I can do that.

What does one do with a degree in Philosophy?

I think these philosophers tend to..philosophize... they prolly do it pretty often, since they're so aware of it. I have no clue how that translates to paying your bills, though.

If you like writing and video games, figure out where your talents belong. The main thing with this is to put your work in front of other people. Put as much of your work in the public light as you can, and learn from it. Wise man once say, "not all that glitters is gold." As for a major in college, why put the cart before the horse? You could start off at a community college and mess around, but there's no point in spending money on what may be worthless knowledge. Writing is something you can improve without schooling.

"What are bills?"

Which one? Come on people we're making a game!

Program, code, animate, etc.

Well I want to take a class in writing to refresh me in proper style and punctuation and to learn things that high school fails to teach.

I see what you did there.

I should probably point out I am going to enroll in Florida State College of Jacksonville, it used to be a community college but then Florida State took ownership.

I took a mandatory course in philosophy in uni, but I don't know much more beyond that. It was fun, though. In Norway you can use your degrees to work your way into the university, and become an employee or work there at the faculty and stuff like that. That's pretty cool, and an obvious route to consider if you find philosophy interesting. I suppose the same opportunity applies for schools in the US?

That's a bit like what happened with my school.

So far as philosophy and writing go, though. It's not a bad idea per se to major in them. I think, though, since you're looking for a job that will support your family as well, you can think about what fields and jobs are open to you with that kind of degree. I'll say that with my own background, too.

People turn their nose at a language/linguistics degree because at first glance it seems to be a just-for-fun field. I looked at it and thought what I can mesh with what I love about languages with what I'm looking for in a job. I love to teach people new concepts, so I wanted to plan my schooling so that teaching is an open field (will most likely cover that by getting an MAT after my bachelors' degree), something that I won't have direct supervision (translating tends not to since you can freelance pretty easily), something I can potentially travel with (if I work with a corporation there is potential for that), and something I could put my computer knowledge to use in if it came down to it (writing and translating manuals if it came down to it; I know that Square was also hiring Japanese translators and such, so that's there).

So I'll say that as someone who is pursuing something that is at first not very lucrative-looking that it's possible to make it work. I also worried I'd get bored of one industry so I'm planning to have several spaces open. I already speak Spanish pretty well from having learned it growing up and have had experience translating from Spanish to English and have found it awesome. As part of my current job, I love teaching, and I have connections for software training (which pays surprisingly well) so if all fails, there's that, too.

Good luck in all of your planning, because school can be pretty crazy to plan. I always wonder how so many people are there when it seems like there's so much to navigate to get there.

It's not a vocational course---unless you do the graduate study -> academic career pathway. Otherwise, there are lots of things. As I said above, if you develop strong critical thinking, writing, communication, and collaborative skills, then you'll be attractive to a wide range of employers. Philosophers work in the public service, working on policy and advising ministers; they work in education, in administrative and managerial capacities, as well as in the classroom (although this requires additional qualifications); they work in business consulting; etc. Basically, wherever employers value people who are good at the intellectual aspects of anolysing problems, constructing various solutions and weighing up their respective merits, there's a job for philosophers. Obviously that casts a pretty wide net.

If you choose to stay in school past the point at which you earn your Bachelor's degree, you have the option to pursue a Master's degree, which opens the first doors to a spot in a university or highschool. But if you manage to earn a PhD, then you can get a job lecturing at a university.

.... That actually sounds pretty amazing and not what I was expecting, the only person I know of that majored in philosophy just got his bachelor and now sits around and smokes pot . I am very politically passionate and would love to advise people for the good of society. I think it might also be tied with why I like to work with computers because I like problem solving.

I know nothing about cars except how to change the oil (and only if I absolutely have to), but I researched, troubleshooted and fixed my dad's car when his starter ignition switch failed on his car. And then when I discovered that his switch and key required computer coding I figured out how to take the reader ring from his new switch and connect it to the old one and crank the car up. It requires 2 keys to start it (one new key to put into the new switch and the old key to communicate with the old reader) but it works.

That was deep. And you rest your case.

I concur. My dad works for one of the major railways in Canada and he told me they'll hire you if you have a degree, even if it has nothing to do with workinh at a railway office. The fact that you followed through with a degree seems to be a benefit foe getting a job, even if it isnt in your subject field and you'll probably end up hating it, it at least allows a decent paying job while searching for a career relevant to your degree.

I'm so glad go to school in Canada as its so much cheaper than the US from what I've heard.

Well, the grass can't always be greener. I've met Canadians who have complained about your income taxes--dude told me something like 60% goes to the government?

Probably, interest rates on student loans are doubling on June 1 to 6.8%

Well health care ain't free, just universal

Dont get me started and lets not get into politics, I dont want to anger the mods.

Yeah, I should say that my education has all been in Australia, where university study is heavily publicly subsidised, so worrying about paying off massive loans is not the sort of the thing that most people worry about when deciding what to study. No doubt this has coloured my view about what sorts of considerations should influence what a person decides to study. (Of course people worry about getting a good job and wanting to earn a living, but it's not because of the need to pay off student fee loans.)

Jeez, I swear my country is the only one trying to make it hard to get a proper education. I think to get anything higher that bachelor I have to take out a student loan so that kinda svcks for me... But I'm not worried about it right now.

I wonder how well a philosophy degree could pay off.

Right, I wasn't trying to get all political or anything, or dis Canada, I was just saying. This or that costs too much, whatever, ain't no greener grass around here. School, healthcare, bahhh just hope you find a damn good job.

I know you weren't, no offense here.

Somewhat OT, but Australia's education system is inequitable in other ways---for instance, privately owned and run K-12 schools are also heavily subsidised by the government, which increases their financial advantage over publicly funded schools. From what I gather, this is pretty unique in the Western world.