why you're doing what you do...

catspring

to the people,

i'm in 2nd year at uni studying english with french. i didn't particularly want to do this course, but i messed up my leaving cert and was all i could get into, it's an arts degree.
now, don't get me wrong, because i do enjoy the course but i just dunno where my life is heading.
so basically, i want to know why you chose to do the job/subject/ect that you're doing?
how did you know that was what you wanted to do?
who could i talk to for advice in this situation? anyone else feel like this??
all replies appreciated

sorry for the rant.....



ps. if this should be in personal issues or sumfink: i'm sorry

Don1

3rd year Mechanical Engineering Diploma in Carlow. Should have done the degree course in Bolton st. but as I have a growing distaste for Dublin I decided against it. Hate the course. Too easy and boring. I rarely attend and still walk it! No idea what I'll do after college. Hoping to win the lotto or become famous to prevent living a 9-5 life!! It's gonna happen. I know it is!

Trojan

A lot of people drift through life for a long time before asking this question of themselves. It's about setting life goals, thinking about what you want to achieve. Do you want to build things, help people, educate people, find out new things, make a ton of money, etc.

And the great thing about it all is that later on in life it'll all change again

I'm interested to see where this thread goes.

Al.

Dempsey

4th Year Integrated Circuit Design in Carlow also. I didnt care for the leaving cert so i didnt get the points a needed to do software development. Im pretty sick of college at this stage not because of the stuff im doing but college itself. I dunno what I will do when i leave college.

The_Goose

If you dont like your course you could just deffer(spell check) for a year and reapply, know one or two that have done it!
there no point doin somethng you dont like cause you might end up taking a job using your qualifacation and be stuck doing something you dont like!

talk to careers office in your coll, they shold be able to help!

AL][EN

Hey cat i know exactly how you feel,

Im an IT nerd got into computers because tbh it was the lowest points i could get into i had 5 mins to fill in my CAO form and i picked an IT course as it was the only thing going. so in 5 mins i decided what i was going to do with the rest of my life (not to be too dramatic or anything), now 5 years later im working for an IT company doing........erm IT things.......and im not really happy with it, truth be told im pretty sick of IT altogether and i want to get out myself, so i know how you feel however the good news is its never too late to change im gonna do me a night course pretty oon and get out of this whole shin ding as soon as i can.

If your enjoying the course i dont see why you shouldn't finish it if your happy then by all means go ahead and finish the course and its good to have a broad range of skills when you want to try and find work after college, if your lucky you can go back to college as a senior student (i think you have to be 25 or something like that) im not 25 myself yet but when i do hit the old 25 mark its something i'll think about myself or do night classes.

but i do know how you feel i have no idea where my life is heading yet either and ive been working in the big bad world for 5 years now im 24 and i still dont know what i want out of life!! your still young relax and enjoy college life while you still can there's plenty of time for you to decide what to do with the rest of your life,

G'luck cat hope it works out for you

L4

I do what I do because I need money to live by. I don't want to waste my life studying some course on a subject I will be so sick of by the time I'm finished college that I'll more than likely get a job in a different industry. Also, because I have to pay the rent and bills because at 21yrs of age I don't want to be hanging off my mother's aprin strings. I work in the shipping industry which requires something different than a pointless certificate. It wasn't my boyhood dream now, but it's o.k. Soon (next week) I hope to get a Green card for the U.S and from there I will work where I can get it and for me that's better than dedicating your life to the one profession. Money isn't everything, and personally I can't bear those who think it is.
They are very dull.

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

LoneGunM@n

I must be one of the lucky few ... I've wanted to be an accountant since I started secondary school, so I did the courses & have been working as an accountant for 5+ years!!

I'd agree that if you dislike the course you are doing to have a good think about where you are going with the course ... I'd also agree that you should sit down with your College Career Councillor (sp) & try and get a bit of advice!!

You didn't say what age you are, but the thing to remember is that you are never too old to try something new ... I'm a firm believer in the fact that the only person who can restrict your choices is you!!

You could always finish the course you are doing & re-apply as a mature student for any course you wish to do!!

Best of luck

The Second

I don't think people ever really know what they want to do in life .. regardless of age... unless you are one of the lucky few that has a passion for something that they can work at, that earns them enough money to keep them happy.

Personally I have a diploma in software development and am half ways through final year degree in commerical computing. I have no intention what so ever of working with computers. I like the part time job I have at the momment so I'm gonna do that for 6 months after I finish college.. and take that time to think, draw, paint, and save money to go traveling. I'm an artist ... but when you say that to people they think you are a bum.

What I'm sayin is ... a college education is easy to carry... there is no harm in being educated .... even if you have no interest in what you are studying... you don't have to do it for the rest of your life!

wouldn't it be great if the norm for humans was to have a few careers in their lifetime... as opposed to specialising in one?

Beëlzebooze

I am happy in the industry I have landed in, it has nothing to do with what I did at college, and if I had the choice right now I would go straight back to college, I would do every course that I fancied if I had the time and the money. Not for a job,not for the money, but because there are so many subjects I would like to know more about, for personal fullfillment.

If I won the lotto tomorrow, I would probably spend the rest of my life in school.

Don1

Experts project that in the near future the average person (if there is such a thing) will change career five times in their lifetime. Just so you know.

Havelock

I'm currently doing mulitmedia (Graphic design and web design), I am a photographer by passion, an organiser by character and want to be a police officer.

I am doing this course to have some form of certification in web design.

