If only I were a Time Lord...
Jul. 5th, 2007 03:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tsukikageI'm leaning towards computer science again... This time perhaps a bit stronger than the last, but not quite as strongly as the last time I was thinking the linguistics major/ESL minor bit... Of course, the main reason is my mom pressuring me to get a marketable degree, but also me thinking again about wanting to actually have financial freedom when I grow up - pay off my college loans in five years, my mortgage for a nice home in another five or ten, buy a car straight off the bat if I save properly (although I hope to still take the bus in my day-to-day life), be able to pay for my children's' educations, AND be able to buy the manga and anime I want.
Plus... Even sticking with aiming towards being a professor... I imagine the competition would be much tougher to become a linguistics professor than a c. sci. one, and looking at the Occupational Outlook Handbook, they say (sensibly enough) that since most people go to college to, you know, train for their careers, professors will get the best pay in the fields that the most students go in to, and again, not many students go into linguistics.
I was also thinking that if I do go into c. sci. that I might finish up my make-up courses at the U and then transfer over to Minneapolis Community and Technical College to get an associates degree there and then transfer back to the U. I mean, with how much I've set myself behind already, the least I can do is cut back on my tuition as much as I can. (The biggest reason I haven't been going to MCTC (or so I tell myself) is that they simply don't have the courses I'd need for Japanese or linguistics degrees, and I'd be wasting valuable credits.)
I mean, at least through high school, my favorite subjects were math, physics, and computer science (all big parts of the C.Sci. degree), and Japanese. They were also my best subjects, at least when I applied myself properly. So if I apply myself properly I shouldn't really have a problem.
My mom's also a big proponent of me going into a business major, it seems, and points out that I might be able to get transferred to Japan or at least go on business trips there if I do. And while I really don't think I'd be against a business degree, there's also the fact that I have never, ever taken any business courses, so I haven't had the opportunity to get a taste for that and, frankly, I don't have time to at this point. So I'd either have to dedicate myself to a business degree RIGHT NOW, with no idea if I'd actually enjoy the field, or stick with something I have some clue about.
The individual classes I most want to take are still in linguistics and ALL/Japanese. Picking the c.sci. track, I can't really guarantee I'd get really excited about any of my classes, although that would probably change once I immersed myself in the major. At least, I hope so.
This all kind of reminds me of the episode of Honey and Clover in the second season when Hagu-chan talks about how there are millions of boxes in life, and we want to open all of them, but the fact of the matter is that life is simply not long enough to do so. So we have to pick just a few and abandon the rest. And I hate that.
And on top of that... Let's say I go into c.sci. because I want to actually be able to FUND my passion for studying the Japanese language, or linguistics, or whatever else. Well, once I die, what was the use? If there is no life after death, it is all forgotten. If there is... I hardly think anyone will be speaking Japanese in heaven. So why should I even bother? I almost wish I weren't alive anymore so I wouldn't have to make these choices. That's not to say I'm having thoughts of suicide, but the only choices in life are to decide to never make your choice and flounder for your entire time on earth, or to pick three or four of those boxes and essentially burn the rest. It sounds a bit more emo than I mean it to be, but when your mind travels in the same circles for months and months on end, this is the kind of thing you start thinking about.
I should just decide here and now to become an anesthesiologist and be done with it. (Seriously, holy f*ck. $321,686 a YEAR?!?! I could pay off my mortgage, my car, and my children's educations in three!) (And yes, I am kidding about pursuing this.)
......
So yeah, I set up appointments to meet with someone at the Career and Community Learning Center after taking two personality inventories designed for this purpose. I'm also thinking of asking for a clearance committee, but that's probably rather silly. (Besides, I can just imagine what a group of Quakers would think of me bringing up the idea of becoming and anesthesiologist when I grow up so I can make lots of money. Maybe I should throw in working for the army, just for kicks.)
I almost want to take another semester off of school just so I can come to a final decision before I spend a penny more on tuition, but I can't stand the though of spending another six months working at S.A. or the like.
I have eight credits until I have to declare, which, if I go to school this fall, as I am currently registered to do, means before spring semester starts. And that really needs to be my final answer.
Fuck.
