<p>Yeah, I really don't know what to do... Talking with a trusted adult led nowhere. Talking to an academic advisor who personally knows me led nowhere...</p>
<p>Well, for the most part, I think that I need help deciding on whether or not I want to take another semester/year to help figure out what I want to do.</p>
<p>I can move on in another major that involves what I'm really good at, but I'm not really sure that I want to progress in it for the right reason. I'm really good at math and physics. I thought about doing engineering, and if I decide to do that, I've gotta act TODAY.</p>
<p>The following reasons that I want to do engineering: I can enroll at a cheap school and every class that I've taken so far fits in the degree plan, leaving me with 73 credits remaining to complete the degree plan. Easily done in 3 years! As well, my friends are heading into it right now. They're REALLY good friends--the ones that I think are the lifelong friends people make in college.</p>
<p>But are those really good enough reasons to jump straight into a degree track? Convenience, time, and friends? </p>
<p>Of course, I could have an easier life if I took another year to find myself, but then I'm a year behind in deciding. I really don't know what to do... I have already finished community college, and I'm really no closer to figuring out what I want to do with my life...</p>
<p>What does this have to do with severe depression? Don’t make a title like that if it isn’t serious.</p>
<p>So anyway, what are your other options? Do you have any reason to not want to do engineering? Do you have any professional interest at all in engineering?</p>
<p>Sorry, I typed all this up in a hurry.</p>
<p>I do have depression in regards to what I want to do with my life. I can barely eat, sleep, or think just because the school year starts next week and I don’t have a freaking clue what it is that I want to do with my life. I don’t want to waste time in college since I don’t have the money to do so. As evidenced by the first post, I’m already a college junior.</p>
<p>I still have time to register for classes until Sunday, but I really cannot handle the stress of it all. I do work, and my employer is just hounding me for my school schedule and I haven’t given her it yet. All in all, the depression stems from the “what might’ve been feeling” that I might be getting if I choose to not go into the engineering program like my friends are this semester. Once the school year starts and if I’m not registered for engineering statics, there’s no catching up to them and I’ll probably never see them again. The engineering program at my school only offers statics and dynamics once a year each.</p>
<p>My other interests involve computer programming, something I got really good at when I was a young teenager, computer engineering, mathematics, and physics. I discovered in high school that those are the only things that I’m good at. Music too, but that’s besides the point. I just really cannot figure out what I want to do.</p>
<p>It sounds like your interests really don’t lie in engineering, but you’re afraid of being separated from some very good friends by taking a different path. Is that correct?</p>
<p>To be honest, I don’t really know what engineering is. I really don’t know what any of my interests entail either. I have looked up the career exploration guides for each on several different sources, including collegeboard, but really don’t know any better as to what I’d be doing in each.</p>
<p>If you are really good at computer programming, maybe you should become a computer science major. As for friends in engineering, I have friends who majored in accounting, engineering, history, political science, pharmacy,… I think you get the point.</p>
<p>Yeah, those career exploration guides are more fluff than helpful information. In general, an engineer uses physics (and maybe other science, but not necessarily) to build and/or fix pieces of technology. It’s a bit difficult to explain in more detail because honestly it really is that broad. Maybe a few examples of specific engineer jobs would help?</p>
<p>[Mechanical</a> Engineers : Occupational Outlook Handbook : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/mechanical-engineers.htm#tab-2]Mechanical”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/mechanical-engineers.htm#tab-2)</p>
<p>^Personally each of those examples on the BLS page for the mechanical engineer seem incredibly boring, if you ask me.</p>
<p>I kind of feel like working at a place like Yahoo in an office, but there’s something that REALLY bothers me: I LOVE a job with a little variety every now and then. I would think that a job at Yahoo or Google would be mostly the same thing, and pretty much be a company where there’s almost no possibility for advancement since all those positions are probably informally tenured. I wouldn’t necessarily want to be stuck in an office cubicle for the next 30 years.</p>
<p>Those jobs are about as interesting as they sound. If the idea of the job sounds like a bore, then the reality won’t be much different.</p>
<p>What do you actually want to do as a career? As in, what do you imagine would be a good job for you?</p>
<p>The goal is to move from the cubicle, then to the window office, then to the corner window office. </p>
<p>I think you need a bit of a reality check to be honest. Some people love their job…some people like their job…and some people just do their job. If you can’t figure out what you love…get some skills that will afford you a life that will make you happy (outside of work). If your great at math and physics, great! A lot of people aren’t and hence engineering is one of the top paid undergrad degrees. </p>
<p>So to recap. Use your skills. Get new skills. Make money. Enjoy life. Get undepressed.</p>
<p>If I majored in math: being a Ph.D instructor would be something nice, but I am not sure I would enjoy all of my job. My favorite math subjects are trigonometry and calculus. If I were a Ph.D instructor at a university, I’d probably have to teach lower-level algebra and whatnot. Math is VERY easy for me, but algebra itself is just boring to teach. Pay is nice though.</p>
<p>If I majored in physics, same as above, but I figured I’d be able to do lots of cool experiments. I also feel though that I had a too-easy-going university physics teacher, so while I may like physics, it might be 10x harder if I get a different instructor.</p>
<p>Computer engineering/computer science seems like something that would incorporate lots of variety, but I’m worried about getting stuck in a codemonkey position after finishing school, wherever I end up.</p>
<p>I’d recommend looking into some of the more theoretical fields in CS, like cryptography and artificial intelligence. You might like those and there is definitely a sizable demand for security experts.</p>
<p>glassamilk: Hubbie and dd are elec engineers-systems. Hubbie has designed major components for the customer: Military and private sector. He uses calculus and math every day. He loves math. He’s designed systems for different pitches of planes, communication and navigation systems and then he travels to wherever his part is being used to see it in use. It has not been boring for him. </p>
<p>DD just graduated with an EE degree and Software background. She will be traveling to a LOT of places to design systems for petroleum and marine technology. She’s a very good mathematician and also did major calculus and power system studies. She will also begin underwater training and thankfully is a very strong swimmer-which her company really saw as an advantage. She will be at petroleum sites all over the world. It’s not boring.</p>
<p>Engineering degrees are extremely versatile degrees. Since you are already enrolled with your friends, I say go for it. Many engineering grads do not end up being engineers - a lot of them go into law, med, finance etc… </p>
<p>What I’m trying to tell you is that you are stressing over NOTHING. Because you will have even MORE options available to you once you graduate.</p>
<p>The possibilities are endless with an engineering degree, it is a very well respected degree.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>At a university you’d probably be teaching calc or stats or high level math.</p>
<p>I think you should look at it from my point of view kind of. I’m more interested in job prospects, but more along the lines of being able to find a good paying job wherever I want to live then just making tons of money. I want versatility and to be in demand in many different types of jobs. Maybe if you aren’t quite sure, you should pick a degree that might give you options. Math degrees go pretty far from what I’ve read on this site, even if you are supposed to pair them with what you are interested in…econ,cs,eng., etc. I think a math major with a econ minor qualifies you for quite a bit of different jobs, same with math and minor in cs, or math and minor in EE. Maybe you could benefit from finding something that has many different fields that they can end up in, or maybe you should do more research on some of the “majors” threads on this site that explore what people actually do with their majors.</p>