<p>I am very impressed by folks here on this thread.</p>
<p>My passions in my youth were Tai Chi and "financial independence". Aiming for engineering, I focused on math and science throughout high school but changed my mind and went into East Asian Studies, majoring in Chinese politics in college. Looking for a career that can offer me a stable source of income and allow me to take courses helpful to my interest in Tai Chi, I came to the US for further studies, smack into the Watergate investigation and the withdrawal from Vietnam. I then came back to Canada for a degree in education.</p>
<p>During my working years, I completed all academic requirements to be a stockbroker and a financial planner, but was turned off by the sales tactics. Those courses were helpful in fine tuning my investing skills, however.</p>
<p>I reached my goal at 47, stopped working at 50, and formally retired at 53.</p>
<p>As far as Tai Chi goes, I have moved on to other internal arts 16 years ago.</p>
<p>Major was Biology, my college didn’t have minors, but I took a lot of Chemistry. I could have double majored, but that involved serious Physics classes. I have a career in accounting and am a CPA ( long story).</p>
<p>I received a degree in mass com, and got a job right out of the gate as a newspaper reporter. I was a very happy girl at graduation, because most of my fellow students had not found employment of any kind, much less in the industry. I left the workforce after the birth of my first child, and I’ve been a stay-at-home-mom every since, and would not have it any other way. My youngest is a junior in hs, and I am now taking art history classes just for the fun of it at lovely liberal arts college in our town. I will be an empty nester soon, and have no idea what I am going to do with myself.</p>
<p>I enjoy this thread too. It’s fun reading the various twists, etc. that we all take (while starting it again with our kids.)</p>
<p>Initially, I was undeclared. I took Anthropology & loved it. Took Weather & loved it, Took Urban Studies & loved it. Took Business Law & loved it. I loved Astronomy too. I even liked Chemistry. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do.</p>
<p>Eventually, I majored in Communications, minored in Business, and it was perfect for me. I didn’t find my path until I hit 28. This, is what college is for … gaining the broader and diverse education that prepares us for life.</p>
<p>I had no idea so many people were/are interested in science! I shunned every science course I could. </p>
<p>Anyway, my B.S. was in Marketing from a private Catholic university. I wanted to major in history, but my parents, like Smalltownmom’s parents, convinced me that I should major in something that would help me get a job. Like the good son, I listened to them. I should not have listened. And this is why I’m supporting my kids’ decisions to major in the humanities instead of business or engineering. My M.B.A. is in Industrial Relations from a flagship state U, and my Juris Doctor degree is also from a flagship state U. I passed the Bar but only played lawyer for one year. I don’t miss it.</p>
<p>To answer the OP’s second question, if I could do it all over again I would DEFINITELY major in English and Journalism and become a sports journalist. I was an athlete in high school with dreams of becoming a Major League Baseball player. Unfortunately, I wasn’t good enough. Sports Journalism would’ve put me close to what I loved the most, a satisfactory solution given that I lacked the skill to play the game at the highest level. I’d give almost anything to be jetting around the world covering the NFL, the Olympics, World Cup games, talking trash and writing articles. God, what a wonderful life it would be. I would not have cared if it didn’t pay a lot of money. Instead I’m a middle-aged corporate stiff worried about my stock options and 401K. How pathetic is that? I want my kids to avoid this trap.</p>
<p>I spent about 10 years working in the forest industry and then went back to get the MBA. I’ve since worked in accounting and investments, so I’ve been lucky enough to put both degrees to work.</p>
<p>Undergrad major in Creative Writing. Also did secondary education credential (in English) because what I thought I really, really wanted to do was be a NYC public high school teacher, while I wasn’t writing and publishing poetry. But alas, it was the 1970s, and nobody was hiring public high school teachers. After two years working in publishing, followed the advice of my professors who suggested I think about a PhD in Comparative Literature. Headed out to beautiful Northern California to do that. I have had immense fun staying in school as long as I possibly could, learning languages and traveling, and I heartily recommend taking “the long way around” esp. if you want to write. I have lived and taught abroad, and have criss-crossed the country various times, with DH, another creative writing major, who wound up with an MBA and PhD in Management (!). Despite my not having done any math since high school, I took a leave to spend a year and a half taking grad courses in Information Science (a renegade humanist among the engineers…but engineers are truly amazing). Info Science has been incredibly useful as methods of doing research have changed tremendously since I did the Ph.D., but I can’t say that it succeeded into making me think in an organized fashion, alas. </p>
<p>And if I had it to do over? I’d change none of it, except maybe that undergrad degree in Creative Writing. The undergrad courses I most draw on aren’t the writing workshops but rather, the ones I took for distribution credits-- geography, religion – or for requirements, such as languages. I still daydream a bit about Law school, or maybe doing something related to Early Childhood Development… Even if I won the lottery, however, I would still be doing something directly related to teaching and writing.</p>
<p>I was a double major in Political Science and English Lit. Thought I would go to law school or be a political writer. Started volunteering at youth detention schools and decided I would rather try to keep kids out of the juvenile justice system rather than work with them after they had entered. Went on to grad school in Criminal Justice. Worked for juvenile non-profits for a decade until I had my first D and then became a SAHM. Youngest leaves the nest in the fall and I don’t know what I want to be now. I am very excited about the possibilities! If I would change anything it would be to keep taking interesting classes. I love researching, gathering new information and new projects.</p>
<p>Computer Science - mid 70’s when it was a very new major. My graduating class was 50% male, 50% female and jobs were plentiful for anyone interested in systems work. I stayed in the field for 10 years and then at home with my kids. CS doesn’t prepare you for life as a mom until the kids start using their computers. I was the mom that knew what the kids were doing online(very useful).</p>
<p>Sorry I am a student, but just wanted to respond to collegekidsmom.
