College woes

[sinkoman]

What's up guys, long time no talk. I hope the new year is going well for you all!

ill spare you all the details since you're all probably tired of hearing me cry about life by now, but in a nutshell, I'm buttchugging prerequisites towards an electrical engineering degree, but I'm starting to question whether that's what I really want.

My question to you all is, what did you get a degree in, what field do you work in, and what's youre lifestyle like. I know we've got a lot of really smart bastards here, but I'd like to know how much time you get to do the things you truly enjoy, and what those things are. Maybe your work actually is your one true love, or maybe it's just an entertaining distraction that pays the bills. Or maybe you ****ing dread clocking in.

 

[ktimekiller]

I got pretty lucky and found something I wanted to learn. Before, I was doing CS cause its CS lul.

 

[sinkoman]

I got pretty lucky and found something I wanted to learn. Before, I was doing CS cause its CS lul.

what do you do?

 

[ríomhaire]

I have a physics degree and I'm currently doing a masters in applied maths (though it's mostly programming) and hoping to just get any job in a software company and see where I go from there.

 

[Ren.182]

I did a degree in Computer Games Design. During the course I had quite a bit of spare time to do whatever I enjoyed (playing games, watching movies, going out with friends etc...). I got a top grade in my degree and that's when it got pretty shit. Nobody would hire me and after 6 months of no job I finally got a job in a garage that fixed trucks and kinda gave up on games for a while so I could save up a bit of money.

I got a break and finally got a job in the industry on the role I wanted. I'm still in the industry and still very much enjoying making games. I've been pretty lucky in terms of crunch. I only had a couple of weeks of proper crunch and the rest of the time I've done a few hours overtime here and there. So I still pretty much have enough free time to do whatever I want.

I wouldn't mind doing crunch if it was needed but I was good at meeting all my deadlines, I think if you enjoy your job you won't mind doing the long hours.

As I said, I do enjoy my line of work, but most of the time when I leave the place I go off and do something else. I will go and do a bit of development in my free time every now and then if I'm in the mood though.

 

[Broax]

I have a knee problem that disables me from doing heavily physical work. I was a volunteer firefighter (thinking of going pro) and that put a stop to it... I then went to college, I started by studying marketing (I really enjoyed the whole Don Drapper thing of drinking whisky and slapping assistants around). Around half-way I got some serious personal problems that made me drop my studies for two years so that I could focus on my family, somewhere along that I got a marketing job and discovered it wasn't really what I was looking for so when I got back to school I changed my degree to Business Communication. I'm enjoying it so far as it focuses more on design, public relations, etc then marketing.

I also play guitar on a blues-rock band that I'm trying to kick off (I kinda suck but it's still good fun to be able to practice on a studio enviorment) but those guys are lazy and I just broke my wrist on a motorcycle accident so that pretty much puts everything in a pause... -_-'

To try to answer your question: I currently work at customer support for an internet provider. I dread it... It's horrible... People are so retarded these days... -_-' Sometimes I feel happy for breaking my wrist since I haven't worked for two months (that was a welcomed pause). But it's just for paying for college and I hope one day to do something more challenging and rewarding. On the meanwhile I'm hopping that this spring I start production on some homemade beer... If that goes well enough I'm considering trying to sell it. In Portugal the market for beers is dominated by a couple a brands and there are virtually no "artisan" production (I have a feeling this isn't the right word to use) so I'm hoping I can fill some niche market that can give me a nice payroll (still thinking like a marketeer). The economy scares me, though... I have a feeling it will be hard the market premium brew...

I know it sounds like a cliche but I guess that if you want to do something you love you should focus on it... God knows I wasted too much time on unimportant stuff and I'm now trying to make up for lost time. The problem is that the younger you are the harder it is to know what it is that you love... So experience with a lot of different things as much as you can. Everything ends up impacting your life and defining who you are... And help you find something you love doing.

I hope this helps...

 

[KiplingsCat]

Degree in Astrophysics. The undergrad nearly killed me. Towards the end, I was sustaining myself on a diet of Sprite and croissants with a steak every three days or so cos you know, ain't nobody got time for regular meals when you have to sit 10 exhausting exams in advanced level physics. Graduated with first class honours last October though, so that deeply unpleasant chapter of my life is finally over.

