Next political debate?

[BlueFire]

Originally Posted by Bond

What are you majoring in, BlueFire?

Philosophy and Political Science. I've thought about law school, but I don't really know if it's for me. I should make my decision soon, though.. I don't have a lot of time to decide

[KillerGremlin]

Originally Posted by BLueFire

Philosophy and Political Science. I've thought about law school, but I don't really know if it's for me. I should make my decision soon, though.. I don't have a lot of time to decide

You have the rest of your life to decide. It's only society that imposes these ridiculous time limits on education. Do what you enjoy, and do it at your own pace. Don't work a job you hate for the rest of your life.

[KillerGremlin]

Originally Posted by Bond

I go to the University of Wisconsin. Since I knew I'm most likely going to pursue graduate school, I wanted to keep my undergraduate tuition on the low end, and UW is definintely affordable considering I live in state. We have a pretty good business school too. I believe it's ranked 12th.

I bet your cousin does investment banking at Goldman Sachs? That's one hardcore, cut-throat, business. I could never do it. I think the bottom 5% (performance wise) of GS's bankers get fired every year without fail.

Corporate law really interests me, it's a merger of business and law. You might like it...

Where do you go to school, KG?

I'm not sure exactly what he does...investment banking sounds about right. He does something involving transactions of millions and apparently sometimes even billions of dollars. I assume it's pretty intense...stressful hours, lots of pressure, and you have to put up with the yuppie BS in the business world. Definitely not for me.

I wouldn't want to build my wealth that way. Whenever I envision myself with lots of money I envision myself as a live-life-to-the-fullest kind of guy, like Hugh Hefner or Richard Branson...you know, the adventurous guys. Or, I envision myself in the Bill Gates roll, inventing something intuitive and hiring the finance people myself. But, who the hell am I to talk, I'm not the one making big bucks.

I'm currently attending the University of Illinois at Chicago, which is basically U of I: Chicago campus. It's rated a lot lower than U of I: Urbana, but that is changing rapidly in lieu of the fact that Chicago is full of potential and the cornfield that Urbana is is not. People see the infinite business potential of attending a University in a city with thousands of jobs, vs. a school where a lot of the graduates get sucked into research positions. I guess if you like research...

I was an Engineer, but I hated it. More so, I found that my niche is not in math and programing. Math and programming do not come naturally for me, and I HATE both subjects, so these two facts were definitely reflected in my grades during my last semester. However, between taking the required classes for my Engineering major (the ones that I hated and dreaded), I took some psychology courses and a couple of English and Philosophy classes. I loved them.

I'm really fascinated with Psychology, always have been too. The reason I chose engineering is a long and boring story...so I won't share unless asked. But, I've always been fascinated with sexual health, drug addictions/use, and child development. Recently, I've been really interested in the origins of homosexuality, and the possibility of a "gay gene" and how it came about if it exists. And, if homosexuality can be a recessive gene triggered by emotional trauma. I wouldn't mind doing research on a subject like that, or doing relationship therapy or something. I believe the sexual part of a relationship is very important and sadly America is really low out of all the countries in the world when it comes to sexual enjoyment in marriages and stuff. Anyway, I'm also recently interested in the dying brain, or what happens with the brain when we die.

So yeah. Just some stuff that really interests me. I also have always dreamed of maybe teaching, so I may pursue that venture and attempt to teach psychology?

Right now I'm not really 100% sure, I just know I hate engineering and am done with that shit forever. I do enjoy philosophy and arguing, but I don't know if I am cut out to do any serious law. I do actually read up on some current law stuff on issues like the RIAA vs. [insert person who downloaded stuff here]. I foresee a future where we need lawyers who know about technology, and that would be a cool position to pursue.

But I am young - 20. I like learning, I just wasn't enjoying what I was learning during my first 2 years in the engineering program. It makes sense though, I hate math a lot. Also, fuck programming. Mad props to all the programmers out there, they possess a method of thinking I can only dream of having.

So yeah.

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

I'm not sure exactly what he does...investment banking sounds about right. He does something involving transactions of millions and apparently sometimes even billions of dollars. I assume it's pretty intense...stressful hours, lots of pressure, and you have to put up with the yuppie BS in the business world. Definitely not for me.

I wouldn't want to build my wealth that way. Whenever I envision myself with lots of money I envision myself as a live-life-to-the-fullest kind of guy, like Hugh Hefner or Richard Branson...you know, the adventurous guys. Or, I envision myself in the Bill Gates roll, inventing something intuitive and hiring the finance people myself. But, who the hell am I to talk, I'm not the one making big bucks.

I'm currently attending the University of Illinois at Chicago, which is basically U of I: Chicago campus. It's rated a lot lower than U of I: Urbana, but that is changing rapidly in lieu of the fact that Chicago is full of potential and the cornfield that Urbana is is not. People see the infinite business potential of attending a University in a city with thousands of jobs, vs. a school where a lot of the graduates get sucked into research positions. I guess if you like research...

I was an Engineer, but I hated it. More so, I found that my niche is not in math and programing. Math and programming do not come naturally for me, and I HATE both subjects, so these two facts were definitely reflected in my grades during my last semester. However, between taking the required classes for my Engineering major (the ones that I hated and dreaded), I took some psychology courses and a couple of English and Philosophy classes. I loved them.

