I was just curious...how many of you are actually in a field of work today in what you actually majored in at college? Also, how many of you started your careers later in life? Did it take some of you till you reached your late 20's/early 30's to really find out what you wanted to "be" in life?

Gotta say while I am on that path I've known for sometime that it was the wrong one.


I watched a lot of crime dramas growing up and thought I was interested in law enforcement & got my AA in criminal justice.


6 years later, not doing anything related law enforcement, I recognized that it was the shows I loved not the law... so I returned to school to get a BA in film studies.

To support myself I put my AA to use and got a job dispatching for a local agency.

Now 8 years after graduating a UC and I am still dispatching because Santa Barbara is so expensive I can't save the money to move to LA to follow my career path...plus I don't want to dispatch for an agency in LA while looking for a job in TV.

Gotta say while I am on that path I've known for sometime that it was the wrong one.


I watched a lot of crime dramas growing up and thought I was interested in law enforcement & got my AA in criminal justice.


6 years later, not doing anything related law enforcement, I recognized that it was the shows I loved not the law... so I returned to school to get a BA in film studies.

To support myself I put my AA to use and got a job dispatching for a local agency.

Now 8 years after graduating a UC and I am still dispatching because Santa Barbara is so expensive I can't save the money to move to LA to follow my career path...plus I don't want to dispatch for an agency in LA while looking for a job in TV.





that's interesting Q. What exactly would you like to do in TV? Are you more interested in the behind the scenes stuff (filming, directing, stage, etc)...or the acting, or something totally different?

I never really knew what kind of job I wanted.  I started out in college taking Graphic Design, but I failed miserably, so I took a program that offered high school type courses that would get me a basic college degree.  Based on something my friend told me, I decided to switch to an Office course, because honestly, I am lazy and a job where I sit on my ass all day sounded awesome LOL

When I graduated college, I got a temp job working in a government office which lasted two years.  I loved that job so much that I held out for another office job, so I took temp jobs for 3 years until I finally landed a full-time office job

I STILL don't know what I want to be when I grow up  :-[. 

To give you some perspective, I only know 2 people who are actually working in a career they majored in.  My sister was an art student at Fashion Institute of Technology and now does package design, the other is my dentist.

that's interesting Q. What exactly would you like to do in TV? Are you more interested in the behind the scenes stuff (filming, directing, stage, etc)...or the acting, or something totally different?


no way in heck I'm getting in front of a camera.... actually I had a plan to be a set dresser but I injured my back in 2001 and it never healed right so that plan went out the window. 
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I really just want something nice and simple like Script supervisor. I love the process and want to watch. I suppose I could be a producer  ;D but that takes time and clout.

The truth is I would be happy as a lowly PA except I wouldn't be able to afford to live on what they make and as much as I want to do it I have one rule I will not bend on... no roommates. I love you guys but only because I can turn my Computer off and be alone for awhile. I've never resided well with other human beings!

I have friend who has made it as a writer. She was in a development before the strike but it fell through because of the strike... sucks too cuz I know she would've given me a job.  >:(

I STILL don't know what I want to be when I grow up  :-[. 

To give you some perspective, I only know 2 people who are actually working in a career they majored in.  My sister was an art student at Fashion Institute of Technology and now does package design, the other is my dentist.


Most of my cop friends always wanted to be cops. I haven't met one dispatcher who wanted to be a dispatcher.

I STILL don't know what I want to be when I grow up  :-[.   

To give you some perspective, I only know 2 people who are actually working in a career they majored in.  My sister was an art student at Fashion Institute of Technology and now does package design, the other is my dentist.


  Me neither.  Gave up trying to decide.  It's easier when you have no ambition...

  Nobody I know is working in the field they studied for and at least one is still in college.  Working on their PhD in somethin'ruther...professional student...

I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up,that's why I needed vocational programs to help me get to where I am.

Most of my cop friends always wanted to be cops. I haven't met one dispatcher who wanted to be a dispatcher.




That's how my sister is.  She's wanted to be a cop FOREVER, but because she had to be a certain age before joining the police academy, she's now in school getting her AA (I think) in Criminal Justice.  Once she's done with that, she'll try to bust into the academy.  It is going to take a lot on her part because she is tiny (a few inches over 5 feet and maybe 115 lbs), but she is fierce and determined, and she really wants to do this.

