I've finally decided that with my 25th birthday around the corner it's high time I went for higher education as I am not getting any younger. I thought living for a few years in the real world it would help me better decide what I want to do with my life but I feel just as scatter brained as the day I was handed my High School Diploma. I have so many interests and want to make a fair amount of money so my family can live comfortably

Any suggestions from those of you who have been there and done that?

Tried, succeeded for a little bit, and ultimately failed here. Only thing I can say is do some research on what you want to go for "job wise" and see how it pays the bills. Research how much of a demand for that job there is in the work place, see the starting pay, and see if there's anything in your area, or if you would have to move. Also, plan on what you might have to do if you find out that your job isn't possible because of difficults in obtaining the degree/education. Not to mention that when you are looking for a job you'll need to see how many X years of experience they want, and try to see if you can get an internship somewhere to help you out with that experience.

Other than that, I got nothing.

Well I'm interested in computers, video games, and writing.... I would love to work for a video game company to write material for them or give out ideas, but thats a pipe dream. My worry with getting into computers is that I'm afraid I like it as a hobby and making it my job will burn me out on it. I love building them and stuff but it seems like more and more people are catching on to how easy it is to do it so I feel i would need to specialize into something.

That's the trend, going to school and having no clue. Don't worry, you'll pick something-rather, then change your mind later to something-else-rather, which is much more useless in the real world, then you'll be struggling to find a job a few years from now--and when you do get a job it'll have nothing to do with that underwater basket weaving that you studied so much on. Think positive!

If you're in the US or one of several countries that let you dike around for the first two years before declaring a major, I'd say to take some electives and see what you click the most in. I took a year of architecture at age 18-19 because it was what I wanted to do since I was about 9 or 10; then I realized I definitely didn't want to be an architect, so now at 22, I've begun again, having an idea of what I want to do (translation, technical writing [manuals and such], and teaching) and feeling around what exactly to major in during this first year (currently it's the nebulous-yet-available Foreign Languages major). So far I'm torn between Japanese or German, majoring in one language and minoring in the other; or choosing one of those languages (would like to have Japanese since it runs in the family and is in demand in some industries right now; a lot of German companies are moving to my state [Porsche and such] and we're itching for German translators) and then minoring in Linguistics, and yeah.

I'd say that one of the best ways to know what you want to do is get some exposure to it in school. When I was in architecture school, for example, I kept a close eye on my professors and the TAs whom I'd overhear talking about how there's absolutely no work in architecture right now, and from watching nearly every architect I met be a chain smoker or a severe nail biter. That spoke a lot to me how I didn't want to have a career that would cause me to take up smoking (especially to that amount) or begin disfiguring my body over the stress.

Which reminds me, you'll want to make a lot of lists of what you want out of a job (which you seem to have started) and what you enjoy, and how to get what you want by doing what you enjoy.

Also, this should work well anywhere, but it is America-centric, so again, if you're in the US, you may find thehttp://www.careerinfonet.org/Occupations/select_occupation.aspx?next=occ_rep&level=&optstatus=111111111&id=1&nodeid=2&soccode=&stfips=&jobfam= helpful. I have since high school. It shows you the average salary in your current or desired area as well as the average experience and education level, and the type of things required by their listed careers.

EDIT: I totally understand you on the worry about liking computers as a hobby. For a while, I wanted to be a network administrator but since I worked several PC repair jobs and am working one now as I go to school, I can tell you it burned/burns me out a lot mainly because I hate being the one to blame when things go wrong and it being out of my control. I also hate having to answer to angry people--e.g. customers and angry employees.

.... You are so wise. Please stay so I may bask in your wisdom

Oh man, I had a good laugh there. Thanks for that... but hey, sorry I can't offer any real advice.

Sorry, but I think this is bad advice. If all you want is to land a job that pays well, then there are better options than university. Go to university to learn about stuff you are interested in, and to get a good education; pick your major based on what interests you, not on "what the job market is like".

You'll also find that, even if you haven't completed a vocational course, being well-educated and having good general skills in critical thinking, communication, teamwork, etc. will make you attractive to a wide variety of employers.

Yes, I am American and I found you post very helpful. My wife is actually in college now for accounting and is thinking about taking up medical billing and coding. But she has a grant and was telling me something about she is only allowed so many college hours and if she goes over them then she has to pay out of pocket... I dont know I find it kinda confusing.

I agree with Dagoth Jeff. Too many people are going to college/university and not knowing what to take now a days. It seems people just go to post secondary for the purpose of going to post secondary (or for partying and screwing around, which can be done without going into a large amount of debt) because it's ingrained in their brains that it is mandatory to go to post secondary.

