How many of y'all are doing what you went to school for?

[KillarneyRose]

My undergrad degree is in journalism, which I parlayed into a career in public relations. I was a stay at home mom for several years but still did freelance work. When I decided to go back to work, I took a high level marketing job in a hospital system but I decided that it wasn't something I wanted to continue doing.

I went back to school and got a masters in Health Information Management and am currently using it and am enjoying it very much

[Tulip86]

I'm not working in my undergrad/graduate field, but having a background in Psychology with an emphasis on consumers and HR had been really helpful in starting my own company.

[LouisaMay]

Yep. I was an English major with the intention of going to graduate school in English. I did go to grad school, and I'm now teaching college English part-time while mothering my brood. I also do some writing and still love books!

[GammaGirl1908]

I studied psychology as an undergrad. I work in communications for a government agency (plus I teach group exercise on the side).

Although I use my degree every! bleeping! day! dealing with my crazy coworkers, most of my colleagues are former English or education majors.

I changed courses because I started grad school in psychology, but kept not quite getting a B in graduate-level statistics, which I needed to do to go further in that program. So, I took time off to regroup, then started working and realized that I didn't ever have to take statistics again if I didn't go back to psychology, which, **angels singing!**. Before my current job, I've been a database writer, a journal editor, a consultant, and a financial oversight manager (that last one was a complete outlier; I accepted it mostly to get into the government and left as soon as I could).

[NinjaPoodle]

Originally Posted by IrishLake

I'm now an environmental geologist for some secret shit I can't talk about. :P

Made me laugh.

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

I am.

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I don't know why, but this made chuckle. Everyone else has given these long explanations, but you just typed a simple "I am."

Originally Posted by Sen's Revenge

English major. Now a novelist.

If I even THOUGHT my story could be that short.

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I am one of those people since I still count on my fingers.

I do too and proud of it!

[NinjaPoodle]

I started out as a Physical Education major. I came out of high school as a competing athlete and wanted to go in the direction of teaching and coaching. I did 2.5 years of community college then transferred to Grambling St. U for one academic year and HATED their program but love campus life. The following school year, I transferred back to my c.c. and was there for 2 semesters then transferred to San Francisco State as a Kinesiology major (fancy phys. ed ) but after 2 years, it wasn't the direction I wanted to go. SFSU offers a coaching certificate program but I didn't want that because at the time, a friend I had coached gymnastics under, offered me a position at the gym club she was working. By then I didn't want to do that anymore.

During that last semester (spring) a friend had commented on a photo I'd taken and how much he liked it and would pay for it. I punched him in the arm because I thought he was joking. After he rubbed his arm ( I hit him kinda hard, oops) and told me he was serious, it occurred to me I really needed to change my major to photography given my history with it. (long story)

So, the following fall semester, I tried to add my 1st core class and wasn't able to due to the CSU system pink slipping teachers, not enough sections, and teachers playing favorites when adding students. UGH!

I transferred back to community college, accumulated all of my units towards graduation, got my A.A. in general ed with an emphasis in photography. Then transferred to Academy of Art and have been stuck there ever since. Now, I'm a documentary photojournalism major, bfa candidate with 24 units left in the program.

Am I working in the field? Yes, I freelance for a local newspaper. I also just shoot on my own. I need money to live on, so I also work for 5 temp agencies and a seasonal outdoor ice rink. I'm also looking into doing another paid internship but with a wire service or better yet, become a stringer. I'm also pinning on doing some war/conflict shooting and some humanitarian shooting.

You know, if there was a shorter way for me to explain my life, I would but not today

[Munchkin03]

Good writing is underrated and good writers are hard to find. Don't underestimate that BA in English just yet! In the technical fields, it's really difficult to find someone who can write clearly.

While I majored in Architecture, and went to get an MS in Historic Preservation, and I happen to be an architect who specializes in historic restoration, it's not "what I went to school for." Part of college, at least at the liberal arts level, is about having a well-rounded education. I didn't take just architecture classes--I took history, poli sci, urban affairs, and Italian classes. It's the education I have that allows me to be able to talk to most people about anything. If I needed to, I have an educational and (now) professional background to go into many different things.

In my group of friends (late 20s to mid 30s) it's a real mix. I'd say about half are using their undergrad degree every day. Of the other half, they're doing what they went to grad school for, and there are maybe 25% of us who had such vague degrees that anything they do could apply. Granted, we're still relatively young and weren't hit that hard by the recession--so YMMV.

[PrettyBoy]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

That's really interesting. Any specific cars you've worked on?

I've worked on several vehicles. But, out of those designs of different cars and trucks, I've shortlisted on four. The Lexus LF-LC being one of those shortlisted concept cars I worked on with a team of other designers, and the one I'm most proud of. http://youtu.be/QxhYPtzU0gA

Originally Posted by KAPPAcino

Another NUPE doing what we do best. Achieving. This is good stuff, Phi. There proabably aren't very many black car designers, are there?

I'm not sure about product designers, but with auto, the numbers are relatively small when compared to other professions. The numbers are somewhat small, but there are quite a few black auto designers in high positions.

Originally Posted by KAPPAcino

I remember you saying you had a brother who was also a bruh. At the time, I was about to ask you where he pledged. Who was a bruh first, you or him or were y'all on line together?

Nope. We weren't on the same line, but we pledged the same year. He pledged and crossed at Meharry (Kappa Chapter). He crossed two months before I did, and then he came down with one of his Sands and they saw me while my line was still pledging. It was a very interesting experience LOL.

[Mizeree I2K]

Originally Posted by PrettyBoy

I've worked on several vehicles. But, out of those designs of different cars and trucks, I've shortlisted on four.

What do you mean by shortlisted?

[PrettyBoy]

Originally Posted by Mizeree I2K

What do you mean by shortlisted?

It's a shortlist of sketches. I'm not sure how it works at other auto companies tech centers, but where I work, once the design team has decided upon its favorite sketches, more sketches are then created from that particular shortlist of possible designs. Designers that haven't had their designs chosen are redeployed on the shortlisted designs and then those designers help generate more sketches showing different exterior and interior viewpoints or details of the vehicle currently being designed.

At this point there is often a further review by management. But this also depends on how many designs were being worked on in the first shortlist. It also depends on the manager. As a design manager, with my design team, depending on how much time I have, I usually decide to shortlist further or sometimes I might decide to generate CAD models using Alias.

[angels&angles]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

This thread is sort of a 4 page resume'. Showoffs.

Hey looks like Sen's going to give me some work, so I guess this paid off for me!

(Seriously, any writers, I definitely do freelance work. I've copy edited scientific papers [geology], literary journalism, fiction [short stories mostly, but I'd LOVE to do novels], theses, and dissertations [the latter mostly education and theology, if it matters]. I don't do much content editing, but I will note if something sticks out to me. I mostly concentrate on style and grammar.)

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by angels&angles

Hey looks like Sen's going to give me some work, so I guess this paid off for me!

(Seriously, any writers, I definitely do freelance work. I've copy edited scientific papers [geology], literary journalism, fiction [short stories mostly, but I'd LOVE to do novels], theses, and dissertations [the latter mostly education and theology, if it matters]. I don't do much content editing, but I will note if something sticks out to me. I mostly concentrate on style and grammar.)

Quoted for Awesomeness. Good luck to you!