Majors: For Love or Money?

[Taualumna]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/05/jo...tml?oref=login

Please be aware that you need to register to read the article.

[AGDee]

The ideal is to find something that will provide both. Also, you need to figure out how much money you "need" to be satisfied. I changed careers at 35, after 13 years of working as an Occupational Therapist but it was more for job security than for money. I make a little more money as a LAN Systems Analyst for the same company, but I could make more at a different corporation. The difference is, I have 10 years seniority with this system now, which means 6 weeks off a year, and a decent retirement plan building up, and really good benefits. Besides that, this office is a M-F, 8-5 office so there is very little weekend or evening work and NO pager. If I had to carry a pager, I would HATE my job. Besides, as a single mom, I can't be on call at all hours of the night. The people I work with are great and most appreciate their computer support.

There are a million careers to pick from. I think anybody can find some mix of courses/majors to find something that will make them a decent living and still enjoy their career. You spend more hours at your job than anywhere, so you should enjoy it. (Everybody has bad days, but you have to overall enjoy it).

I had a hard time choosing a new career when I decided it was time to do so because there are so many that sound interesting to me. It boiled down to what I could easily learn while working full time and raising two small children. I really would have liked to become an optometrist or a teacher.

Dee

[winneythepooh7]

I skimmed this article on Sunday. I agree with AGDEE. As I've mentioned before, I am getting really tired of Social Work. However, there are some really good things about it, and the agency I work for. I have good benefits, can take time off easily, and most of the people I work for are wonderful. Although I work for an extremely tough population, generally the clients and their families are very appreciative of the work that I do. I've worked in other agencies where I may have made a little more $$$$ but the environment sucked bigtime. I also cherish the fact that I can go home and do what I want in the evenings and not be "on-call" all the time (this rotates throughout the year, but it is rare that I'd get called because all calls are screened by an answering service). Plus I learn A LOT everyday and although I don't know if I would want to be an administrator, everyone else around me seems to think I'd be good at it one day...........I also know that I would hate the business, or for-profit world. I also hate wearing suits to work and love that I can just go in in jeans or regular pants and a sweater and that is okay. I think like in any field, in Social Work, it also takes time to move up the career ladder. That is a positive thing IMHO too because you don't want someone without experience and compassion being in charge of a major SW program.

[KSUViolet06]

lI'm an Inegrated Language Arts major (basically I'll be certified to teach English, Communications, Theatre, etc in grades 7-12). I chose my major for a combination of both love and money. I originally wanted an English major, but then I wondered what I was actually gonna do with my life when I graduated.

So I chose my major because I could have a steady job after graduation as a teacher and still take all the hardcore English courses I wanted.

[futuregreek]

Jocelyn, that sounds REALLY cool My parents are both teachers and they invested well.

[RACooper]

Definitely love... cause I don't see much money in it....


BA Specialist in Celtic Studies; Minors in Anthropology, History, Art History...
- took way, way too many courses, all out of sheer interest - enough for a second degree, but your allowed only one undergrad from each faculty at UofT.

Now the fun part:
Masters in Medieval Studies, with a focus on military technology and culture of post-Roman/early dark ages England/Scotland/Wales/Ireland (and a Brittany too sometimes). Basically trying to piece together how the transition from Romanized military structure to a hybrid native-Romanic military culture and society... would be more fun if all the sources (well what little there are) were credibly translated already

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Please be aware that you need to register to read the article.

Or you could allow us to bypass the nuisance of registering on yet another website and just copy and paste the text of said article in your initial post.

Oy.....

[kddani]

Originally posted by CutiePie2000
Or you could allow us to bypass the nuisance of registering on yet another website and just copy and paste the text of said article in your initial post.

Oy.....

but that's against the TOS and violates copyright law.

[James]

Only if they complain and I am sure if they did we would be quite contrite and take it down immediately .. . .

Originally posted by kddani
but that's against the TOS and violates copyright law.

[smiley21]

well my major is Secondary Education. obviously it is for the love. you do not become a high school teacher for the money

[Exquisite5]

My undergrad major was for money: biological systems engineering. Well money, but also to prove an African American female could do it.

But the funny part is I detested it so much I decided to go to law school for LOVE. So now I've lucked out because since I am going to a firm upon graduation so that I can learn to be a real litigator I get love and money!

Edited to improve my engineering grammar.