<p>I'm now 18 and i have no idea what i want to do with my life. I dropped out of high school and got my GED and I'm trying to figure out what i want to do. I want to go to school for a solid career but I don't know where to start.</p>
<p>I'm not good at designing things but I feel I'm very good at editing things to make them better or more convenient. Whether it has to do with a building, a gadget, a game, or a car, I'm always thinking of new ways I can make it better. I have a very keen eye for details in almost every way. I'm a big audiophile (even though i can't afford to be), somewhat of a perfectionist, and I make note of the tiniest details in products (from something to being not exactly symmetrical that is supposed to be, to a low quality building texture in a game that no one else would notice)</p>
<p>I want to get into a field that has to do with these skills but once again I don't know where to start. Anyone with any sort of help would be greatly appreciated</p>
<p>Take a look at industrial engineering. Unlike what the name implies, it is more on making an industrial process more efficient rather than making it in the first place.</p>
<p>Your first steps should be, of course, to take a look at your community college/junior college. It's cheap and will look better on a college application than a GED.</p>
<p>In my opinion, you should start by looking at the college transfer courses. What classes can you take will give you credit towards transfering to a university? Again, my opinion is that you should have above high-school level english skills and precalculus completed. During this time, see what engineering courses you can take if they are offered. CAD, graphic design, and programming classes are a must.</p>
<p>As for the other classes, you'll need the arts and such to make up a good credit load; economics, art/art history, literature... The things you'll need to transfer.</p>
<p>By the last two semesters you are planning on taking classes, it would be a good idea to take a look at colleges you'd like. Personally, I think a year is a pleanty long time.</p>
<p>Since you're an audiophile, perhaps you can work as a home theater technician. Get an AA at a community college while you think about your career further.</p>
<p>You're still very young...good luck!</p>
<p>Come over and set up my Goldmund speaker system! ;)</p>
<p>I checked out industrial design and really like the way it sounds. Phelps you're right on target with the community college idea. I knew i wasn't going to be able to get into a university right away. I already applied and got accepted to our local community college here majoring in liberal arts just for the credits. I just had no idea where to head after. </p>
<p>Have you looked at programs that involve various levels of production work for TV and film or music and video. Seems very perfectionist oriented and problem solving from what I hear. Such as lighting design, camera work, film editing, sound editing. (Or sound engineering in the recording industry). Chatted with a woman in the dog park today and her husband's job is something like video production supervisor and the job revolves around making sure all the cameras at various angles of a film shoot are sending the same clarity and color in the picture....obviously, attention to detail would be important. </p>
<p>Also, and can't think of the specifics right now, but I remember reading an article about jobs in manufacturing that are in such need of young people to enter the field that they are paying college expenses for them after an apprenticeship. I'll try to find that article.</p>