<p>Hi people. I've kind of come to a tragic conclusion, so if some experienced people could give me some advice after reading what I have to say, I really appreciate your time and expertise, thank you very much. If not, I respect your time and thanks anyway.</p>
<p>I recently came to a tragic conclusion about what you like, what you study, and what you do in life. Now, doesn't everybody say to do what you love to do? Look at your childhood, perhaps, and see what gave you the most interest, satisfaction, etc.? Well, here's a kid who had a ton of interests, not just one. But one interest that stood out was that I liked to play with legos and erector sets, building things, sometimes and often houses and spaceships. I was a great student through all schools, with a slight slip in senior year. I did pretty good in physics and math (not AP calc, tho....chills), and since I worked in a construction company and was exposed to civil engineering and architecture because I had to work with them and also do some design-grade residential designs and basic engineering for decks, I liked the two and decided that they interest me, so I thought i'd study engineering and architecture in college. After all, I'd love to be the guy on Discovery Channel who's designing or engineering the Shanghai World Financial Center or 7 World Trade Center or something. Doing the wind calculations and stresses and designing the beauty would be great, right? Apparently not. I learned through asking several architects and engineers in top NYC firms and smaller, less successful firms about the career opportunities, and they said that only the top 15% of engineers and architects in large companies have that kind of creative ability. Now i understand that all this is stuff is greatly a collaborative effort with such large projects involving several people working together, but they told me that the rest of them in large companies that do that work end up designing a small room with no design creativity and engineering one wall of a huge floor. Now although it may be nice to see that you did design that wall, what if you want more creative ability, the only choice is achieving seniority or something else. Now, I'm just a HS student and don't have that much insight into the industry or anything. I've seen that there are some small architects that make good money, have creative design opportunities when they build large residential or light commercial buildings, but how many people are needed to design such a place? Can it be a one-man or smaller show?</p>
<p>Additionally, I've had a great interest in economics. I did great on the AP Micro and Macro classes and exams (Despite how people say they're easy, I know smart kids who didn't do well in them). I'm a budding investor, and know about things like options and futures and stocks and REIT's and all that other good stuff, and have kind of started to learn how to analyze futures and options to make more money. It interests me and the business side has helped me become a project manager in my construction company and do sales and marketing and stuff. How could one go about learning them both to prepare for a career in which you have freedom? Have your own smaller architecture firm or Construction Company or work for GS, MLynch, BearS, JPM, etc. in I-Banking or REIT's? Or even just acquire the knowledge to operate a very successful portfolio?I'm running a portfolio now that gives me a good ROI for my situation, so an advancement of knowledge would mean you have a better ability to manage your portfolio, right? I was thinking that one could do an undergrad in architectural engineering, masters in Architecture, then a MBA in Finance. Would this work, or do I have inflated dreams? I know I could succeed relatively well in both, but I really need some insight from some people who've gone through either process or college as a whole, because I really don't have a link to anyone that could help me out.</p>
<p>Ill probably talk some more after I get some responses that ell me that such an option is viable. I know I rambled a bit and it was a bit to read. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.</p>