<p>For the last year i have wanted to be an engineer but now im learning that the college workload will be rigorous and the path has social limitations. I am a sr in HS and am under a lot of stress to pick a major. I hope some of you can help me. I hate stress and that means i don't like doing lots of hard work. I am kind of laid back but if im interested in stuff i work hard. I get straight A's and am a good student yada yada... What i want out of life is so be able to have money to do things i want. i would love to travel all over the world and i love working on cars. I don't want to work 80 hours a week either or be limited to working in major cities. can someone help me find a major or at least give me some direction because i am so overwhelmed right now.</p>
<p>I am dumbfounded by your view that an engineering career = social limitations. In what sense?</p>
<p>If you love working on cars and travel the globe, then you should pursue them, perhaps as an international automobile journalist? Use your college experience to find out your true passion. Those short few years are probably the best time in life to experiment different options. Don't feel bad that you seem "lost". Even if you don't follow the traditional career paths following your major, there is no big deal. Many people pursue and enjoy a wonderful career totally unrelated to their majors.</p>
<p>if you like math, science and challanges you wouldnot have any problems.</p>
<p>you should try automotive engineering, a field in M E</p>
<p>With regard to academic rigor:
Anything worth pursuing is going to be difficult. Stress is a part of real life, and there's really no way to get around it. Everyone's got stress.</p>
<p>Having a good life full of meaning and full of all the opportunities you want to take advantage of requires hard work. Yeah, it's overwhelming looking ahead to four years of tough academics, but you just need to take it one day at a time. Thousands of people have gotten engineering degrees before you, and you'll have classmates there beside you doing the same thing that you're doing, and you can all lean on each other and help each other.</p>
<p>Figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life. It sounds like you really want to work with cars and it sounds like you'd have a pretty good aptitude for mechanical engineering, if it's something you're willing to tackle. You'll still have a great time in college, no worries... It'll be tough work, but it's nothing you can't handle.</p>
<p>Engineering's not like finance, with the long work week thing... You just can't keep your brain going at that crunchy engineering level for more than 50-60 hours a week, so don't freak out about 80-hour work weeks.</p>
<p>It'll be okay! Don't freak out about the rest of your life before you even get to college.</p>