Quote:
Originally Posted by BreakABone
O boy you are singing my song. Haha.
I went into college with the idea of being an engineer major. (they make big money  ) but after the first semester I realized it just wasn't for me. I mean I still like some of the stuff but didn't have the patience or discpline to learn it.
So for the next 3 semesters (year and a half) I just kind of muddled through my gen ed requirements with some ideas in the back of my mind. I started leaning towards Psychology at the end of freshman year (I had an interest in it from HS) and found that it really was a field I enjoyed. I like talking to people and more importantly figuring people out. I enjoy listening and offering advice when it is necessary.
So at the end of my sophmore year, I decided I would go for it and declared it my major. I was also interested in writing and a lot of teachers enjoyed my work so I also began to minor in Writing. However due to the late start, I had to focus all of senior year on Psych to graduate on time.
It hasn't paid off yet since don't get many jobs with a BA in Psych but I plan to go to grad school in 09 to study either Child Psychology or School Psych. Currently working with troubled teens to build up experience and see how much I like it (I like it enough but wouldn't want to work on this level much longer)
In the long run, I think the decision will be for the best, I rather make decent money and enjoy my job than have forced myself into 4-5 years of stuff I thought was only so so. |
Wow...yeah I'm basically shadowing your situation. I'm pursuing engineering...or I was. I got pushed into engineering out of high school because I love computers and technology and I guess I'm somewhat intelligent. I think patience and discipline really come from enjoying what you do. I don't have the patience or discipline that I had freshman year, and even then I don't think I had what it takes to get through 4 years of Engineering. The stuff is hard, and some of it is interesting, but the stuff that isn't interesting is a double whammy...it's hard so you should study more but you're not interested so you just don't care. I've always been fascinated with psychology, I started listening to Loveline when I was in 4th grade and I always thought that Dr. Drew had a really cool job. I'm fascinated with the way drugs interact with people physically and emotionally. I'm also fascinated with early child development, specifically child abuse, parent relations, and stuff like that. I also enjoy writing, but being in an Engineering major does not present many opportunities to write. I enjoyed writing my psych papers, and I had to write a couple philosophy papers.
Part of why Engineering was so appealing was that it is big money. And, coming out of high school with really no idea what I wanted to do it all kind of made sense. But now, after 2 years of doing engineering and working a full-time summer IT job (stuck behind a desk 9-5, I can't stand it, I never want to do that as a profession), I've decided that I'm just going to do what I enjoy and hope that I can secure a job. I'll definitely research teaching, I always wanted to do secondary education, but I think I would enjoy teaching psychology at a University. There's a lot of options for me at this point, but school is expensive and I would like to be out of here in another 2 or 2 and a half years. I just feel better knowing that I'm not the only person who has gone through this. You hear a lot about engineers switching into business majors, but not so much doing something as dramatic as going into English or Psychology. But, I guess it all comes down to what you enjoy.