I was going to go to school to become a pharmacy technician, but that got sidelined by a pregnancy. ;D  I'll go back for classes when the little monster is in school.  I was never sure what I wanted, until I realized that I was very fascinated with the whole dispensing of meds.  I would go to become a full fledged pharmacist, but that takes too long and the techs. are the ones that do all of the work anyways. :D

Well I work in the same field as I majored in in college - Finance.  However, in High School, I was a History major.  Yes nerdy, but I loved (and still love) culture and diverse people.  I made the switch from History to Finance in my first semester, when I realized that archaeologists dont get paid and I could NEVER be a teacher.

I STILL don't know what I want to be when I grow up  :-[.   





Same here.

When I first started out, I wanted to be an actress. Right after high school, I took a semester of college and majored in Theatre Arts. Then I joined the Air Force and worked in Communications & then Training Management. I took a few courses of college but just maining core courses. After I got out of the A.F. I got a job doing data entry.  :P  I'm actually surprised that lasted as long as it did (about a year) before I got so sick of it that I quit. I guess I am just a glutton for punishment. I went back to school and finally got my B.A. in Early Education (K-6) & History. I went on to grad school in History but never got my M.A. (YET!!!). I did sub a few times so I did use my teaching certification once or twice-but you don't need certification to sub-but you do get paid higher if you have it. I thought maybe I would like to be a writer and have written a children's story. It is finished for the most part-needs some tweaking but mainly it needs to find someone who is willing to publish it-that that is the hard part which just takes too much to do-and I am VERY lazy. Today, I don't work (unless you count selling things on eBay-that is more for fun than actual "work").

To make a long story short (too late), no, I am not using anything that I have studied in college.



Cat

I took Art and Art History at college and I work in a library, so no I didn't use my qualifications either. I never really knew what I did want to do so I ended up in this job as a temporary stop gap and 20 years later I'm still here!!  ;D I do love it though so that helps.

I never went to college,graduated High School in June 1992 and after that attended 3 vocational schools for the next 15 years till I was finally let go last Summer with my discharge and now with a job coach on my side and with his help I can hopefully look forward to getting a full time job. :)

I wanted to be a Park Ranger at Gettysburg since I was 6.  Found out it doesn't pay too well and I have back problems.  Where do I end up?  In politics. ::)

That's how my sister is.  She's wanted to be a cop FOREVER, but because she had to be a certain age before joining the police academy, she's now in school getting her AA (I think) in Criminal Justice.  Once she's done with that, she'll try to bust into the academy.  It is going to take a lot on her part because she is tiny (a few inches over 5 feet and maybe 115 lbs), but she is fierce and determined, and she really wants to do this.

I was going to go to school to become a pharmacy technician, but that got sidelined by a pregnancy. ;D  I'll go back for classes when the little monster is in school.  I was never sure what I wanted, until I realized that I was very fascinated with the whole dispensing of meds.  I would go to become a full fledged pharmacist, but that takes too long and the techs. are the ones that do all of the work anyways. :D


as long as she can scrap it's all good.  if she hasn't already done so make her watch the Academy http://www.hulu.com/the-academy

It's hilarious for a lot of reasons. . . of course the show only focuses on the screw ups but it still will give her a good idea what the academy is like and what to expect....plus she can see what mistakes are the most common for recruits.  All Academys (in CA) follow P.O.S.T. Peace Officer Standards and Training guidelines so although the approach may vary from academy to academy the content is basically the same. 

If she has questions or anything- feel free to pm me for my email... I'd be happy to answer any questions. Plus I have friends in agencies all over the state and might know someone where she's applying.

I was just curious...how many of you are actually in a field of work today in what you actually majored in at college? Also, how many of you started your careers later in life? Did it take some of you till you reached your late 20's/early 30's to really find out what you wanted to "be" in life?


I'll answer with a firm "sort of".  Back in junior high, I wanted to be a scientist/researcher/professional nerd (physicist, chemist, or astronomer), and viewed computing as little more than a fun hobby.  By the time I got to college, I realized that I was a lot better at programming and hacking computers than I was ever gonna be at calculus, and that withough mad calculus skillz, I wasn't gonna hack it in the hard sciences.  So I took the easy way out and changed majors to computer science.