P.S. On the bright side, I found out that the Casio XD-GW9600 has the same E-J Kenkyuusha as the Seiko SR-E10000, so I've made my choice. :) Assuming [secret] falls through, as it seems that it is going to at this point, I should be ordering this baby by the end of August
P.P.S. That post-script there probably prompted everyone to think "Umm, Nastassja, if you really want to achieve financial security, perhaps you should start by not letting your money always burn holes in your pockets.". I realize this, actually, and especially now that I'll have soon paid off all of my non-student loan debts, I'm starting to get serious about actually building up a savings. I don't think I'm going to stop being the terribly impulsive buyer that I am any time soon, but in the next month or two I'm going to figure out a real budget for myself and stick to it. Once the money goes into the savings account, it stays there. *nods*
Plus... Even sticking with aiming towards being a professor... I imagine the competition would be much tougher to become a linguistics professor than a c. sci. one, and looking at the Occupational Outlook Handbook, they say (sensibly enough) that since most people go to college to, you know, train for their careers, professors will get the best pay in the fields that the most students go in to, and again, not many students go into linguistics.
I was also thinking that if I do go into c. sci. that I might finish up my make-up courses at the U and then transfer over to Minneapolis Community and Technical College to get an associates degree there and then transfer back to the U. I mean, with how much I've set myself behind already, the least I can do is cut back on my tuition as much as I can. (The biggest reason I haven't been going to MCTC (or so I tell myself) is that they simply don't have the courses I'd need for Japanese or linguistics degrees, and I'd be wasting valuable credits.)
I mean, at least through high school, my favorite subjects were math, physics, and computer science (all big parts of the C.Sci. degree), and Japanese. They were also my best subjects, at least when I applied myself properly. So if I apply myself properly I shouldn't really have a problem.
My mom's also a big proponent of me going into a business major, it seems, and points out that I might be able to get transferred to Japan or at least go on business trips there if I do. And while I really don't think I'd be against a business degree, there's also the fact that I have never, ever taken any business courses, so I haven't had the opportunity to get a taste for that and, frankly, I don't have time to at this point. So I'd either have to dedicate myself to a business degree RIGHT NOW, with no idea if I'd actually enjoy the field, or stick with something I have some clue about.
The individual classes I most want to take are still in linguistics and ALL/Japanese. Picking the c.sci. track, I can't really guarantee I'd get really excited about any of my classes, although that would probably change once I immersed myself in the major. At least, I hope so.
This all kind of reminds me of the episode of Honey and Clover in the second season when Hagu-chan talks about how there are millions of boxes in life, and we want to open all of them, but the fact of the matter is that life is simply not long enough to do so. So we have to pick just a few and abandon the rest. And I hate that.
And on top of that... Let's say I go into c.sci. because I want to actually be able to FUND my passion for studying the Japanese language, or linguistics, or whatever else. Well, once I die, what was the use? If there is no life after death, it is all forgotten. If there is... I hardly think anyone will be speaking Japanese in heaven. So why should I even bother? I almost wish I weren't alive anymore so I wouldn't have to make these choices. That's not to say I'm having thoughts of suicide, but the only choices in life are to decide to never make your choice and flounder for your entire time on earth, or to pick three or four of those boxes and essentially burn the rest. It sounds a bit more emo than I mean it to be, but when your mind travels in the same circles for months and months on end, this is the kind of thing you start thinking about.
I should just decide here and now to become an anesthesiologist and be done with it. (Seriously, holy f*ck. $321,686 a YEAR?!?! I could pay off my mortgage, my car, and my children's educations in three!) (And yes, I am kidding about pursuing this.)
......
So yeah, I set up appointments to meet with someone at the Career and Community Learning Center after taking two personality inventories designed for this purpose. I'm also thinking of asking for a clearance committee, but that's probably rather silly. (Besides, I can just imagine what a group of Quakers would think of me bringing up the idea of becoming and anesthesiologist when I grow up so I can make lots of money. Maybe I should throw in working for the army, just for kicks.)
I almost want to take another semester off of school just so I can come to a final decision before I spend a penny more on tuition, but I can't stand the though of spending another six months working at S.A. or the like.
I have eight credits until I have to declare, which, if I go to school this fall, as I am currently registered to do, means before spring semester starts. And that really needs to be my final answer.
Fuck.
P.S. On the bright side, I found out that the Casio XD-GW9600 has the same E-J Kenkyuusha as the Seiko SR-E10000, so I've made my choice. :) Assuming [secret] falls through, as it seems that it is going to at this point, I should be ordering this baby by the end of August
P.P.S. That post-script there probably prompted everyone to think "Umm, Nastassja, if you really want to achieve financial security, perhaps you should start by not letting your money always burn holes in your pockets.". I realize this, actually, and especially now that I'll have soon paid off all of my non-student loan debts, I'm starting to get serious about actually building up a savings. I don't think I'm going to stop being the terribly impulsive buyer that I am any time soon, but in the next month or two I'm going to figure out a real budget for myself and stick to it. Once the money goes into the savings account, it stays there. *nods*
