University - this might be a really naive question

[Funky_Fish14]

Well, if you dont care about the money (which I dont), then it opens it up a little more. I've kept a 'network' of aquaintences in many different areas - I also have numerous family members in different areas of biology. Alot of it includes 'research', but many opportunities for a 'technical assistant', also opportunities to eventually choose my own research topic, jobs at aquariums (you work your way up the totem pole, right?), family that does marine ferry tours, another few members do dive tours in Oz. I guess I sort of lucked out (father worked for Ducks Unlimited, is friends with many biologists and a zoology prof). Plus, I've always got a job doing the grunt work farming muscles(like the mollusk) off the coasts of mexico & BC with a cousin who is an oceanographer if I need. Lol.

I guess most of it, to start with anyways, ends up being research/technical assistance of sorts, or those are the easier positions to get. Im content however in any of those areas. Also, just remembered, opportunities through school, like the ability to be part of advisement councils(and have this as a job)- (for going 'green', or being environmentally friendly - and I am already part of the student group for this).

Maybe im just blabbing, but, I guess I've found there are alot of small things that most people dont want to do. Im happy doing them, lol. I've learned more about what they are through family, friends, school, people I work with, etc... (Even farming now that I think of it, as I head over and help the dairy farmers across the road on occasion)...

Hope that sort of answers the question?

Cheers,

Chris

[globaldesigns]

Myka,

I haven't seen anybody ask, but I may of just missed that post. So I will ask:

What are your hobbies/passions, beside Aquariums... Tell us a little about yourself. Maybe with a bit more info about you, others can give you suggestions of areas that might interest you.

[Myka]

That's the trouble...I don't like to do much. Reading I enjoy. Uber nerdy fantasy novels. Anything to do with animals...although I don't think I could handle being a vet. I despise any on-call type work unless I am being paid for the hours I'm on standby. I like Mon-Fri 8-12 hours a day. $50K a year I think is a reasonable minimum salary...even that is a tad low I think. I would like to be my own boss.

I am actually 6 months away from a Red Seal Carpenter. I also have my Class 1A license. I am considering busting out on my own and doing bathroom renos. I do enjoy that. Bathrooms are my favourite. I think i lack contacts though since I am new to the province. I am considering trying to find a job in carpentry for 6 months or so just so I can get some contacts.

I would love to have my own retail marine store, but I don't have enough start up money.

[Pan]

I'm 33 in university. Finishing off an Honors Philsophy degree then off to law school (or grad school, unsure yet)

University is not somewhere you go when you are looking for a job. Short of computer science, anything health related (bigm huge demand everywhere right now) or possibly some bachelor of science degrees you will need more school beyond a mere b.a. . In fact all a bachelors degree really says is i'm one of the few peoplke who made it through university now on to serious study. I drove a truck and made more than 85 percent of university grads. That is until they worked their way up the ladder, or went on to further studies.

Also university is hard, I have no idea your abilities, but please keep in mind to do well (you need a highish gpa to make university worth it) is harder than people think. If you think merely graduating university is enough you end up with problems. Anything less than a b avg and you may as well not have gone. If you are looking at, and can get into SAIT or NAIT (these are hard as well, take for instance their nuclear med. program 22 spots out of 1000 applicants) they train for specific high paying careers. 34-44 bucks an hour for most of the med related fields...

At 18 university is somewhere you go and then make up your mind, older no so much it costs a lot of money to figure out as you go (trust me ) i'm looking at 40 years old before i'm out in the workplace again (full time anyway) BUT i am doing something i love...any money being relative...well

Please don't tell me about grammar or spelling mistakes, i'm in the midst of finals and term papers and simply too busy to care

[Myka]

If I am interested enough than I should be able to do quite well. It's kinda funny, the courses in highschool I liked I was over 90%, but the ones I didn't like I barely passed. I do worry about the amount of money I have to invest. I don't like being in debt.

[michika]

As a recent grad, I honestly feel that my B.A. is useless. I like school from a personal perspective, but as a jumping stone for a job, not so much. I specialized in Human Anatomy, Political Science, and Psychology.

I work in Oil & Gas, I have required professional certificates for my field, and I have experience. I also get paid what equates to a below poverty level income in Calgary. I barely, if ever, use anything I learned in University in my job. Ultimately it comes down to companies no longer seem to want to pay/compensate for degrees, because as per my HR advisor last week "degrees are a dime a dozen".

Amazingly though I went back to school after I graduated for two other degrees, and not because I have delusions about a better paying job, but because I like school. I like to learn.

When I was in high school all I ever heard was if you don't go to University you won't get a good paying job. I believed it, and I completely regret it. Like mentioned previously, going to post-secondary does not automatically equate to a job that pays a living wage, or a job that you adore.

If I could go back to give myself advise I'd tell myself to pick an applicable degree, something with skills that can be used within the workplace, and not something that is so abstract; Accounting, Finance, Computer Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Geology, etc. Fill in your options with things that appeal to you, things you're curious about, etc.

[Myka]

Thanks for your reply Catherine! With so many responses like yours I am starting to re-think this university idea. I do enjoy learning...I think that is half my motivation to go to university with the other half being (possibly delusional) increased pay.

Something I keep coming back to is environmentalist. As a vacuum trucker operator on the oil rigs I worked closely with the environmentalist doing land sprays of the drilling fluid. I know the different enviro dudes I worked with made big bucks. Most of them were making $250-400 per rig per day, and they had 1-4 rigs going. They were always under slept though, and I know I called them more than once at 2 am with a dire situation. I asked two of them how they got into the work. One said he took a 2 year course at university, the other said he worked his way into it.

I think with as an environmentalist there would be a lot of open doors this day and age. Not sure where to start though. I'm not sure if they were officially called environmentalists or something more flashy sounding.