I'm really fascinated with Psychology, always have been too. The reason I chose engineering is a long and boring story...so I won't share unless asked. But, I've always been fascinated with sexual health, drug addictions/use, and child development. Recently, I've been really interested in the origins of homosexuality, and the possibility of a "gay gene" and how it came about if it exists. And, if homosexuality can be a recessive gene triggered by emotional trauma. I wouldn't mind doing research on a subject like that, or doing relationship therapy or something. I believe the sexual part of a relationship is very important and sadly America is really low out of all the countries in the world when it comes to sexual enjoyment in marriages and stuff. Anyway, I'm also recently interested in the dying brain, or what happens with the brain when we die.

So yeah. Just some stuff that really interests me. I also have always dreamed of maybe teaching, so I may pursue that venture and attempt to teach psychology?

Right now I'm not really 100% sure, I just know I hate engineering and am done with that shit forever. I do enjoy philosophy and arguing, but I don't know if I am cut out to do any serious law. I do actually read up on some current law stuff on issues like the RIAA vs. [insert person who downloaded stuff here]. I foresee a future where we need lawyers who know about technology, and that would be a cool position to pursue.

But I am young - 20. I like learning, I just wasn't enjoying what I was learning during my first 2 years in the engineering program. It makes sense though, I hate math a lot. Also, fuck programming. Mad props to all the programmers out there, they possess a method of thinking I can only dream of having.

So yeah.

As you know, your story mirrors mine except I got out a lot sooner.
However, my field of study has nothing to do with sexuality.
Actually, I don't know if I have a specality in psych. I want to learn more about child development and psychology, but wouldn't consider it a preference.

Actually, I guess it would be the same reason I got into the field. I like to understand people and in order to do that you have to understand personality. It is one of those things that have always most interested me. I know some people think its weird learning how to read other people, but I think its a great quality to possess.

The only thing I ever feared with going into this field is that it would sneak into my everyday life where I am analyzing and overanalyzing everything my friends say and do.

And it happens online from time to time, but in person I tend to be having too much fun to pay it any mind.

Also, as much as I enjoy the field I am still not exactly sure where I want to go with my life. I want to work with kids but beginning to think that it is possible in other realms as well.

[Vampyr]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

You have the rest of your life to decide. It's only society that imposes these ridiculous time limits on education. Do what you enjoy, and do it at your own pace. Don't work a job you hate for the rest of your life.

Not really. Saving for retirement is really something that should be started as soon as possible. I'm 21, and I'm going to be starting a ROTH IRA next year, and will be doing my best to put in the max amount every year. If getting that extra bit of education is what you need to be able to do that, you should do it as soon as possible.

[KillerGremlin]

Originally Posted by Vampyr

Not really. Saving for retirement is really something that should be started as soon as possible. I'm 21, and I'm going to be starting a ROTH IRA next year, and will be doing my best to put in the max amount every year. If getting that extra bit of education is what you need to be able to do that, you should do it as soon as possible.

I think you should pursue your education in a timely fashion...if you are sure you know what you want to do. Retirement is a long ways away, and between retirement you are going to have to work. So, the way I see it, I'd like to work a job I really love. I want my job to make me happy. I've seen people who have worked a job they hate for 30 or 40 years, and I've seen them retire with just enough money to get by, and they don't seem very happy. And then they die.

So, unless you plan on only working for a few years and retiring rich, I'd say go with schooling/job that you enjoy, take your time and enjoy life, and at the end of the day maybe you won't even want to retire.

Retirement...that's such a depressing thing to think about. After retirement comes death. Unless I had tons of money to stay busy 24/7, I'm not even sure I'd want to retire.

[Vampyr]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

Retirement...that's such a depressing thing to think about. After retirement comes death. Unless I had tons of money to stay busy 24/7, I'm not even sure I'd want to retire.

That's the idea, though! If a person gets a good job early enough and is smart about how they save for their retirement, you can come out with one or two million, or more if you got lucky with investments.

I enjoy my job, but I don't want to work here for the rest of my life. I'd like to retire someday, and when I do I want to be able to enjoy myself and stay busy, like you said.

[KillerGremlin]

Originally Posted by Vampyr

That's the idea, though! If a person gets a good job early enough and is smart about how they save for their retirement, you can come out with one or two million, or more if you got lucky with investments.

I enjoy my job, but I don't want to work here for the rest of my life. I'd like to retire someday, and when I do I want to be able to enjoy myself and stay busy, like you said.

Well, Godspeed. But I should caution you, nothing ever goes as planned... You may get married, have a family, put kids through college. And, I will say this...my Grandparents have hundreds of thousands of dollars saved up in the bank, plus they own an apartment that is worth at least another 600,000. But, even in their old age, they are very conservative with their money. It's almost sad to watch them...they could retire to a sweet home in a warm place, but instead they are going to leave quite a bit of wealth behind. Moral of the story; I would hate to die with hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank. I would like to help my family out, but I'm going to be a self-centered bastard and spend some of that money on myself!