Softnerd +1

Also, to the OP: missed that there was a 2nd page, didn't see your other post. You didn't mention what level of school you might be interested in teaching. Young children definitely require a lot of patience and a serious love of children. Mid-high school and above it isn't about "screaming kids" so much as other things. Parents, of course, are often a part of it no matter what (less so at college level perhaps).

To put it as kindly as possible....every field is going to have idiots and stupidity and require patience of such. There's no way around that. Just have to decide what field/type of idiocy is the least likely to make you go postal.

I'm not worried about building/maintenance. I know that stuff already.

However, I know pretty much nothing about programming. I have a bit of knowledge in networking.
Oh well, thats why I'm going to college.

My problem is that I'm living in Alaska. There aren't to many well established or high end companies here.
I would like to move elsewhere, but All my family lives in Nebraska, thats not much better. My parents both make minimum wage, and have to support one of my sisters whose in college. I don't really have the finances to move somewhere I don't have family.

I'm not looking to be rich. I just want enough to not have to live paycheck to paycheck like my parents. Maybe be able to afford a house an a decent car.


I've looked A LOT online for jobs, and there is very little in Alaska. I'm finding tons of openings for IT/programming/etc Managment, but no entry level ones.
I'm just really hoping that I get a job offer after I graduate, or something like that.

LadyCrimson - he's talking teaching little kiddos.

There's a difference between hating kids and not wanting to spend 8 hours a day dealing with 30 of them.

And teachers don't live in cardboard boxes...

You can survive, not paycheck to paycheck, as a teacher and still have a home and car. You aren't going to be driving the newest biggest bestest car and you aren't going to live in a 5 bed, 4 bath home on 10 acres - but you will be fine. The average teacher makes around 50k a year - which isn't GREAT especially compared to the ability to make double that in certain programming jobs - but it's far from minimum wage.

(But I'd still lean more towards computer science. I can't even imagine working with elementary level kids... Now trying to get job at a university/college level is another story...)

The only thing worse than stupid people who break their computers are smug people who think they're certifiably genius because they can fix a computer.

OP: I could be way off, but is it possible to get a bachelor's in computer science and still be a teacher? I thought you could get a bachelor's in pretty much anything as long as you get your certification to teach...maybe it depends on where you live. If you haven't started college yet, I'd recommend taking a few courses in each field at the beginning and you'll get a better feel for which career is right for you.

I've researched it, and to do that, I'd have to do an extra year of classes, plus experience as a student teacher. That would just mean more loans and time I couldn't be working.

You would, however, have the option of picking up (better) work and doing that extra year part time or later in life.

Elementary school is more like babysitting than actually teaching, you say you like kids and you like teaching, are you sure that's what you're looking for?

Ah. Reading comprehension fail 101. That's what happens when I'm multi-tasking. Thanks, and sorry OP.
I don't know much about wages etc. for elementary. My mother taught elementary but that was many moons ago.

Remember you don't have to have everything done at once. My brother graduated from college, started teaching. He later went back to school (maybe 5 years later?) to get his Masters. Anyway, what I mean is that you could plan on doing the coursework for both, just not all in a row so to speak. Get all you need for one, lay the groundwork for the other, get a job, then finish the schooling later. The break/job experience would also help you know, perhaps, which one you want to be long term.

I'd say computer science. Teaching careers are a joke these days (monetary wise at least). If you decide on the teacher job, I would hope you have some form of a financial backup, because you won't be getting much in terms of pay.

At least, that's the case for teachers around where I live. It just seems like teaching isn't all it's cracked up to be anymore.

You will deal with a lot more [censored] as a teacher than you will as a programmer, probably: stupid parents; stupid bureaucracy; backstabby colleagues; stupid and/or hyperactive children... Are you really sure it's worth it?

I'd pick programming.

In my hometown (a very rural area with few jobs), the average household brings in $22,000 a year. The average teacher in the school district brings home $53,000 a year. Guess who lives in the nicest houses, drives the nicest cars, and goes on vacations?

from my experience, its easier to teach children than it is for advlts/seniors. i find seniors get intimidated very easily. when teaching'em abut computers/tech/internet. you know they have toy tablets for children. im pretty sure its not entirely necessary, kids in the devloped countries are getting these toys, but those same kids are already capable of using ttghee actual computers/tablets. so mr computer science reading this, i just gave you a lead/tip. i guess if u can teach seniors, your in a good position. i wonder if ill have trouble keeping up with tech as i get older, i have a feeling gi wont
so, i know this guy with a grad degree in computer science, he says sthe job market svcks for it, he told e that theres someone in india or china who will do his $50k job for $5k

i dont mean to discourage anyone, im just passing gon info]

+1

You better be ready for a lot of math. Look into subjects that deal with discrete mathematics, set theory, group theory, logic, etc. I hope you like writing proofs.

As stated, CS is almost exclusively software engineering. You might take an EE class depending on where you are, but you won't follow up on that area in later courses.

mechatronics? i dont think theres a shortage of jobs in this field, + u can get into anything with it.

mathematical finance is really big too. some ppl are starting at a quarter million a yr salary here in canada, which means its probably half a mil per yr salary in the states

I meant it more in comparison to the CS job, not exactly jobs in general... but I get your point. It also illustrates how important location is when talking about jobs though. Teachers here make the average income at around 50k, unless they're in the southern part of our county, where the really well off live. (Then the average goes up to around 75k.) I don't know a single teacher who is struggling to get by, and I actually know one who supports his stay-at-home wife and two kids so obviously they're not hurting as bad as they claim.

~What I do hate however, is fixing stupid peoples computers. I've fixed a lot of them, and if its for a good reason (accidental virus, Drive failure, etc) I don't mind. But the majority of repairs I do are for people who are just plain stupid~


And you also want to teach elementary kids, right? Your best bet is start charging those stupid people 60 bucks an hour or what ever the going rate is to fix their computers. Seriously, if computer ignorant people frustrate you enough to call them stupid then wait till you’re trying to teach a room full of kids, I just don’t think you have it in you. So go the non teaching route.

Unfortunately, outside of the parents you'll deal with all of those things in a lot of software development jobs as well. Add to that business stakeholders and managers with unrealistic expectations, consultants that make promises to upper-management that they can't keep and leave you holding the bag, scope creep, etc. I think the people you work with have a lot of impact on whether or not your job is enjoyable in just about any field.

Pretty much every industry has those problems, really. Some have more of one and less of another, but by and large they're there. The big differences are in how seriously you take the job, and between specific employers/bosses. In hospitality, for example, you can end up with more and more responsibilities which you are not, strictly speaking, supposed to have (and you pay not reflecting it), managers or owners who expect more from staff than is humanly possible, and so on.

Do what you want to do and like to do. Don't worry about money; you only need to make enough to live.

Also, if you are someone who wants to do the right thing then we could always have more teachers. Good ones too, not some mean ones that teaches the children in a way that makes them ignore the teacher instead of listening, and learning.

My biggest fear is not being able to find a job doing what I want to do. I've had to get up every day and go to a job I loathe, it kills you inside.