but the drive needs to be there. If it's what you want to do, at least give it a try. If it doesn't work out that's totally fine, but you'll never wonder "What if".

And btw, my mum went back to uni on her 50th birthday, started a new career when she graduated and it was the best decision she ever made, she says. (Apart from having me, I suppose!)

[Guest Snake McClain]

Concur, if the hundreds of thousands of bankrupt college graduates with social justice and dance majors are any indicator, doing what you love does NOT mean that the money will come. Student debt now exceeds credit debt in the US.

The advice should instead read: Do what you love and hopefully the love of your work will outweigh any compensation you may or may not get.

I started as an English major with dreams of a professorial job (at the time I had not yet been enlightened to the fact that tenured professorships are all but dead to the thousands of new PhDs minted every year). My funding dried up after my first year and suddenly I realized that 11 years of schooling might not be the most financially sustainable route. I'd always been a nerd and was pretty fluent with computers, but I'd never programmed and had taken almost no math. But I still thought it'd be a good idea to switch to Computer Science. Best decision I ever made. 6 years after graduation I've worked at a startup and two major companies. Now, it's not roses and cupcakes every day, but it's challenging, stable, in-demand, I get to work with uber smart people every day, and it allows me to do lots of other cool things in my free time. Remember, if work didn't suck at least some of the time, we wouldn't get paid for it

Anyhow, a couple of links worth considering:

1) College majors, employment rates, and earnings. Sort employment rate in ascending order for a real eye-opener.

2) Reasons not to go to college, especially if you have an entrepreneurial/investors spirit.

3) Current trends in student debt. Key line: "if you borrow more than your expected starting salary after you graduate, you're going to struggle to pay your loans" I finished school in 2005 and fees at my UC have tripled since then. You really have to weigh if the $100k+ investment you're looking to make is going to have sufficient returns to make it worthwhile. For some career paths, you're better of just going to your local public library and reading like a madman for a year or two. Cost: Free.

Good luck with your journey. Deciding the next branch in your life is always an exciting step.

I love this woman. Always has great and sound advice.

Do what you want to do!

Honestly, school is important. It is hell if you don't enjoy it. I know degrees work a bit differently in the US to the UK, but I did a Psychology degree (minor in English 1st and 2nd year). I love it. I live it and breathe it and am doing a PhD in it.

Life's just too short to do what you're only "kind of" interested in. The fact that you're a mature student (i.e. over 25, I'm not being insulting!) means you've got life experience that stands you in good stead until you can find work/get published. Do you really want to spend all that money on something you're not 100% passionate about?

Some of the suggestions people have made are great and practical, but education is something I am passionate about and if you want to fulfil your potential completely, love what you do. I'm not saying you're going to love it all the time, but the drive needs to be there. If it's what you want to do, at least give it a try. If it doesn't work out that's totally fine, but you'll never wonder "What if".

And btw, my mum went back to uni on her 50th birthday, started a new career when she graduated and it was the best decision she ever made, she says. (Apart from having me, I suppose!)

I agree. I feel life is too short to not enjoy what we do. i've spent the last ten years doing that, 8 of which paid well. the past 2 haven't done me well at all. And now i'm just looking to do something i enjoy/love/am cool with most of the time, that will pay me at least enough to enjoy my life and not stress all the time.

[Sco]

A degree in writing will serve you well whatever you do, even if it's not specifically a career in journalism. I wasn't an english/lit/creative writing major, but I worked at the Writing Center in college, and I know from that experience that good writing skills are extremely valuable in any field. Probably wouldn't hurt to poke around CS either, if you're interested in tech stuff. But do what you want to do! That's the most important thing.

[GreenEyesBright]

When I first went back to school I was no where near any schools that taught marine biology. So I looked up schools that I could eventually transfer to and started taking all of the classes that I could take. Completed my Math/humanities/english/foreign language. That way when I got to this school (I wanted FSU or UGA but moneywise SSU made a lot more sense) all I have left are marine science classes. Granted this leaves me taking back to back science classes for two years but that's ok. Next semester will be my hardest (Calc, Physics, Organic Chem, Marine Ecology) just a lot of time consuming work to put in.

I do have some experience with engineering. I worked as a gopher for a major machinery company that made shakers and the like. Since it was a really small company and everyone liked me, the engineers were showing me some of the basics and always took the time to explain the drawings. Plus I liked watching the machines being put together. I have a really mechanical mind and can see how the machines would work. But I know I have to have a job that let's me walk around a lot and be outside half the time. Im just happier when Im physically active.

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