guys please help me choose what Major i should take in school...

[kidstuff]

everyone,

this is breif story about me. I am 23 years old.
I was a good to excellent high school student.
at 18 got accepted to a very good state university.
at this university I ROYALLY FUCKED UP because i didn't know what i wanted to do or if school was even right for me. after 3 years of on and off school i decided to leave for good.
I am now back home, where i grew up, eeking out a living. I work 3 jobs to support myself, but i am living paycheck to paycheck and I know this can't be the rest of my life. I can barely afford my gym membership, but i can't afford other things, like dating and going out with friends on weekends.
now I KNOW that i have to go back to school, earn a degree, and get a job which allows me to earn a decent living.

I have no affinity for anything, I have no interest in really anything (except BB but i don't want to go into nutrition or excercise science). please people help me find a major. I am considering seeing a career coach but that would be another 300 a month which i can't afford now.

even if you have no reccomendation per se, it would still help by just posting:

1. what you majored in in college.
2. what you do now and how do you like it.
3. and if you could do it all over, what would you major in.


thank you!

 

[Dad]

Here's what long, painful experience taught me:
Yuor job initally is to find out if there's anything that's really interesting to you, AND to try a get a broad education so as not to joing the legions of scientifically-ignorant, poorly-read masses.

So...go to school, and start out by taking anything that sonds interesting. THen, if you hated that class, it's over and you can do something in a different field next semester. Try to learn enough aboput a lot of different things to find out where your interests lie. If the "life coach" thing seems appealing at all, you will probably want to explore psychology, sociology, perhaps anthropology, behavioural finance - things that deal with people and groups, and the way the two interact.

My experience is that thinking you need to have figured out exactly what yuo want to do before finishing at least the first couple of full-time years of college causes people untold grief. THe job the first couple of full-time years is to see what interests you.

Just my 2 cents, and good luck!

 

[Ethan James]

Wow, this post kinda hits me.
I'm 28 years old and I feel kind of like I fu*ked up too.

I majored in business, cause that just seemed like a pretty good fit, it was broad, and my dad is a businessman/entrepreneur. Then I had to pick from business admin, finance, accounting, MIS, marketing, etc. I picked marketing because I had a great intro to marketing professor. Less than enthused, I made my way through business school, never really enjoying the subject. My last semester of college, I started dating a girl who is a Type I diabetic. About 3 months into our dating she takes a nap and goes hypo while in her sleep. When I found her 8 hours later, her blood sugar was 11. Yes, 11. Lord knows how long it was that low, I couldn't wake her, even though she was screaming and moaning in her "sleep". Ambulance came, spent the next day in the hospital, she was fine. But my curiousity with the endocrine system had become piqued. I started consuming information on diabetes & insulin, then the rest of the endocrine system, which led me to this board. I ended up graduating with my marketing degree and getting my real estate license. Real Estate, up to now, has been very good to me financially, but I've never loved it. Instead of looking up properties, I spend my time researching hormones and reading first hand accounts from members here. Looking back, I wish I had majored in something like physical chemistry, biology, biochem, etc. and then gone on to get a PHd or MD.
I know it's still possible, that it's "never too late", but the task is just so daunting. What if it takes me 10+ years to complete, and my interests change? What if I'm disillusioned with what an endocrinologist or a physical chemistry researcher does?

 

[BOOMSHAKER]

Since you like BB a lot why not stay focused on that point and take it up in college,

Sports Management
Kinesiology
Physical Therapy
Nutrtition/Weight Management

anyone of these majors will give you what your looking for. It will give you better access to what you like to do now "BB" but you will be getting paid some good money to do it. Good Luck!

 

[kidstuff]

thanks everyone...

dad, I totally agree with what you say, that the first 2 years in college should be used to feel out what you might want to do/be.... the thing is, I'm already past that point, I have done 4 semesters of school and I STILL have no clue what I want to study.... I just know I can't go on working for barely over minumum wage.

Ethan James, good story. You say real estate has been good to you financially, thats my main concern right now - money. how was business school, did you like any classes? did you like learning about the financial world. I mean learning to invest your money and have your money work for you rather than just sit in savings account?

Boomshaker, the one thing I have learned from years of being a member of online bodybuilding boards is that the BEST trainers, nutritionists, thinkers, etc..... do not have formal education in those feilds.

they are guys like doggcrapp, skip, phil, iron addict, etc. etc. the shit they teach you at college IS SO FAR AWAY FROM THE TRUTH.... I took some nutrition classes while at school, the bitch teaching it must have weighed 300lbs, the class was 90% girls, most were overweight. The top trainer at my gym is 6'5'' and probably weights 180lbs.... NO JOKE. its pathetic. the nutritionist at my gym is downright fat!

how do they get jobs doing this, because the people that come to them know even less!

those majors aren't geared for bodybuilders, I would honestly learn more by getting a subscription to Muscular Development (that ain't saying much).