For most of my degree, I wasn't sure whether or not I was doing the right thing. I think everybody experiences that, to be honest. You get to college and realize that just because something isn't always enjoyable doesn't mean it isn't what you want to be doing. Just because you find it hard doesn't mean you're bad at it.

Now I'm doing a research Master's in radio astronomy, and it's more or less the same, just with waaaay lower stress levels. I have found a field that I slightly like and semi-understand, which involves work that doesn't make me want to tear my own eyes out, so I've decided to just cut my losses and stick with it for as far as it goes...until it's over or until it's no longer what I want to do.

To be honest I should be working harder than I am, but I'm really liking the chilled-out lifestyle I have now, compared to what I had before. For the first time in my life, I have hours to spare for a job. I can go away for the weekend. I can go out drinking. I can go home and watch tv at 5 pm. If a friend asks me to meet up for coffee, I can immediately say yes. I love my life. As long as being an astrophysicist allows this to happen, that's what I'll continue to be.

 

[Araviss]

I went to college right after graduation. I wasn't at all sure what I wanted to do with life and always (from day one) knew that I didn't think college was my thing. My rents told me to give it some time and it would grow on me... riiight. After 1 year I dropped out to play music full time with my band. Which is what I loved and at that point in my life, what I really wanted to do forever.

Well, needless to say that didn't really work out the way I had planned, and it left me jobless and no longer really in "love" with playing music. (yes I still do it and enjoy it, but not for a career.) So, I got a job working at a Stainless Steel Scrap plant. Started off pretty terrible but I stuck it out and I am now foreman making more than i thought possible with benefits and some nice added up vacation time.

So overall, I can't say I'm where I thought I would be at 23 but I also can't complain. I know a lot of my high school friends who graduated college cannot find a single job paying what I'm getting with no degree. I don't necessarily love my job but i don't hate it either. I still have plenty of free time and friends close by. The job forced me to move to Pittsburgh, which I have fallen in love with. It's been a good experience and I can't wait to see where it takes me.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

Sinko! Good to see you posting again.

Did somebody say college whoa's?

Hang in there, brah. It'll be worth it, unless it turns out to be not worth it, I guess.

Studied Computer Science right after high school, then got a job porting mobile games very soon after graduation despite my so-so performance in school. Got kinda lucky looking back, and I wish I had worked harder when I was studying. Moved on to mobile GPS navigation when that job started to tank, then after almost five years I switched to web programming. The GPS nav job was pretty demanding but I still came home and played games until the wee hours despite the long hours at work. Toward the end of my time there I really dreaded clocking in as the company started resting on their laurels after getting acquired, plus Google Maps basically destroyed our competitive position (when everyone starts using smartphones with free nav built in, no one in their right mind would buy ours).

Nowadays I work 8-10 hour days at a website that provides services to apartment leasing companies. It's an enthusiastic group and we try to stay ahead of the agile programming / web technology curve. Being married now means I have the least free time but I'm also the happiest I've ever been.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

If anyone wins the lottery, spread some wealth around, I'd do it for ya'llz.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Currently, I'm wrapping up a degree of Honours Biology with a minor in Computer Science. I'm in the process of applying to medical school here in Canada, but it's crazy competitive (basically need to maintain an average around 87% or so for the whole undergrad). Considered going overseas to Ireland or Australia, but its so expensive and so difficult to return to practice in Canada that I might not bother with that route.

Failing that, I'd likely go into a masters and hopefully get a research position after that. I've been lucky enough to have worked for some summers in a lab, and helped out with a recent publication. The other alternative I see is becoming a paramedic, specifically a flight or wilderness paramedic. Work as a volunteer first responder now and absolutely love it, so recently paramedicine has become a lot more appealing.

 

[dfc05]

Undergrad in Chemical Engineering. Wanted to do Environmental Engineering but that's usually lumped with Civil Engineering and I prefer chemistry to physics/structures. ChE was all fun and games until one day I went to class and my prof says, "I'm going to tell you what makes chemical engineers special and different from all the other engineers" and I perk up like "YEAH! tell us!" and he says "We separate things." That was second semester freshman year. I thought it was a joke, but it's not. Also you get to choose pumps and stuff.... I think. I got my degree but ended up so disillusioned that I never actually took a real chemical engineering job. The theoretical stuff was great, but the actual applied work seemed awful. As far as I've heard from my friends, they all hate their ChE jobs and want to quit. However, they are all making tons of money. I said, "pfft screw money, I'm going to save the Earth."