I will go to college as a mature student, proably to study things that just intrest me (as in not study for certain career)

If I could have any job in the future, when I settle down and chose where to make a home, I hope to run an Ice-cream shop / cafe, somewhere quiet in the south of France.

Don't think that helped much, did it?

The Second

If I won the lotto tomorrow, I would probably spend the rest of my life in school.

I hate school... and I hate college.

If I won the lotto ... I would vacate the area... bring me to somewhere sunny...

People who go to Australia seem to never come back... now either there is something really bad over there killing them.... or its an excellent place to be!

.... way better than school...

spend the rest of my life in school

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU???? :eek:

Woden

4th year joint degree in chemistry and experimental physics theres only 2 universities in the country you can do joint degrees and thats trinity and ucd so i choose the latter (didn't think i'd get the points for tcd tbh and i was advised not to study science there anyway as the courses are not practical enough)

why i do it well i like both chemistry and physics (something the course organisers seem to have difficulty believing especially as i don't like physical chemistry ). Anywho i wanted to study this seen school science interests me and i've learnt loads but still looking forward to finishing don't know what i want to do next.

Commissar

First yr Computer Science at UCC.
I chose it becaurse it interested me and not because of any LC points restrictions.
So far I'm glad I chose it (having two friends doing it too helped).

College degrees aren't very restrictive though. One person I know of studied Bio-Chem a few years ago, did very well and now has a great job with some business consultancy firm.

BlitzKrieg

1st year at 20th Century european history and politics and Film studies At APU cambridge.

Always wanted to go somewhere in film and this course allows me to do alot of pratical work and theory. The history and politics part gives me credit when it comes to documentaries and i love the course to bits. (now if only i can get myself to do my assignments grrr)

rainbow kirby

2nd year mathematical science in UCD.
Chose it cos i liked maths and physics in school, and i wanted to go to UCD over pearse street polytechnic anyway. Loved it in first year but 2nd year is ridiculously hard and im just procrastinating here bout going to study for an exam i have tomorrow...
I havent a bulls notion what i want to do with my life. I'll get to 4th year and be even more confused then bout what i want to do...

Sarky

Not long out of NUIG, currently unemployed. Nobody seems to need a marine microbiologist in their employ right now...

I ended up in that course because I filled out my CAO application with things that sounded interesting. I had a quick read up on what subjects involved, and put them in order of preference. 10 points more and I would have been in biomechanical engineering.

I found the course to be fascinating, so I stuck with it out of enjoyment and a desire to learn more about it.

Whatever job I end up doing, I'm still happy about what I did, the knowledge I gained, the friends I made, and how I spent my 4 years in college.

skipn_easy

4th year computer science in trinity. Love computers in every way and wanted to do this course since I was about 13.Really pleased with how it turned out, friends I've made and things I've learned but still have no idea what I want to do when I'm finished. Possibly move to australia and take up ranching for 6 months of the year and programming for the rest of the year.

Raz

4th year in DCU doing electronic engineering. It started off alright. Just like secondary really (not saying much there!). I've pretty much procrastinated my way through the course. I have a terrible lack in concentration. Basically I'm your ultimate crammer. I've passed exams after studying for two hours on the morning before. It's quite ridiculous that I'm in 4th year and havn't repeated a year yet. I don't deserve to be doing as well as I am. I've been to 2 lectures in the past 2 weeks. In short I'm a bit fed up with the course. I have too few lectures this year so I don't make the effort to go in. [/whine]
As for what I'm going to do once (if) I've finished .... It most likely won't be in electronics. I'm thinking of doing a sound engineering course in pulse recording studios. That's one thing my degree will get me. These pepople will look at my CV and say 'this guy has completed an engineering course. That means he has a grounding in the basics and he will go the distance with the course'.
If I do anything it will be finish this course because it'll get me places wether it's in the field of electronics or not.

Tivoli

concetrating always made me sleepy, i remember back in 5th year, trying to avoid listening to the teacher and day dreaming instead so that i could stay awake, did the same in leaving cert and collage, got about 200 points in the leaving, failed 1st year mech eng in dundalk, took a year out, worked in burger king and dunnes stores, repeated got into second year, got something like 49 avg in second year,

i am in a factory working shift fixing the machines, when they all work , i do nothing, when one breaks i usually get in **** for not knowing how to fix it, but here 4 years now and the still haven't copped on YET

i miss working in dunnes, that place is the best

catspring

thanks for your replies

so it turns out this is not a weird feelin for a 19 year old. good stuff.

am deffinately not going to drop outa my course. as i said in my first post, i do enjoy it, and it would be a bit much of me to turn around and tell my parents that i'm dropping out since my dad's paying for it for the minute!!!*

i must check out the careers advisor guys, not sure where their office is but i'll find it and ask 'em stuff

anyhoo, i always liked maths and business type things in school, and thought i wanted to be an accountant for a long time. i mean maybe i still do!! grrr.....

i guess i'll stick with the course (it's pretty good to have a degree behind you and to be educated) work for a while and then hopefully it'll just come to me in a dream. one morning i'll waken up and realise that all my life i've wanted to be a dodgy looking page 3 girl with fake boobs and yukky blond hair!!!!

maybe i should find a rich old man, marry him and inherit all his money.......
oh, wait a minute, i already have!!! ......ahem .....i mean, sorry mark, petal.......... you're not rich!

anyhoo, enough of my random babbling


*thanks dad, you'll be put into at least a semi-reasonable nursing home, i square