College Majors. Any Ideas?

[HisChildForever]

Psychology...but I'm bias. You can find a good job with a BA, the issue is you need experience - so if you pursue a BA in psych make sure you do interning, preferably at least two sites. I never did internships in undergrad. I'm almost done with my Master's and yet I have a job working with people diagnosed with major MI. Part-time, but that's what I was looking for.

[ardillacid]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1352953480' post='2510338']
I'm currently trying to figure out college majors. But all of my interests will make me really poor. Here is the list of majors that Benedictine College offers: [url="http://www.benedictine.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs"]http://www.benedicti...aduate-programs[/url] The ones I am interested in are theology, psychology, political science, history, and theatre arts and dance. The only safe jobs that pay well in this list are psychology and political science. But I'm not sure I want to go with the headache of getting in thousands of dollars of debt because psychology requires years of college, and I'm not sure I want to be a politician (Plus I'm not sure anyone would vote for me). So I find myself at an impasse. If I do what I really like then I'm either poor or in a lot of debt. Any ideas? I know I have a lot of time to think about it, but this doesn't look promising so far.
[/quote]
Engineering.

[Maggyie]

Don't go into education, political science, psychology or any of the liberal arts if you want a guarantee of being employable. I studied journalism and although I was a syndicated columnist and copy editor I never found a full time job with benefits. The money I did make was croutons. Nowadays disseminating information can be done almost for free by citizen journalists in blogs. Don't ever go into business trying to sell something that other people are willing to give away for free.

General business studies are also not in demand. The key is to specialize in something very specific that preferably can't be outsourced or automated. This is why nursing is such a great career path; you can't outsource that to India. And it can't be done by robots, yet.

[PhuturePriest]

From what I understand, if you are not going to be an engineer or nurse you are pretty much going to be poor. I don't like how one-sided things are in the economy right now. Where is the appreciation for the arts? For culture? Has our society really gone this low that these things are not appreciated?

Edited November 17, 2012 by FuturePriest387

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1353127174' post='2511640']
From what I understand, if you are not going to be an engineer or nurse you are pretty much going to be poor. I don't like how one-sided things are in the economy right now. Where is the appreciation for the arts? For culture? Has our society really gone this low that these things are not appreciated?
[/quote]
If you look at, say, the [url="http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/"]top fifty richest people in the world[/url], I guarantee that none of them are nurses.
Engineers certainly a few, but they would not be the majority.

Edited November 17, 2012 by Nihil Obstat

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1353127697' post='2511645']
If you look at, say, the top fifty richest people in the world, I guarantee that none of them are nurses.
Engineers certainly a few, but they would not be the majority.
[/quote]

The top fifty richest people in the world are business creators, and you know my thoughts on doing anything with a business. Besides, my goal isn't to be one of the top fifty richest people in the world. It's to get a stable job that I love which pays enough to sustain a family.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1353127824' post='2511647']

The top fifty richest people in the world are business creators, and you know my thoughts on doing anything with a business. Besides, my goal isn't to be one of the top fifty richest people in the world. It's to get a stable job that I love which pays enough to sustain a family.
[/quote]


My aunt is an emergency room nurse. I spent a shift with her once, back when I wanted to be a doctor. It was pretty amazing. I was very impressed.

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1353128011' post='2511651']


My aunt is an emergency room nurse. I spent a shift with her once, back when I wanted to be a doctor. It was pretty amazing. I was very impressed.
[/quote]

So from the looks of things, I am going to be a professional karate instructor and make five thousand a year, or I will shoot for the stars and become a waiter.

[Lilllabettt]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1353124796' post='2511624']


Could you tell me why? What changes are happening that make it such a bad profession to get into?
[/quote]

Since No Child Left Behind was passed, the system has been in the midst of very painful, if necessary, reform. The pendulum has swung in the direction of "corporate-led" reform - the application of business practices to school systems. Instruction is now data driven - you collect test data on your students, analyze it, and use it to diagnose in what areas your instruction has failed to reach the kids. In many states, the law stipulates that teacher jobs and compensation be tied to test scores, or "value added," which is a statistical measure of how your personal efforts as a teacher impacted your students scores.

If you are lucky enough to work in a rich school district, this is not too bad, except there is a lot of paperwork, and you will probably spend at least some time teaching to the test. If you work in a poor school, as most new hires do, it creates enormous pressure. My school - like many poor schools - has a large special education population - developmental delay, emotionally disturbed, and mr. It also has a very big ELL (english language learner) population. With regular education students, our school is highly successful. Our ELL and special ed kids struggle - as you might expect. If you just left Mexico 2 months ago you might not be able to read an English test.

But No Child Left Behind stipulates that ALL children, regardless of background or starting level, must be brought up to grade-level proficiency. And because of that, my school received a "D" grade for achievement this past year. We have 3 years to change the tide and show we are making "AYP" (Adequate Yearly Progress, as shown by test scores) or the school will be taken over and the entire faculty let go. You can imagine how unpleasant people become when they are worried about losing their jobs, and struggling against enormous odds to, for example, get an emotionally disturbed child to sit for, and succeed on, a 4 hour test. I personally felt I had success with my students last year. I routinely put in 60-70 hr weeks, and didn't have time for a dog let alone a family. But even though many of them had 2 years of reading and math growth in only 9 months, most of them were still not on grade level "proficient."