.....Seriously. Four years into a PhD program for Environmental Engineering. The classes were great, mostly because they were 10 times easier than my undergrad ChE classes even though I'm at a private engineering school full of nerds now. Also quite a bit more interesting; I haven't had to look at a single pump selection chart. As a grad student I do both lab work and writing. Currently working on my thesis proposal which involves staring at my laptop screen all day thinking about how crap my writing seems and trying to cram in as much literature reading as possible. Environmental Engineering is ok, I guess it's nice to think you are solving problems, like air quality, or cleaning up DOD's crap or those sites where some chemical company spilled stuff and then went bankrupt and was like "whoops, well we're bankrupt so we can't fix it" so now the taxpayers pay for the cleanup. Well, ideally that's what you work on. If you go into industry with a Bachelor's in Environmental Engineering, here's what you'll probably do: (1) work for a chemical/oil & gas company that you may or may not like, but at least you're making money; (2) work for a consulting company, still making decent money but not as much as you are at a chemical company, because instead of working directly for them, you just write their permit applications/renewals that they couldn't bother to hire anyone internal to do ; (3) Greenpeace lol they don't want real scientists/engineers, only hippie liberal arts activists who don't know what they're talking about. As for PhD options, consulting's not one anymore because they want permit writers, not PhD's, so I'm left with: (1) chemical company (supposedly not terrible for PhD's); (2) government lab; (3) random job like scientific journal editor; (4) post-doc. I have no clue what I'm going to do, and every day I think about my 14-17 month ticking time-bomb to unemployment.

Anyways, electrical engineering. If you haven't tried at least one real EE class yet, I'd say try it unless you can think of a different major you want. It's easy to switch first year if you don't like it. Just be aware that EE is super difficult so don't get too discouraged because it's hard for everyone. My dad was an electrical engineer, worked for an oil services company I think (I have no clue what his job involved). I think he liked his job. My sister was also an electrical engineer and works for a chemical company now. I have no clue if she does actual EE or just management, but she seems to like it well enough. Two out of two pretty good experiences, seems like decent odds. From what I've heard, CS also seems like a very good choice if you're considering that.

 

[sinkoman]

Undergrad in Chemical Engineering. Wanted to do Environmental Engineering but that's usually lumped with Civil Engineering and I prefer chemistry to physics/structures. ChE was all fun and games until one day I went to class and my prof says, "I'm going to tell you what makes chemical engineers special and different from all the other engineers" and I perk up like "YEAH! tell us!" and he says "We separate things." That was second semester freshman year. I thought it was a joke, but it's not. Also you get to choose pumps and stuff.... I think. I got my degree but ended up so disillusioned that I never actually took a real chemical engineering job. The theoretical stuff was great, but the actual applied work seemed awful. As far as I've heard from my friends, they all hate their ChE jobs and want to quit. However, they are all making tons of money. I said, "pfft screw money, I'm going to save the Earth."

This is something i've heard from a lot of Chem Es actually. Undergrad coursework is plenty interesting, but working in industry blows fat donkey cock.

Actually, that sounds like the experiences i've read about from most of the Engineering disciplines online. It really seems like as an Engineer, you're kind of thought of as nothing more than a fleshy copy of Solidworks that needs to be fed and paid. The Business and Marketing majors come up with the ideas, then they shove their cocks down your throat until you make it work the way they want it to. Then once it works, they outsource your job to an Indian and you never find work again because the HR departments are stuck on the newest tech buzzword and think you're already too old to have enough experience with it...

****, I just want to build things!

Anyways, electrical engineering. If you haven't tried at least one real EE class yet, I'd say try it unless you can think of a different major you want. It's easy to switch first year if you don't like it. Just be aware that EE is super difficult so don't get too discouraged because it's hard for everyone. My dad was an electrical engineer, worked for an oil services company I think (I have no clue what his job involved). I think he liked his job. My sister was also an electrical engineer and works for a chemical company now. I have no clue if she does actual EE or just management, but she seems to like it well enough. Two out of two pretty good experiences, seems like decent odds. From what I've heard, CS also seems like a very good choice if you're considering that.