 

[Ethan James]

Ethan James, good story. You say real estate has been good to you financially, thats my main concern right now - money. how was business school, did you like any classes? did you like learning about the financial world. I mean learning to invest your money and have your money work for you rather than just sit in savings account?

Boomshaker, the one thing I have learned from years of being a member of online bodybuilding boards is that the BEST trainers, nutritionists, thinkers, etc..... do not have formal education in those feilds.

they are guys like doggcrapp, skip, phil, iron addict, etc. etc. the shit they teach you at college IS SO FAR AWAY FROM THE TRUTH....

Just like you said, the best thinkers are not the ones formally educated. It was the same with the business classes I took. I didn't learn how to invest my money. In college I memorized abstract concepts that were taught to me. After college I learned from my father, someone who barely finished high school, how to invest my money.

You say that money is your main concern? I thought that way too at one time. I just wanted to make a lot of money. But I realize now, you have to just do what you love. You can't think about the dollars. Money is just an idea, it's abstract, it's not a necessarily a tangible thing. Think around the money, think about what you would like to do, how you can help others, and believe me, the money will come. It can't not come.

 

[marshall]

Thing of things that you enjoy doing in life and then look at careers branched out in that industry.

For example, you love sports but obviously are not a professional athlete making tons of money. What other areas in sports can you make a living at?

Broadcasting (Tv, Radio for teams)
Journalism (Covering sports teams for publications)
Marketing (PR for teams, media relations etc..)

Look outside the box at things that truly interest you, otherwise you'll be stuck in a job and not look forward to going to work everyday, which is the real goal here.

 

[maxsupplements]

well....

i gotta say. i love real estate... and as ethan said.....


good financially.......

but you must prepare for it... real estate is not something that comes overnite.. it takes time.. what i do today, i prepare to receive money on in about 60-90 days.... dealing with buyers, you have to show houses til you get one they like. that takes time. but has the least amount of overhead, but listings have you dealing with the marketing costs. but they are the bread of real estate... it has been what has fast forwarded my career. also the addition of a good coaching team has helped to. i have a personal mentor, who i pay, and then our own coaching team at our broker. great company. lots of work. but it takes time, and anything worth it, takes time. and as ethan said, dont be focused on the money, be focused on the task....

 

[ghostdog128]

NURSING!!!!! Yes you can make fun of me all you want because I'm a male nurse.. but you can't beat the money you can make with just a 2 year degree. 50-75k easy in the major cities. Alot of nurses will bash nursing.. yes it's a tough field to be in, hospital management, working with a bunch of backstabbing women, forced overtime, crazy staff to patient ratios....ect.

but I will say this I'm glad I did it. The positives outweight the negatives.You can pretty much make your own hours. If you just want to work two days a week you can as a perdiem nurse and still make good money. The excitement (ER nurse here). I'm working on my BSN now and once I finish that I'm applying to CRNA school where I'll make 150-200k/year. It's a good field. I didn't think I'd like it when I got into it, I did it more because I had to do SOMETHING. But I love it now. And as a male nurse you have an edge up on just about everything, alot of Dr's like working with male nurses because they're not as high maintenance as female nurse. Plus they like having the muscle around in the ER if a patient gets crazy.

 

[flexmaster]

Thing of things that you enjoy doing in life and then look at careers branched out in that industry.

For example, you love sports but obviously are not a professional athlete making tons of money. What other areas in sports can you make a living at?

Broadcasting (Tv, Radio for teams)
Journalism (Covering sports teams for publications)
Marketing (PR for teams, media relations etc..)

Look outside the box at things that truly interest you, otherwise you'll be stuck in a job and not look forward to going to work everyday, which is the real goal here.

marshal hit some pretty good ones right there. i am in my last year of an exercise science degree, but my girl is a new media communications major. she has had some really cool classes that i would have taken just for fun if i had the time.

also, i think the quality of the professors make a huge difference in your classes. i have had fat and skinny instructors teaching me about various health related topics, and while a lot of the information i knew wasnt 100% correct, there is still a whole lot out there that is. i am in one of the top 10 exercise science programs in the nation and i can tell you there is a lot of stuff that i have learned that is backed by science and can easily be verified by bodybuilding in the real world.