There was a time when students were blamed, then it was parents, now it is the teacher's fault. This is an idea that Teach for America promotes in various ways, explicit and implicit. If students are not motivated to work, it's the teacher's fault. If parents are not involved, it's the teacher's fault. Because the teacher has not "invested" them enough. This is the current direction of academia and reform ... but even in popular culture, teachers are now routinely cast as lazy union thugs who want their health insurance and their summers off e.g., in "Waiting for Superman" and "Won't Back Down."

Most teachers I speak to think that eventually the pendulum will swing back. But for the next 15-20 years this will be the direction things go.

I know MANY unemployed teachers who will not work in the poor schools. I do not mind being hit and kicked by first graders, sworn at by kindergartners, tackled by 5th graders and stolen from by everyone else - what bothers me is the parents. And I honestly don't think they are any more bearable in rich schools.

It is a very rewarding thing to do, but it's not a job, or a career - so much as a mission. And at least for now you have to be committed to it as a mission - and be ready to fight for it.

[HisChildForever]

FP - do remember that your wife can bring home some bacon too. You're putting way too much pressure on yourself.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1353128112' post='2511652']

So from the looks of things, I am going to be a professional karate instructor and make five thousand a year, or I will shoot for the stars and become a waiter.
[/quote]

I am sure you could do better than five grand a year teaching karate.
After a couple years, at least.

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='Lilllabettt' timestamp='1353128623' post='2511653']
Since No Child Left Behind was passed, the system has been in the midst of very painful, if necessary, reform. The pendulum has swung in the direction of "corporate-led" reform - the application of business practices to school systems. Instruction is now data driven - you collect test data on your students, analyze it, and use it to diagnose in what areas your instruction has failed to reach the kids. In many states, the law stipulates that teacher jobs and compensation be tied to test scores, or "value added," which is a statistical measure of how your personal efforts as a teacher impacted your students scores.

If you are lucky enough to work in a rich school district, this is not too bad, except there is a lot of paperwork, and you will probably spend at least some time teaching to the test. If you work in a poor school, as most new hires do, it creates enormous pressure. My school - like many poor schools - has a large special education population - developmental delay, emotionally disturbed, and mr. It also has a very big ELL (english language learner) population. With regular education students, our school is highly successful. Our ELL and special ed kids struggle - as you might expect. If you just left Mexico 2 months ago you might not be able to read an English test.

But No Child Left Behind stipulates that ALL children, regardless of background or starting level, must be brought up to grade-level proficiency. And because of that, my school received a "D" grade for achievement this past year. We have 3 years to change the tide and show we are making "AYP" (Adequate Yearly Progress, as shown by test scores) or the school will be taken over and the entire faculty let go. You can imagine how unpleasant people become when they are worried about losing their jobs, and struggling against enormous odds to, for example, get an emotionally disturbed child to sit for, and succeed on, a 4 hour test. I personally felt I had success with my students last year. I routinely put in 60-70 hr weeks, and didn't have time for a dog let alone a family. But even though many of them had 2 years of reading and math growth in only 9 months, most of them were still not on grade level "proficient."

There was a time when students were blamed, then it was parents, now it is the teacher's fault. This is an idea that Teach for America promotes in various ways, explicit and implicit. If students are not motivated to work, it's the teacher's fault. If parents are not involved, it's the teacher's fault. Because the teacher has not "invested" them enough. This is the current direction of academia and reform ... but even in popular culture, teachers are now routinely cast as lazy union thugs who want their health insurance and their summers off e.g., in "Waiting for Superman" and "Won't Back Down."

Most teachers I speak to think that eventually the pendulum will swing back. But for the next 15-20 years this will be the direction things go.

I know MANY unemployed teachers who will not work in the poor schools. I do not mind being hit and kicked by first graders, sworn at by kindergartners, tackled by 5th graders and stolen from by everyone else - what bothers me is the parents. And I honestly don't think they are any more bearable in rich schools.

It is a very rewarding thing to do, but it's not a job, or a career - so much as a mission. And at least for now you have to be committed to it as a mission - and be ready to fight for it.
[/quote]

That sounds awful. I now feel bad for teachers.

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='HisChildForever' timestamp='1353128773' post='2511656']
FP - do remember that your wife can bring home some bacon too. You're putting way too much pressure on yourself.
[/quote]

I want my wife to have the ability to be a housewife if she wants. If she does not want to be one then that is fine, but she should not feel obligated to work.

[Vincent Vega]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1353128963' post='2511660']

I want my wife to have the ability to be a housewife if she wants. If she does not want to be one then that is fine, but she should not feel obligated to work.
[/quote]
I don't know if the "one parent at home" model is going to be a viable option for lower and middle class families in the coming decades.

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='USAirwaysIHS' timestamp='1353129152' post='2511664']
I don't know if the "one parent at home" model is going to be a viable option for lower and middle class families in the coming decades.
[/quote]

I'm not sure either. But I might as well try.