Neuroscience / Academia.
Working at an academic neuroscience lab to take a break from school and gain more lab experience before starting a PhD.
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Kid 1: English Literature/NPS Interp seasonal x2, 6 months as an asst to a top literary agent (she was nuts and toxic, so kid quit), now teaching middle school which she loves. She also luckily teaches in a state that pays teachers a decent salary.
Kid 2: Civil Engineering/will be finishing an accelerated masters, then most likely onto a pathways career ladder position with the federal government next year.
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My LEO son responded to a suicide by shotgun call last night. No BA/MA/PhD can prepare you for that. Luckily, or unluckily depending on your viewpoint, his EMT work exposed him to many similar situations. He was very clinical in his description of the situation to me. I could never do what he does.
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Over time I sensed with my daughter returning from tough calls, that working on the patient allowed them to focus on the medical situation, confident that they had applied skills and training, regardless of the outcome.
But when occasionally there was plenty of personnel on the scene, and she stepped back into a supervisory or supporting role, the bigger impact seemed to be dealing with distraught family members who understandably were desperate for answers that objectively no one could give – leaving the responder feel helpless.
So sometimes what we think of as gruesome, is “just” physiology – it may actually be harder for these kids to put the loud and visible grief of others out of their mind.
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Off topic threads disparaging graduates of Harvard hidden. Get back on topic. Further posts will be deleted.
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My kids are out of school for a while but this is what they did
CS/Programmer
International Relations/NGO internships->Naval officer
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My kids didn’t follow a completely straightforward path, but nothing that surprising from their interest in high school.
DS1 - Intended French/philosophy major. Graduated as French/history/government major. Peace Corps in eastern Europe, where he learned Russian. Foreign Service officer–got a bonus for speaking Russian; subsequently learned Arabic. Spent way too much time in Russia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan from parents’ perspective.
DS2 - Intended civil engineering major, which he completed. Took MS in subspecialty of transportation engineering. Now a transportation engineer.
DD - Intended Chinese and environmental science major. Graduated with majors in history and secondary education. Teaches history, economics, American government in high school. However, she landed her first couple of teaching jobs not because of her academics but because she could coach a sport they needed a coach for.
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All are obviously great but Son #1 sounds incredible. What a great ability to learn!!!
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Daughter ‘23 grad Econ major minor in Sociology and entrepreneurship starting as Analyst at Capital One next week
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Your kids sound very talented.
#1 – Political Science ->online community management and spokesperson for gaming company. Now a stay-at-home mom. Covid really messed up plans to go back to work after the second one. Exploring the next career direction.
#2 – EECS → software engineer with a year off to study composition then creative coder and freelance composer of music for video games. Now back to software engineering for the big bucks!
#3 – International Studies/Russian → Research assistant with tuition benefits so got an MS in Data Science. Now Data Scientist for health care research company.
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@my3girls how did you kid study composition for one year?
It was a certificate program at a conservatory. Music has always been her avocation so she took a shot at making it her vocation. Soundtrack composing and scoring is a tough field. She decided she liked making money and doing music on the side better than hustling all the time.
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@GKunion - a friend’s kid is interested, other than JMU, where else are these programs offered as undergraduate degrees?
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It seems some schools include IA components under Securities Studies. Have them look at Texas A&M, Arizona State University and George Washington University as well.
I can tell you that JMU has IA professors that are former clandestine operators, CIA employees, and active professionals in the realm of weapons of mass destruction. The real world perspective they bring to the table is both impressive, and informative.
Here is a photo of my son, with one of his IA professors, participating in the 9/11 Tower Challenge. These professors walk the walk…
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Son - Physics major, analyst at a hedge fund
Daughter - Biology major, data analytics/business development
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D1: Ph.D in psychology
Job: Clinical psychologist/researcher, working to decrease suicide/substance
abuse/PTSD in active duty military;
D2: Bachelors in Energy Commerce, JD/MBA;
Job: Attorney in “Big Law” firm, specializes in energy;
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D: BS in CS; MBA
D worked full-time and took her MBA classes at night year round and finished in two years I think. She now works for a consulting firm doing work for the government. I’m not quite sure what she does and she can’t tell me. She’s happy with her work and is starting a certificate program in cybersecurity management soon.
She started college intending to major in biomedical engineering and go on to medical school. I think that dream was quickly crushed. It was probably more my dream than hers!
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S: BA in Math/Econ with independent major in Behavioral Econ.
First Job: Co-founded a tech startup
[Later MS in Data Science/Computational & Mathematical Engineering and MBA.
Current Job: Co-founder of fintech startup]
D: Did one semester as an intended biology major and transferred to get BSN/MSN;
First Job: Nurse Practitioner doing primary care
[Current Job: Nurse Practitioner and Medical Director of Clinic].
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