My mom majored in Computer Science, too (actually both my parents did). She said, in total, there were 4 female students in her year.
Anyway, I always envied kids who could get away with doing Internet all the time by saying they were doing homework.
But it was pretty cool, too. I learned computer way faster than my friends did and my mom could fix most of computer problems; very useful ^^</p>
<p>Started in English lit but in the 70’s soon realized this would get me a job as a waitress. Went to the job center and asked what field people were still being hired for. They said chemical engineering, so I switched to that, even though I had never passed a math class in my life. Just before graduating I applied for a job as a technical editor with a trade magazine based in europe. Took it and traveled the world for 3 years. Returned to the US to work in capital equipment sales, then married and started a business with husband. I use my writing skills all of the time, but am glad I have practical skills as well.</p>
<p>majored in psych–then went on for a masters in social work–28 yrs later still love what I do. have worked with ill children in hospitals, people struggling with addiction in rehabs, do training and consulting in corporations so I have found I can create new chapters of my career in the same profession. when my children were little, I opted to have a small private practice which let me enjoy raising them, while also continuing to work.</p>
<p>BS in Electrical Engineering at a state flagship U</p>
<p>Started a PhD program in Electrical Engineering, but got fed up and stopped with a masters</p>
<p>EE was definitely the right major for me, but I don’t think I chose my PhD school for the right reason - was blinded by the prestige of an Ivy name, and didn’t realize that program was much too theoretical for a practical engineer like me. I was one of few women at both undergrad and grad EE programs - especially grad school where I was the only woman in my year. </p>
<p>I’ve worked in R&D ever since, more on the R side than the D side. For about the last 5 years I’ve been an engineering manager.</p>
<p>I majored in Biology ( Emory Univ) and went the whole premed/med/internal medicine route only to discover/uncover a desire to understand the inner emotional world. I switched to psychiatry, something I had never considered in all those years of study…it was really quite a surprise! I became involved in work integrating the use of medication with psychotherapy, and find it a privilege to be able to help people in this way.</p>
<p>I found what suits me, but it’s not what I originally thought!</p>
<p>Dain3265 - your mom must be younger than me. At some point CS switched to be a male dominated field, it wasn’t always that way. My kids also found it to be a mixed blessing that I knew my way around the computer world.</p>
<p>I didn’t major in college- I have been piddling around community colleges- first with the intent on transferring to a 4 year school, basically so I could say I had a degree, ( I didn’t graduate from high school- but took my GED), now I am enrolled in a landscaping/horticulture program and enjoying it very much.
Lots of people enrolled in this program re: their 2nd careers!</p>
<p>American Studies–loved almost all my courses, graduated without skills into the previous deep recession. After a “gap year” of any jobs I could find went back and got an MBA, originally with the idea of going into the management side of student exchange organizations, but eventually went into banking. 10 years later, went back for a Ph.D. (too much travel with small children in my bank job) and became a college professor in a business school.
Flash-forward to today: S. is a graduating senior in International Studies who has loved his courses but has limited practical skills and is probably going to have a gap experience similar to mine because he wanted to work for a while to figure out which kind of grad school he might want. D., a freshman, just declared a sociology/management major with a focus in nonprofit organization management. It seems like deja vu all over again. Cue the “Twilight Zone” music if D. ends up in banking.</p>
<p>Oh, I should probably add that although I wouldn’t have gotten hired for my banking job without my MBA, it was the skills from my liberal arts undergraduate major that I used most throughout that phase of my career (which was in strategic planning and wholesale market management.)</p>
If I would change anything it would be to keep taking interesting classes. I love researching, gathering new information and new projects.</p>