<p>In the interest vs. earning potential thread, I thought it was interesting to read about a couple of you who are doing something completely different than what you majored in. I thought there might be more interesting stories out there that would give the kiddos some food for thought. I'll start.</p>
<p>I was a medical technology major. I worked off and on for a years in hospital labs (dh was military so we moved a lot). I took off to have babies and ended up homeschooling them for the past 13 years. A few years ago we started a Christmas tree farm, and I do some of the work with that (mostly admistrative) also.</p>
<p>My dh majored in computer science. He went into the military for 5 years. When he got out, he got a job at NASA as a flight simulation engineer. He flies as a flight engineer/copilot on a corporate jet with half the cockpit modified to look like/act like the shuttle. They train the shuttle pilots on there. He's also in the National Guard where he has been a helicopter pilot and is a part-time farmer on our aforementioned Christmas tree farm.</p>
<p>I was a psychology major. Then I went on to get an elementary teaching certificate. I am now a freelance writer and educational writer/essay reader, after homeschooling my boys for 16 years or so. (Great job, wasn't it, timely? no pay, but wonderful benefits!)</p>
<p>Timely-
You are probably the only other med tech I've met on these boards!
I graduated with a BS in Medical Technology way many years ago and have worked in hospital labs since.
I've been in Microbiology many years and have an ASCP specialist certification in micro. I probably couldn't be trusted to do a CBC or type and cross any more!
It's been a good choice for our family.....great benefits and flexible hours. Not to mention the challenge of the ever changing clinical lab field.
Nice to 'meet' you!</p>
<p>I was a music major. I had to major in music b/c I had a full band scholarship. We were very poor, so this was the only way I could attend a four year university. I am now a CPA.</p>
<p>I started as a music major but I wasn't really good enough. I was doing a dual major (music and business) and graduated in 3 years with the marketing major. I went directly to law school and I am a lawyer (in-house my entire career).</p>
<p>I received a BA in psychology - became a Naval Supply Corps officer, corporate administrator, missionary, piano teacher, and currently a part-time math teacher at a private school. Next year we'll be empty-nesters, so who knows what my next job will be?</p>
<p>BS in microbiology; worked as a med tech in a hospital lab (chemistry department) for 7 years. (Is this where all of the med techs come out of the woodwork?)</p>
<p>Then went to law school and was a lawyer (corporate/business) for 5 years.</p>
<p>Been a stay-at-home mom for the past 17 years.</p>
<p>When my youngest goes off to college in 4 years--who knows what I'll become!</p>
<p>Timely, you scared me! My mom was a med tech, worked off and on in that field, and has homeschooled me and my brother for 13 years! I was like, "Wait, I HOPE my mom isn't on CC!" lol</p>
<p>I attended pharmacy school and guess what? I'm a pharmacist! I worked FT until we had kids, then I did nursing home consulting for7 or 8 years, and now I do hospital work PT. It's a really flexible job both in geographic area and in hours.</p>
<p>I started college in 85 as secondary ed/english and then kids...life...and now I graduate this May with a BS in Library and Information Sciences. </p>
<p>So not a teacher but a librarian. </p>
<p>Hubby has an assoc. in Criminal Justice and sells cars. Best friend has degree in Psych and runs a travel agency :)</p>
<p>I got a BA in music and English followed, some years later, with a master's degree in music therapy. Practiced music therapy for 13 years and then segued into fund raising. (Also had short-lived careers as a journalist and music librarian.)</p>
<p>I have my degree in elementary education. And I teach! Just not at the public school. I've been home for 29 years, though subbed and worked in spec ed off and on for several years. I've been homeschooling my five children for 18 years. </p>
<p>My dh's undergrad degree is in architectural engineering and his master's in public administration. He's the physical plant manager at our local airport, calls square dances and runs our cattle ranch in his "spare" time.</p>
<p>For all of you who left work for kids....do you have any advice on getting back into the workforce? After 18 years of being a stay-at-home mom I feel overwhelmed and unqualified to try togo back to work( I was an accountant and it seems so much has changed!!! )</p>
<p>That is exactly what I was afraid of, so I kept working part time all of these years, even if it was only a couple of day a month. Maybe some professional organization for accountants, or even a college, would have some program to update people who have been out of the workforce for awhile?</p>