Unfortunately, my math prereq is still too low to take the majority of EE classes yet. I did take EE160 "C Programming for Engineers" last semester though, and had a blast (other than frustrating group members...). I got over 100% in the course without lifting a finger. I mean, I hate to sound cocky, but I honestly totally forgot about one of the midterms, and still scored 95% on it. Like, I walked into class 20 minutes late and saw everybody working on their exam, and was like "Crap...". Didn't study a lick for the final either.

That being said though, that's basically baby tier engi coursework, and I probably only did so well because I learned the basics of programming at a very young age, and took AP Comp Sci in highschool (in addition to doing some other random programming stuff here and there). The experience did make me want to switch into ICS though, but the lack of a physical component really turns me off to Comp Sci.

The biggest problem i'm having right now is trying to battle out my love for riding bikes with a career. I freaking love riding BMX. I love my bike more than a lot of the actual people in my life (not all of them mind you...). I'm also aware that after 30 I won't be able to realistically continue riding the way I do today, so the fact that i'm getting into a 6 year degree that basically will inhale all of my free time is scary. Add onto that the fact that engineers are god damned overtime oompa loompas, and i'm wondering if this is really the right decision.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I did the whole hobby electronics thing and loved it to death, and I currently work in a lab where I get to do EE stuff, and I sometimes put in all kinds of OT just cause I enjoy it, but i'm wondering if maybe I wouldn't be better off getting an ME degree and trying to work for a bicycle manufacturer. Or hell, maybe getting an english degree and trying to write for a bike magazine or something.

Or maybe i'll just suck it up, get the degree, and spend the rest of my life working in academia (HA, yeah right...).

 

[Krynn72]

I have a Bachelor Degree in Computer Animation. However, I initially started in Computer Science, which only lasted a semester, and then Graphic Design, which only lasted two semesters. Then I decided I didn't like either of those and moved to Florida to do computer animation.

So in early 2008 I graduated, and by late 2008 I had a job at a small indie game developer. It sucked because the company was the worst thing ever made by man, our bosses were totally incompetent as far as game development goes, and after a couple years the 3D games department was axed because our one released game sucked and made no money. So I moved back home to CT and after some time (about 1.5 years) got a job as a computer repair technician. Now I've been there for about 2 years, and actually quite like it most days.

So basically I've found that I like doing the thing I went to school for as a hobby more than as a job. But that may be because of my first god awful, depressing experience (honestly, the day I got laid off was probably one of the best days in my life, and many of my now ex-coworkers were relieved just as much). As for what I do when off work now, well I do a lot. I do 3D work still, I play video games, paint models for a tabletop wargame (as well as playing the game obviously), hang out with amigos, etc. Shits pretty good right now, getting promotions/raises like a mother****er at this company too

 

[dfc05]

^^^ I know a dude with a similar experience. I think the game "company" he was with had 3 guys and he thought the lead guy's ideas were all bad, so he quit. Now he's trying to start up his own company though. Pretty risky.

Sinko, from what you posted, it sounds like it'd be good to stick it out with EE a little longer (obviously you know better what you want for yourself though!). Maybe add in an ME class somewhere in your schedule and see which you like better. Ride your bike on the weekends and during the summer! Or if you need to, you can prob take a semester off if you sort it out with your department. I knew someone who kinda disappeared and came back and finished.

p.s. Never get an English degree.

 

[Krynn72]

^^^ I know a dude with a similar experience. I think the game "company" he was with had 3 guys and he thought the lead guy's ideas were all bad, so he quit. Now he's trying to start up his own company though. Pretty risky.

Me and two of the guys that also got laid off actually started our own game and we were thinking of getting our own thing going too. That got put on indefinite hiatus as we all found that we needed to get real jobs, since unemployment benefits from Louisiana blow ass. And we're like 80% done with the game too which sucks.

But yeah, that company... man. Basically the first boss (CEO of the company as he liked to call himself) got discovered embezzling a shitload of money by the investors, and two people got his job once he got kicked out. One of them was a farmer before prior to this gig, the other was a manager at a telemarketing firm. Clearly these professions have a lot in common with game development, but for some reason they could never quite get it down.

The day I hit rock bottom in terms of morale was when they handed out photocopies of an article written about how a guy who had no experience whatsoever became CEO of a game studio and turned it into a highly successful business. They handed it out to try to improve morale at the studio by showing us how people who don't know shit about game development can be good at running a game development studio.

