Well said, both of you, on all accounts.
@ Dramatical: Your final paragraph there, regarding spending more time on 'fun'..... is very true. The vast majority of liberal arts and "psych" majors (hundreds per each science, math, engineering, or finance major), usually end up working outside of their major, or at closest become a teacher themselves. And even in college, you find that many or most of them disproportionally fill the 'partying crowd', and can't clearly define what they want to do with their major once they graduate (or have some pie in the sky idea like "I'm going to be a famous sculptor". ) :rolleyes: Unfortunately, this is exactly what gives many people the idea that college (or even any education beyond simple math and language skills) is a waste of time and money.
@ Basta C : Any subspecialty of "pathology" in particular? e.g. surgical path, forensics, cytology, hematology, etc.....or not decided yet?

P.S. - Congrats both of you. Keep the good grades up. :thumbsup:

I'm conflicted. I know I need college to succeed in this material world, and I kind of want to go for Psychology. What I hope to do with a Psychology degree, I am not quite sure.

On the other hand, I would rather just go become a monk, or live in a peaceful village growing my own herb and spending my time amongst friends and family, in contemplation.

But hey, I'm sure I'll end up having to join the capitalist system eventually.

This is pretty much what I did as well. Finished my first semester, but was miserable and didn't really feel that I was in the "right place" at the time. Dropped out and and joined the Army. It helped that the recruiter lured me with $36,000 in college funds and GI Bill. :tongue:

When I returned eight years later to finish I was much more focused and disciplined. Whether it was the Army or just growing more mature in general with age, but whatever the reason I loved the academic life and did very well (except my Latin courses).



Some very good advice there. Not everyone needs to go to college, and it really boils down to personal goals. My initial enrollment was most likely parental pressure, as they both were raised in poor families and came from an era that believed "successful" people went to college. Which is shameful thinking on there part; I have tremendous respect for what both of my parents accomplished career wise (Dad was career Naval Corpsman, and Mom was an LPN).

My second and final enrollment was my choice and not from anyone else. It became a personal goal and I was more satisfied with my experiences because of the fact.

I haven't ever really wanted to go to college. Even when I was younger, probably because I had such a hard time with school. There's a lot of stuff I don't care to learn and I know you have to learn at least some of it to get a degree in what you want. I'm also only interested in fields on an appearance level only, instead of a technical and in depth level at least for the most part. Maybe I'll change my mind in the future though.

What happened in your Latin courses?

Yup attended the local Community College near me for about 4 years had to drop chem II cause of the stress but finished off my AA degree with Biology. Sadly as I got out and started looking for jobs it became harder and harder to find one. Only job that I was even given a chance to interview for was at Sony Online Entertainment in California with me being in FL it wasn't a wise move so I had to drop the chance. It's great to have my AA degree so that I can go back and study to get a Bachelor's degree or even a Masters but with money being tight that might not happen.

@ Z.Man

Wrote memorization, Caesar's Letters... :sadvaultboy:

Oh, and my http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=KAfKFKBlZbM#t=134s

Spanish was my first choice, but the courses were booked for the next two semesters. Having friends that are native speakers would have reduced the learning curve somewhat.

[edit]

Could have sworn I hit the [reply] button...

Love that sketch. I'm hoping to major in Classics, but it's unfortunate that the careers to choose from are limited.

Went to University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign (yes, the birthplace of HAL 9000 ) and majored in computer science. It was fun...and it was a lot of work. I wouldn't say I specifically use much of what I learned there in my actual development jobs, but I did learn a lot about software fundamentals, communicating with team members, etc. LOTS of math. Oddly enough I filled most of my tech electives with chemistry classes...I guess because I'm a masochist. Sooo many lab hours for so little credit... Oh, and drinking.

I went to a JC and a State University.

I spent three years at the JC getting my general ed out of the way then to the University to focus more on my major.

I think a 2.1 in the UK is the same as a 2.9 in the US.

I have a degree in English from Penn State. It was a nice experience, but it certainly didn't lead to a job. I got promoted at my retail job, but that was about all I could find. So I ended up in the Air Force, scored high in electronics on the ASVAB and got put into A-10, F-15 and U-2 avionics which is incredibly different than literature, obviously. So I'm in tech school now learning electronics and by May I'll have earned an associate's degree (since I already have gen ed credits from my BA) in just 6 months. I think my military education and experience has been incredibly valuable and will continue to for the rest of my life. My life is completely different and I have a world of opportunity before me. I'd recommend it to anyone whether you've gone to college, are thinking of going to college (GI Bill and tuition assistance will help you a ton...FREE education? Win) or if you don't want to go to college.

