People Who Regret Their College Majors Are Sharing What Their Major Was

People Who Regret Their College Majors Are Sharing What Their Major Was And When They Learned They Made A Huge Mistake

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/people-regret-college-majors-sharing-031602576.html


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First, the vast majority of jobs in America don't require a degree in a specific area, or even a degree at all.

Second, read the stories. They have nothing to do what what was taught at university. Instead, people were making poor career choices, both in choosing a career path and the decisions they made from there.

 

Here's my story.

In second grade I had my first science class. The teacher wrote up on the blackboard, "Science is systematically attained knowledge gathered through careful observation and experimentation." He then spent the rest of the class hour going over the definition of each word. During that class I decided that I wanted to be a scientist when I grew up. That was my goal all the way through three years of community college.

During community college, I was planning on a chemistry major and then getting a PhD. I took all the chemistry classes offered at American River Community College. After being accepted at Berkeley I looked at the course, major and schedule books. It was going to take me three years to earn a chemistry degree because of prerequisites. I also became disillusioned with the idea of paying for school and living expenses for the next 7 years or so. I decided to give up on my becoming a scientist idea. So, I started looking at the book of the list of majors. The majors were all listed in alphabetical order in the book. I started at the beginning of the book. I was looking for a Bachelors degree that I could finish in two years and have a chance of getting a job after graduation. When I got to Computer Science, I was intrigued. I'd never seen a computer. This was just 1972 before personal computers or even gaming consoles. I thought well I should be able to get a job. I figured that after my first programming class I'll decide for sure if I like it. After my first programming class I loved programming. I had multiple job offers after graduation.

So, my idea to be scientist didn't pan out but being a computer programmer worked out great. I was super lucky. At the time there was only two colleges offering Bachelor degrees in computer science in the USA. Many companies over the next couple decades got really busy staffing up on programmers. What my idea of being a scientist did do for me is it gave me a deep respect for academic integrity. When academic frauds started preying on students interested in distance learning, I became very bothered and started posting on the Usenet forum alt.education.distance. That lead to me eventually posting here on this forum.

 

My first degree is in Greco-Roman history. I enjoyed it tremendously. A bachelor's in Greco-Roman alone has no application if you do not plan to pursue a graduate degree. I loved it however I could have spent that time and money more wisely.

 

I suppose most people regret some decisions if they didn't end up leading to the outcomes they expected. I took a career center track in High School, one year of hydraulics/mechanics and one year of basic electronics. I'm not sure that I "regret it" so much as it didn't really lead to anything, and I would have preferred and been better served either by going to the performing arts program (where my passions were) at another Career Center or by staying at school the rest of the day and doing college prep. But financially college didn't seem like a viable option for me back then (I didn't get my undergrad degree until I was 35) and the performing arts career center didn't seem practical, or a choice I could defend to my parents, but doing the electro-mechanical tech program was. Looking back I suppose I do regret feeling the need to be so practical at 17, but we were a working class family so it seemed like a "responsible choice". I know for a fact from friends that DID go to the performing arts program that I missed out on a really great life experience that probably would have changed the path of my life.

 

I enlisted in the Air Force at 18, determined to do two enlistments, make Staff Sergeant, get a bachelor's in business, get out, and manage a bowling alley.

It didn't turn out that way. Got the stripes and the degree, but everything else went sideways.

 

My friend's daughter always wanted to be a teacher, she completed bachelors and teaching credential program.
After a few years in to teaching, she realized that it's not what she wants to do.
She asked me what should she do, and I asked her what she likes to do, she told me that she enjoys completing
assignments that involve multiple participants and diverse groups.
So I suggested she gets an MBA and a PMP Cert. It was around 2007, she did that.
Got her PMP and was hired by a major healthcare provider in NCal.
She is still working there, now a Sr. Program Manager.

I know many people who are not working in the field of their graduation, major.
Lucky for me, the Engineering and Technology is such a wide field that one can change their area and role and still be related to their degree.