You don't need post secondary to be rich and or successful. Sure it helps in a lot of occasions, IF you got the right schooling and not a basket weaving degree so to speak. Any liberal arts degrees are basically useless, and some things like Art school is useless as well. (trust me, I myself am an artist and I also know a lot of good artists personally in the business, almost all Art schools now a days are complete BS. If you got the talent, you don't need to take any amount of art school and can get a job with Disney or whoever you want)

But I know way too many people my age and older that have gone to college or university for years, rack up a nice fat debt, only to be working at Wendy's or some other Mcjob, because they got a degree that is next to useless.

My advice, only go to post secondary for something you have a passion for, and know you can stick with the rest of your life. You want to become a rocket scientist? then post secondary is definitely mandatory for that. You want to become an anthropologist (seriously, what job can an anthropologist get now a days?) then get your degree out of a cracker jack box, it will be just as useful as one from university.

lol no problem.

Oh, trust me I'm not going to jump into something I hate just because it makes me a ton of money. I've worked enough jobs that I hated in my advlt life to know that no amount of money can make you love a job that svcks.

You could have a lot of fun and an amazing career with computer programming.

Take some Creative Writing courses, if just for fun. It didn't do me any good, but it might do you. Take some Computer Science courses. At the very least, it'll help you in thinking logically and procedurally. Electrical engineering would be good if you like the really technical side of computer hardware.

Try to focus in something that will actually give you a skill you can apply. You don't have to find a life-long career in the same field, but it'll at least get your foot in a door or two. And you won't starve.

But for your first year you can afford time to shop around.

That kinda my problem though, I know I like computers and working on them (most of my family and some friends come to me for help, though to be honest I get a good bit of my knowledge from Google but I know how to apply the info so that counts for something). I just dont know what I want to do with them. I wouldnt mind networking or something to do with the hardware. I'm not big on coding but I would learn it if I needed to as I did at one time know how to make web pages in HTML.

I'll check out Electrical Engineering as it sounds what I'm looking for. Either way I like to write and come up with idea's and stories so I was going to take something in writing and philosophy.

I'm planning on a Nursing major. Good money in it and the work isn't too difficult.

I plan on minoring in Biology. That way I can go for my back up plan as a Pathologist assistant job.

Just fyi, I have a philosophy degree, and if you want to get some information about what to expect were you to study that, I'm happy to tell you a bit about that.

To be totally honest I have a fantastic job with amazing benefits, with zero college. It's all about opportunity, it'll find you eventually. I wouldn't stress out too much about it... The only difference is that I'm not in debt, I haven't paid $150 for a damn book and I'm unable to brag about my degree.

It looks like we have similar interests and ideals, except replace writing with drawing. I am looking to go to college at either Cincinnati or Cleveland, as they both have game arts programs, and I will try to find work with indie games. Might as well start out small to get somewhere big!

Don't be so hard on yourself, I'm sure you have plenty of potential. It's just that us writers and concept artists have to get noticed somehow to get paid big. Personally, I think it's just luck.

Nice, my wife took philosophy (just the class, not to get a degree in it) and I LOVED helping her with her work. I like to wrap my head around things and look at it from as many perspectives as I can. I'd be happy to hear your tells oh mighty philosopher.

Well we cant all have Master Shake as our avatar

I have a good job now working in a CPVC / PVC plant that pays well ($11) but I know I could be doing so much better as that barely pays bills. They seem to like me and are very helpful there and I'm always asking questions and trying to learn so I hope it pays off.

I'm not sure I would recommend something like electrical engineering to you if you're interested in things like writing and philosophy. Electrical engineering, like all the other fields of "classical" engineering, is an extremely complicated and technical field, and even those that can make the cut can find themselves unsatisfied with the kind of work they do on a daily basis.

Aside from that, I don't have a lot of advice to give you. To be honest, finding my calling was never an issue for me, since I've always been fascinated by computer programming and I know that's a stable job market. That said, I can't totally relate to people who don't know what they want to do with themselves.

I suppose the best advice I can give you at this point is to experiment. For many of the degrees you could earn in a university, there's a lot you could do now to determine whether or not you actually want to get involved in that field or not. This is especially true for writing and other arts, but it's also true for things like programming and electronics. If you discover you actually enjoy doing something (as in, you feel you'd do it even if you weren't being paid to do it) then you've probably found something that's worth pursuing in a university.

Good luck!

We should find a programmer, coder, and some one who can rig meshes and animations and make a game

I agree that luck plays a big part in it, but skill will outshine luck any day.

I pretty much agree with srk in this thread. Your interests should always come first; there is no point in studying anything if you're not interested in it, and care only for money. If you think studying writing and philosophy will benefit you then go for it! Follow your passion - get educated, improve your skills and creativity. You won't regret it.

That sounded kind of cheesy, but it's true. If you'd rather just earn good money, then there are plenty of other opportunities to pick from, rather than wasting time studying something you're not interested in.

I actually dont charge to work on computers . I like the challenge of it and the feel good rush of fixing the problem. Honestly I wish I could be a guy that works in a office that fixes computers and printers when they mess up.

This guy seems to know what he's getting himself into http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1459479-i-want-to-submit-a-new-game-idea/