And the person that the article was talking about? Why none other than our good friend Bobby Kotick. If you don't know who that is, see my signature and you'll know how you should feel.

 

[ktimekiller]

I haven't finished school yet, but I am doing Asian Studies and Global Studies. Asian Studies is essentially watered down International Relations with an area focus. Interested in going into Foreign Service Officers for U.S. Essentially, the line of work that leads to diplomats and ambassadors.

 

[ríomhaire]

Currently, I'm wrapping up a degree of Honours Biology with a minor in Computer Science. I'm in the process of applying to medical school here in Canada, but it's crazy competitive (basically need to maintain an average around 87% or so for the whole undergrad). Considered going overseas to Ireland or Australia, but its so expensive and so difficult to return to practice in Canada that I might not bother with that route.

Failing that, I'd likely go into a masters and hopefully get a research position after that. I've been lucky enough to have worked for some summers in a lab, and helped out with a recent publication. The other alternative I see is becoming a paramedic, specifically a flight or wilderness paramedic. Work as a volunteer first responder now and absolutely love it, so recently paramedicine has become a lot more appealing.

You'd probably have a hard time getting a job in Ireland. I believe there's still a ban on hiring permanent staff in the public sector.

 

[Wanted Bob]

You'd probably have a hard time getting a job in Ireland. I believe there's still a ban on hiring permanent staff in the public sector.

I wouldn't really be getting a job in Ireland. What most international medical students do is spend their first 2-4 years doing all the classwork, then they apply for residency back in their home country. As I said, it's quite difficult to do since you have to compete with every Canadian medical student who wants to practice at home (you have to take a bunch of exams and stuff).

 

[Adabiviak]

I have a bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts, which was intended as a foundation for teaching elementary school children. However, when I got a good whiff of the politics and grief that teachers have to endure, I got the F out. Now I'm a manager and my lifestyle is pretty free - I basically work day shift with weekends off, and being salaried means that I get to put my time wherever it needs to be. When we get into a big project, I may work a few 70 hour weeks, but normally I roll into work for an 8-hour shift whenever (which is typically anywhere between 6am and 10am unless there are specific appointments), and if I have a day's worth of work that's office-bound, I'll work from home (I only live 15 minutes away). I've been there for 12 years, so vacation time accrues fast. The wife and I do not have kids, and our bills are negligible, so while we're not independently wealthy, we don't live check-to-check. I love what I do, but I wouldn't call it my one true love (although I am breadboarding some stuff as I type this).

I like playing outside and playing video games. If the weather is tolerable, I go mountain biking, camping, snowboarding, cross country skiing, collecting firewood, swimming... that sort of thing. When the weather is intolerable, I play video games and read books. I do one of these things almost every single day.

Seriously though, I've only had two real jobs in my life: prior to this I was a butcher for 12 years. I enjoyed that as well, but both of these jobs just sort of landed in my lap. Working part time at a ski resort for free lift tickets doesn't really count, although If I could live comfortably at minimum wage (it was like $3.65 when I started), I'd still be working there... that was easily the most fun I ever had at a job (and I was in food service).

 

[William]

I have my undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the University of Windsor Ontario. I started out wanting to be a video game designer so it was a combination degree between visual arts, communication studies and computer science. In the end I got a Visual Arts and Communications Minor which got me into digital art + radio production. In my third year at the University of Windsor I got a job in the Systems department in IT. Systems is basically the administration of Network Infrastructure and the corporate servers. I enjoyed it so much that I switched tracks in my undergrad from "multimedia" to "computer networks" and focused on getting a lot of experience in the network field.

After my undergrad I moved to Toronto to study for my masters in Electrical Engineering "Computer Networking". It was a 2 year program which focused on the practical side of Cisco technologies. Got my CCNA and my CCNP while studying for that program. Did my thesis on CUCM (Cisco Unified Call Manager) unification with Microsoft OCS (Office Communications). After my Masters program I joined a group of guys to study for my CCIE, got as far as my written and still working on the lab on my free time. I worked for a downtown IT Firm in Toronto for a little bit, then I moved to the Rogers Communications Headquarters in Brampton, worked on the LTE deployment.

Now I'm back in my home town of Windsor working for NARMCO -- we are basically a parts supplier for automotive manufacturing. We have about 13 plants across North America and I'm in charge of the network. Pretty fun and I'm glad to be home.