University - this might be a really naive question

[christyf5]

Don't waste your money. Find out what interests you first and what type of education you need before you get into it as well as job availability and ease of movement (how available jobs are between cities). My job is pretty specific, I can work here in Nanaimo, or I can work on the east coast. It is transferable to the medical industry (more scope) but I'd have to go back to school to get certified for it, and I'm not willing to invest another 40K into it. The last thing you need is to scrimp and save for an expensive educaton that you don't use anyways (currently I'm in the marine biology field, my degree was in microbiology). I have a BSc that for the past 5 years has had me on EI at least 4 of them. I wish I had gone to BCIT to do something more in the medical field or a trade. Biology is interesting and all but you certainly don't get any sort of steady job out of it.

Defintely think about this before you take the plunge. 4 years of Mr. Noodles and Kraft Dinner ain't fun

[TheMikey]

IMO the biggest mistake about univeristy - especially undergraduate work - is that people go into it with the sole purpose of coming out with a job on the other side (professional colleges aside). The thing with University (especially College of Arts & Sciences) is that the vast majority of your coursework to get your diploma has absolutely nothing to do with any job that you will pick up after your tenure at University. Take classes you're interested in and you'll eventually find the direction you want to take in your academic life.

Education is never a wasted investment and after you have your B.A. or B.Sc, the job you want will likely find you.

[Delphinus]

Very nicely said, TheMikey.

For what it's worth. there are some professions for which the starting degree is important. Education, Medicine/Healthcare/Nursing, Engineering, Law, and Pharmacy come to mind. Otherwise a degree is fairly generic and the true value of that piece of paper is that it demonstrates a certain tenacity of character, rather than any specific knowledge that came with it.

A degree is by no means a ticket to wealth. I know someone with a B.Sc in biology and she earns three times my salary because she is a professional recruiter (which has nothing to do with her degree). However for that one example, I can think of at least a dozen other friends with the same degree who are stuck in low paying dead end jobs with no hope of advancement. It is an interesting degree but it shows that to really do well with it, you actually need to go on and do post-graduate work as well. In fact, this is probably true of all the science disciplines with the *possible* exception of maybe computer science, geology, and geophysics (and even those last two are sort of dicey: in good times in a resource based economy there are positions available a-plenty; in dicier times there are not.) Also computer science isn't the degree it used to be, what I think of a comp. sci is nowadays more comp. engg.

[TheMikey]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Very nicely said, TheMikey.

For what it's worth. there are some professions for which the starting degree is important. Education, Medicine/Healthcare/Nursing, Engineering, Law, and Pharmacy come to mind. O

Yeah, Engineering aside, none of those are direct entry programs. I was interested in international relations when I got out of high school and started political science at Uni. About three years in I realized that I'd prefer to practice the law than critique it. So now I'm first year law at the U of S. I never thought our of high school that I'd pick this, but hey - that's what education does, it opens doors. Take the classes that pique your interest and see where it takes you.

[Parker]

Whatever path you choose, never underestimate the power of hard work. If your willing to put in the effort and work hard you can succeed in life no mater what you choose to do, whether you choose to put that effort into a secondary education or not.

[lastlight]

There's nothing saying you can't just do a few smaller things (without a degree) and still make a good income and enjoy knowing if one ever slows down you can still run on a few cylinders.

Currently this is what I do:

1) Web/print design

2) Janitor at a church a few hours a week. My failsafe...will always have it if I want it and per hour pays me more than the rest - amazingly well. Done this since I took it as a part-time job when I was in post-secondary.

3) Shoot virtual tours for realtors

4) Hook myself.

I'm not rich. I won't ever be. But not having all your eggs in the same basket can be a good thing.

[kien]

Originally Posted by lastlight

I'm not rich. I won't ever be.

And of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with not being rich. Most of us are not rich, and many are even less rich than that!

One lesson my parents taught me is that you actually don't need that much money to live decently in this world. In 1979 my parents, with a 3 year old and 9 month old in tow, left their home country on a rickety boat with 200 other refugees. We lived in a refugee camp for 6 months before we were fortunate enough to be sponsored by a church in Calgary. We lived in that Church's hall for a while. My dad made money cleaning the church, my mom made sandwiches for 7-11. Fast forward 30 years, my parents are still doing the same thing they did 30 years ago. They have kept with those jobs because they actually enjoyed it. Probably because they appreciated the fact that it was worlds better than the alternative (misery) that they left behind. They were able to comfortably provide for their children, buy houses, cars, food, clothes and even helped put both kids through post secondary education.

Not that anyone really cares about all that.. but the moral of that story is, you don't need lots of money to be happy and successful.

I call this photo, "The Pursuit of Happiness"



This kid (and his family) started out with nothing more than the shirts on their backs, literally.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by lastlight

There's nothing saying you can't just do a few smaller things (without a degree) and still make a good income and enjoy knowing if one ever slows down you can still run on a few cylinders.

Currently this is what I do:

1) Web/print design

2) Janitor at a church a few hours a week. My failsafe...will always have it if I want it and per hour pays me more than the rest - amazingly well. Done this since I took it as a part-time job when I was in post-secondary.

3) Shoot virtual tours for realtors

4) Hook myself.

I'm not rich. I won't ever be. But not having all your eggs in the same basket can be a good thing.

Im like you

1. Animation--pays very well but not a steady job year after year. usually 1 year contracts.

2. Interior Design--pays even better but even less steady and I have just started in this industry, so its tough...although I have some amazing contacts (this is KEY, who you know). I never went to school for this, just begged an HGTV guy for a job.

3. Illustration/odd design jobs--doesn't pay as well considering the amount of work but its usually just ontop of the other jobs on weekends.

4. Construction with my stepfather--he owns a company and hires me when I really need the work.

Basically I take all the work I can get! Sometimes too much at once and I get myself into a bind...like this month lol. But you always find a way to get it done. My point is that with this kind of work and many other kinds, you sometimes have to just do whats available.

One thing about this kind of a "career" is that stuff like my mortgage was hard to get. Luckily, although my income is all over the place, it has steadily been over a certain year total for the past 5 years. The crazy thing is that some years there is a $40k difference!

Hope you end up being happy with whatever you decide. You will if you find something you love!

[Lance]

Originally Posted by Parker

Whatever path you choose, never underestimate the power of hard work. If your willing to put in the effort and work hard you can succeed in life no mater what you choose to do, whether you choose to put that effort into a secondary education or not.

Absolutely! If you're willing to put in the time and effort you will be rewarded.