<p>I've always really liked history and I have considered a lot of different careers and done quite a bit of job shadowing, but I always come back to the thought of being a teacher. What I'm worried about with being a teacher is that I don't know that I could deal with the disrespect and downward trend of education in the United States. I really have my heart set on being a history major, but it seems like there aren't many other job opportunities.
I feel like the best option is to do something practical, like math - which I've always been pretty good at. I'm also wondering if college is even worth it. Would it be better for me to go to a vocational school and start my career sooner?
How did you know what you wanted to study/do with your life? </p>
<p>I want to double major in math and philosophy, then get a Ph.D. in math and work…somewhere. Probably in industry, because good academia jobs are really hard to get. I could also teach at a private high school, which could be nice or not depending on the school. I’ve had this goal for the past two years now, ever since I took Algebra II in tenth grade. (Well, the math part. I’ve liked philosophy for several years too, and I decided a few weeks ago that I want to have it as my second major because it doesn’t have very many required courses at my university and I want to have a “formal” foundation so I’ll be able to read philosophy intelligently for the rest of my life.) I like math because I like solving puzzles and dealing with abstraction. For better or worse, pure math isn’t really all that practical and a lot of people only like math when it’s used as a tool for doing something else. </p>
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If you would enjoy college and benefit intellectually from it, then it’s worth it. Most people in the past never had access to a college education, so I think it’s an amazing privilege that I’m able to go. I would go to college even if it wouldn’t improve my job prospects because I think school is a lot more fun than working full-time. If I’m going to have a bad job all my life, I may as well go to school and learn stuff for a few years before I start it. In most cases I don’t think college is worth a lot of debt, but there are lots of affordable schools out there.</p>