<p>Another med tech here. I only worked in it for 4 years - 2 years in a private group practice and 2 years in a Red Cross blood center. Then I went back to school to become an engineer, which was what I had really wanted to do in the first place, but it wasn't something my gender was encouraged to do.</p>
<p>Field of concentration at Harvard: History and Literature of France. Essentially "minored" in art history. Spent my junior year in France through a non-Harvard program (got full credit because of my concentration) and became fairly fluent in French. Loved art history but there were no jobs at the time (recession) and it did not sound like the right field. Also, not truly gifted in art history. </p>
<p>Taught French and art history for one year at a private high school. Liked teaching, but again not gifted at it. Decided to apply to law school, did very well on the LSATs, had my choice of law schools. Chose Stanford. Loved Stanford, lukewarm about law school. Made it through, passed the bar, had no intention of practicing. But, found an area of specialization that has fascinated me since the day I started it (family law). Have become a certified specialist in family law, named a Superlawyer of northern California, AV rated (highest rating in the national legal directory). Took a year off when my son was born, and two years off when my daughters were born. Dipped my toe back in when my girls were two and my son was in kindergarten: worked from 8 to 11 a.m. while he was at school! Over the next 12 years, have worked part-time, usually home after school with them. </p>
<p>I love my work, my office, my clients, and most of all I love the flexibility I have to leave the office whenever I feel like it to go watch my children in their various activities or just hang out with them after school. I still have a passion for art history but am able to satisfy it by reading, visiting museums all over the world, and so forth. Am also lucky enough to have a wonderful collection of art. If I were a curator, I think I'd be beholden to a bureaucracy which would not fit with my personality. I do, though, think about being a museum docent after my daughters are in college.</p>
<p>I intend to practice law this way (picking and choosing my clients) for a long, long time with some long vacations interspersed. My dad is 88 and is still passionate about his intellectual property clients who still want HIM and only HIM!</p>
<p>BFA in Modern Dance, danced w/ small company, worked for Whole foods Market in the early years (when they only had 1 store!), had babies, Master of Library and Info Science, worked as a company librarian, back to school to get my Teaching Certificate, 9 years as a school librarian, now 4 years as a Kindergarten teacher teaching low-income, English as a Second Language kiddies. Hubby washed lettuce at Whole Foods, had babies with me, then undergrad in computer sci, but switched to Humanities, continued to wash lettuce at Whole Foods, then grad school MLIS, now a library manager.</p>
<p>
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After 18 years of being a stay-at-home mom I feel overwhelmed and unqualified to try togo back to work( I was an accountant and it seems so much has changed!!! )
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</p>
<p>I have a friend who was out of the business for more like 10 years. She put out some feelers to old colleagues and has become quite successfully re-integrated. The big accounting firms at least have extensive training programs. You wouldn't be at the same level as your contemporaries who remained in the field, but I bet you could get back in. </p>
<p>This is, however, one of the reasons I am so glad I kept working. You never know what curveballs life will throw you, and frankly I never wanted to be economically dependent on anyone else. I am neither dependent on my husband nor on some unfeeling corporate behemoth who could cut me loose just because they feel like it. I have full disability coverage, long-term care coverage, and lots of life insurance for my kids in case something happens to me. I am also really happy in my work. One could achieve the same thing if one were independently wealthy through inheritance or great investment savvy. I haven't been blessed with either of those, but I am really good at what I do and do not find it hard to keep working at a pace that is comfortable for me. </p>
<p>OTOH, getting back into a field after many years out I think can be liberating too--I do know some stay-at-home moms who re-entered the work force and are successfully working in business and in publishing. It probably takes a lot of energy but if you had the talent then, you have the talent now!</p>
<p>Wow, as the "starter" of the interest v. earning potential thread, I was excited to read this thread! Anyone major in communications and have a decently paying job? :/</p>
<p>BA and MA in history. Thirty plus year career in the Federal government mostly in civil rights with some time in criminal law enforcement coordination and crime victims' rights. Now doing complaint investigations at UW-Madison.</p>