Welcome to Gaia! ::

Well, I browsed around and decided that my [pointless] thread is better suited for the main forum of the guild. I encourage relocation if it fits elsewhere.
____
Well, I'm about two years from my B.A. and WHAM! I decided to switch majors. To most, I don't think this is that big of deal - especially considering I don't have the degree yet. However, it has taken me three years to get where I am because of my schedule. It seems like insanity to switch, and yet I am.
I find my problem is that I am interested, and thoroughly believe that I can succeed, in many different areas of study.
The passions:
1. I should maybe elaborate on the English degree. Originally, I majored in Communications with a minor in Journalism. You don't need a journalism degree to write for magazines and newspapers, and Communications is one of the largest departments in the last ten schools I have researched. I'm no longer interested in Communications as my focus. I've been a part of a 'real' newspaper staff before and loved every inch of my job. Ironically, I focused on social welfare, poverty, psychology and society in my articles (social work tone dinging through?). I was the editor of my high school newspaper and also write for my college paper. I am an English tutor and a literature fanatic. I read anything and everything I can get my grubby little hands on, obsess over symbolism and literary theory and avidly write about a broad range of subjects. Before I switched to Literature and Women's Studies, I already had over fifteen English credits under my belt. I love writing papers, researching topics, arguing the philosophies of authors like Stevenson, Shelley, Dumas, Milton, Melville, Hemmingway, Chaucer and Eliot. I sit on the edge of my seat during each lecture and tend to write five pages more than required on any paper requested of me. I have written memoirs, lengthy fictions, short stories, poems and plenty more. I've been blessed enough to have had quite a few smaller works published.
2. As some may have read months ago, I have a paranoid schizophrenic brother who hit rock bottom two years back. He was living in the forest that surrounded the city dump in a hole in the ground that he dug to survive in. He caught what he ate and got partial frostbite that winter. As if my personal experiences with the welfare programs in American society already hadn't interested me, bringing my brother back from the land beyond put me over the top. His story.. More info below, I suppose.
My first random question:
Who here is in college, and what degree(s) are you aiming for? How far are you, which school are you attending and which country are you in?

To those in college:
Have you ever switched majors, or been severely tempted to?
____
Also, I love my current job. I have been working at the local Mental Health Authority for months now and I knew about three years ago that social work and psychology were two of four very large passions in my life. I get paid $10.75 per hour, my schedule works entirely around my hours, and I work one on one with my clients. I don't have to jump through the hoops of the corporate ladder to get the goals I set for my consumers approved. I work with mentally distressed or behaviorally challenged youths (13-22 years) in a community, home or office environment to bring them back into society as full-fledged, sufficent members of the economy. Empowerment is key.
I love it and consider myself very, very lucky to have the opportunity that I do. I struggled with minimum wage jobs (or jobs that paid by the column-inch for an article D=) to support myself and my daughter for nearly four years.

So:
Who has worked a job (past or currently) and just loved what they did? What was the job?

And:
Do you think it is possible to be completely in love with two very different areas of study? How would you go about choosing the route that is best for you? Keep in mind, I would happily work the rest of my life with both an English and a Social Work degree, so it isn't a matter of 'which one I can see myself doing for the rest of my life.'


Kal is just looking for a bit of guidance and conversation. I had a great day at work today and days like these just make me smile - you know, before making me question my education goals.

____

Mm, anthropology was definitely fun. Your choices of majors are wonderful. Which one, if you don't mind my asking, was your least favorite / long term choice?

And you see, that has always been my philosophy as well. But like I said, it isn't a matter of which will make me happy - both would. Ultimately, I feel I need to do something that involves writing (which, if nothing else, can be achieved with a M.A. in English). But then again, if I went into Social Work I could try to work in public/human relations somewhere and do pamphlets, advertising, press releases, so on and so forth. But I'm not sure I would want that direction if involved in social work because I prefer to have an actual impact. >_<.

I'm such an indecisive b*****d. I'll probably stick with English and target lit, women and gender studies and creative writing (which is a given at the university I am transferring to next winter).

First of all, I would like to thank you for taking the time to respond. Secondly, I am glad you pointed that out. I can't even fathom how many times I have had this same discussion. An associate degree is hardly equivalent to a high school diploma and a bachelors just skims the basic requirement of the lowliest jobs on the market for a specific field. What I really know, however, is that the college you go to is weighed heavier than the college you attend - so while online programs and 'universities' are great, you won't get the job you apply for if someone from a better college applies at the same time. Within two years, I will be working on my grad program at the University of Michigan. <3
I actually plan on receiving my doctorate in English, assuming I keep it as my major. Though realistically, I believe that I will. As for connections, I have them everywhere, which is one reason why narrowing my field is so difficult. I've worked at television stations, newspapers, colleges and mental health facilities. I'm in more clubs and organizations than I can handle most of the time. I am also Phi Theta Kappa (honors society), Summa Cume Laude and also a professional senior English tutor.
Luckily my journalist job a few years back secured many relationships for my future. If I were to go into social work, I would only bother with an M.A.
The only thing I am worried about is which direction I will be most satisfied with, which only I can decide, despite how much I b***h and moan about it. ;___;

I know that I have been blessed with my opportunities and that countless English majors (amongst others!) struggle to hit jobs in their field. The fact that undergraduate degrees are so 'worthless' in today's society is devastating. For families who have had to live on assistance and grind their asses to the bone to make rent and still afford food, graduate programs can simply be too expensive - not to mention, some end up with a world of debt from achieving that relatively useless degree in the first place.

Higher education is a double edged sword. Many of us go into it optimistic and idealistic, aiming to do nothing but better ourselves and perhaps secure a future - but that 'investment' could end up ruining even more then it intends to improve if things don't work out. Our competitive and vastly lacking economy is definitely a "survival of the fittest" environment. However, sometimes the "fittest" just happen to get lucky.

Oh, how sadly aware I am. My wages are being garnished, my debt is so high. I receive the Pell grant, so my school is paid for almost entirely - but of course being in college means working less hours. Working less hours means I am less able to pay for my daughter's rising medical bills. Working at all means I lost all of my assistance and my rent skyrocketed, due to living in government subsidized housing.

The battle to ensure a better future, better myself and better my family stands stagnant when I have to declare bankruptcy before age 22, which I will hit next month. Enjoyable, no?

I think I may be becoming bitter, as the two previous paragraphs are so negative. I apologize for that rant.

What do you hope to accomplish with your English degree, Nope?