I know it sounds like I'm trying to sell you on it, but really it's amazing. College was awesome but it cost me $45,000 while I'm getting paid to go to school right now, I have full benefits in addition to a free room and free food. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

Lastly, the Air Force supports education big time. They encourage you all the time to continue your education (and there's a ton of help, like I said the GI Bill AND tuition assistance. That means you can use tuition assistance while you're in and save your GI Bill benefits until after you're done serving if you choose), and of course the higher your education the more likely it is that you'll advance in your career. Hopefully I'll be able to become an officer sometime down the road if I choose to go that route.

Anyway, in conclusion (LOL), college was cool but I owe a lot of what I am to my (just beginning) Air Force career. Oh one last thing, serving in the military will most definitely stand out if you decide to apply for jobs in the civilian world after serving your enlistment. Employers will know you've been trained and educated by the best and that you have a good work ethic. So yeah.

I'm not a recruiter, I just love the life.

My biggest problem with college right now is the GE classes. For the most part they just seem like a waste of time and money. Most just reiterate what I learned in high school. For the most part int he year and a half I have been at college the majority of good classes where the ones I took for the extra credit or fun. So pretty much not english or math. I've always been terrible at math and while english may seem worth while to someone interested in journalism the classes have been completely useless.

Looks like you haven't been paying much attention in those english classes.


The GE classes, while they may not seem useful to your major/area of interest, are part of that liberal education. History 1500 to present certainly isn't very relevant to Biochemistry, but classes like that open people's minds to new ideas and possibilities. You'd be amazed how often fringe topics come up that may not be important, but might pop up in everyday conversation with someone.

I can honestly say the two english courses I have taken have not been so beneficial. The go along the lines of read a story, over anolyze it for a week or two than write a paper on it. What material we are suppose to be learning is the same from high school or has little value to me and it goes in one ear and out the other. Teachers and professors always give the same [censored] reason for require math and that's to help with problem solving. It might be a tad more effective to hand students logical and relevant problems.However if math where made unnecessary in college that would be a huge cut to the income and colleges are essentially businesses. I'm not saying all these classes need to be made optional but 2+ years is overkill.

The classes I have learned the most form so far are mostly not from your basic 4 subjects besides two of my history classes. I really wish I could just be focusing on what I want to do instead of what the college deems necessary. This is why I can't wait to finish up this second year. By then I should have most if not all of my GE classes out of the way and can take classes that pertain to my future major or I have some personal interest in.

I am finishing up my 5th semester right now and it was much better because i had 3 major classes and 1 GE. Also i am most likely taking 4 major classes next semester and no GE's so ill be learning stuff i actually want to know. Sophomore year was definitley a pain in the ass though because of all the lower division GE's

Some upper division ones are somewhat interesting but more than half the GE's ive taken i dont give a [censored] about.

I cannot wait to graduate.

Yea I'm not exactly enjoying sophomore year. I have two more math courses to take after this semester and I will be mostly done with my GE classes.

Just know that its [censored] but it will be over in a half a year and you wont have to deal with being a sophomore ever again when it's over.

Freshmen year was cool because i got to move out on my own for the first time and be responsible. Plus drugs and alcohol were fun.

Sophomore year i had to make up for a ton of classes i lagged on freshmen year and it was completely [censored]. I did not enjoy this year at all and would not do it again ever.

Junior year i am enjoying mostly. I am getting more into stuff and actually applies to my future and i have access to upper division courses now.

Senior year i am thinking will be BUSY BUSY BUSY, as im going to have to take the last few GE's i need, senior level classes and finding a job for after college. Might be stressful but im looking forward to it.

Yea I am looking forward to the last couple years of college. It may need to take more classes in a semester but at least they will pertain to my field. I'm sort of iffy on the whole after college thing. It's exciting but also intimidating at the same time.

yeah i think having more experience is always better then being a newbie. I enjoyed my junior and senior years in high much more than fresh and soph also.
plus senior year is when i turn 21 and im sure more people are 21 by their seniro year which is awesome. I can go to bars instead of sneaking alc into my dorm room.

I am a little nervous about after college also, but i am getting a little tired of school since its all i've done my whole life basically. Im ready to do somethign productive and get paid so i can pay my own way adn do what i want instead of relying on parents for money.

I think that is what I want most after college, freedom.

In graduate school. Still working on my MA project that I started in April. Hoping to graduate Spring 2012.

I love school, which is why I went for an MA. But, this program is really hard, and I don't think I will go for a PhD.

Been working the whole time, and never felt it was a "real" job. So hopefully I can do what I love once I graduate.

It seems like schools are saturated with students, and there is not enough work out there. Companies can hire PhD's instead of MA's, MA's instead of BA's, and so on.

Thats quite the education you're getting there. After my B.S i am definitley done at least for a while. If my job offers me good promotion if i go back and get an MBA then MAYBE i will do it but im looking forward to being done with school so much i dont think ill ever go back.

But i am glad i went and would do it over again. Just not more then i need to