So... I "sort of" wound up doing what I always planned on doing.  Except that my hobby became my career, and my anticipated career became my hobby.  I'm as pumped as any layman geek could be about the completion of the LHC, but I only know  particle physics at the "handwaving" level.  Sit me down with a real physics textbook and I'm lost at about the Freshman college level.  I know what the Higgs is, and why it's important, but the math that led people to predict its existence might as well have been written in Martian.

That math is the difference between being able to say "It's important to experimentally verify the Higgs boson's existence and to measure its mass", versus being able to complete the sentence with "and this math demonstrates that the cheapest and simplest instrument that can possibly answer the question is going to have to be at least as colossal and powerful as the LHC.  No such instrument exists, but if someone should ever build such a thing, humanity will learn something very fundamental about the way the universe works."

Unfortunately, you don't get to be the next Einstein without the math.  Fortunately, my relative suckitude at calculus was experimental verification that I wasn't the next Einstein :) 

A sports analogy:  Not everyone gets to play in the NBA, or be Tiger Woods.  Anyone can enjoy shooting hoops in their driveway, or a day on the public course with their buddies.

I'm still amazed that people actually pay me to "work" with computers, which is what I do in my spare time anyways.  And I still enjoy and appreciate the handwaving explanations of the physics, even though my math skills have atrophied to the point that I now skip over most of the equations and just read the text that explains the derivation, rather than actually trying to follow along by performing the derivations myself.

Which is why I answered with a firm "sort of".  It's that squishy sort of ambiguous handwaving answer that mathematicians would flip out of, but which I think gets the point across just about as well :)

I wanted to be a Park Ranger at Gettysburg since I was 6.  Found out it doesn't pay too well and I have back problems.  Where do I end up?  In politics. ::)


Running for governor?  ;D

as long as she can scrap it's all good.  if she hasn't already done so make her watch the Academy http://www.hulu.com/the-academy

It's hilarious for a lot of reasons. . . of course the show only focuses on the screw ups but it still will give her a good idea what the academy is like and what to expect....plus she can see what mistakes are the most common for recruits.  All Academys (in CA) follow P.O.S.T. Peace Officer Standards and Training guidelines so although the approach may vary from academy to academy the content is basically the same. 

If she has questions or anything- feel free to pm me for my email... I'd be happy to answer any questions. Plus I have friends in agencies all over the state and might know someone where she's applying.




I'll have to send her that link.  Thanks!

By the way, she wants to get in with the Salinas P.D.  Kind of worrisome for us because Salinas has gone REALLY downhill in the past decade, and it's just getting worse.

I'll have to send her that link.  Thanks!

By the way, she wants to get in with the Salinas P.D.  Kind of worrisome for us because Salinas has gone REALLY downhill in the past decade, and it's just getting worse.



Yeah it really has but still not as bad as LAPD...just to put things in perspective. I'll have to see if I know anyone there. Our former police chief worked there years ago but he's dead now  :( so I can't consult him. 

Running for governor?  ;D


No, I leave that up to people who are brave/stupid enough to run.  I work for a lobbyist organization, my job is to harass politicians.

No, I leave that up to people who are brave/stupid enough to run.  I work for a lobbyist organization, my job is to harass politicians.


I had a dream that C Thomas Howell or Rob Lowe or one of those guys was running for office....or did I?

My Father wanted me to work with computers or to have some knowledge with them since I'm always on my laptop almost all the time but after High School I wound up attending vocational schools since I couldn't make up my mind of what I wanted to do with myself.

Ever since I was young, I wanted to own rental property. I love what I do. I just want to get a position in a corporation where I can excel. I want room for advancement. My current position does not offer any further advancement. I am as far in the company as anyone, (save for the owners) can get.
As most people know on here, I am currently going for my degree to further my chosen proffession. I believe in what I do with all of my heart. There is a great deal of money in what I do, if you are in the right area and have the right mentality for it. The income earning potential is endless. I love what I do and have always wanted to be involved, just on what scale to start, I did not know.

I always wanted to be a lot of things such as a DJ since I have a ton of CDs and cassettes,a singer but singing just isn't me and an Ice Cream Man but I'd eat all the profits.