I’ve been thinking of going back to school. (Problem: Pretty much unemployed, and school is much more expensive in Washington than in California.) What should I study?
I was never taught the Quadratic Equation in high school. I struggled greatly to get Bs and As. (FWIW, I took up to Trig and Pre-calculus; but I’ve forgotten it all over the decades.) Now that I know of the QE, it’s like a Magic Decoder Ring. I’m tempted to get a degree in Maths just because it was such a PITA in high school and I see it as a challenge.
But I’m really not interested in Maths. There are a lot of things that do interest me though. Astronomy? I’ve been a ‘space cadet’ since I was a kid. I watched Cosmos religiously on its first run. The Universe is so ! Geology? Fascinating things, rocks are. When dad and I would fly to Las Vegas I had a couple of hours of looking at interesting geological structures while one or the other of us flew the plane. Biology? I’ve always liked marine bilogy especially. Aeronautics? That’s one that you can probably guess I really like; only I don’t think there’s a programme here. Programming? That would be in tune with my past career, only I’m trying to do videography and filmmaking now.
Everything is interesting! I’d need several lifetimes to study everything I like. I’m too old to use my studies for a new career, so this is for my personal pleasure. Heck, even Mathematics are interesting in that they are necessary for such cool things as Chemistry and Physics.
How do I choose?
[sub]Reminds me of the Sunscreen speech. ‘The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.’ Not that I’m particularly interesting.[/sub]
I think this is the reason God made undecided an option for your major. Seriously though, why not go and take some courses at a community college? That will help you decide what you like to do but most importantly what you have the ability to do.
LOL, you and me both, Johnny. I discovered my passion a while ago, and I even make a decent living at it, but I’m definitely in the “Everything is interesting” camp myself, and finding time to learn everything I want to is impossible.
First of all, congratulations!! You have discovered the joy of learning for its own sake, and if you follow through on this path, it will give you a new lifestyle and outlook.
Second of all, don’t worry too much about not knowing exactly what you want to study. Half the fun in life is figuring this kind of stuff out as you go along. But you have to put in some serious study time if you really want to find out.
Now I suppose you could start taking classes in anything if you have the funds. Keep in mind that if you’re going to study aerodynamics, science, astronomy, or other science things, sooner or later you’re going to have to learn higher math, including calculus.
If you decide to study math, may I suggest that you hold off on math classes, though? Try teaching yourself from scratch. I am currently working through this little number, and it’s kicking my ass, but it’s fascinating as all hell. Teaching yourself the basics of math will show you once and for all if you really want to learn math and science. Remember though that whether you use this book or something else, it will take time and effort. As a famous runner once said, “The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare.” Think of it as paying your dues.
You need to find the path to the “Renaissance Man” degree. But I think that means you have to study everything. Take your time. It shouldn’t take more than two or three decades.
It would be a shame, though, for your head to explode…
Biology’s too easy. Geology is pretty dirty, and you can get killed doing it. Astronomy is awfully cool, but hard to study here, in the the Rainforest!
Well John, I guess you’re on your own.
Maybe I could start with that, then. I remember when I was a kid, visiting The Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Sea creatures are neat. I’ve actually become somewhat fascinated by jellies.
Annnnnd, loving it!
Yeah, I’m finding that out. It got dark too late for me to take my telescope out during the summer, and now it’s cold and wet out.
Robert Rodriguez said that if you have the money to go to film school, don’t. Go out and make a film. So I’m shooting a friend’s film now. If it sells, then I can make my own.
But I have to say that the Sciences have always fascinated me. I’ve mentioned marine biology. When I was a kid we went to Mt. Palomar observatory. I remember getting some swell postcards of nebulae. Good stuff! And then there were those nifty geological structures I looked at when flying. (I even enjoyed the drives from L.A. to Las Vegas, since I could look at them.) I took a course in Meteorology a long time ago. I love weather.
I wouldn’t mind being a linguist. I used to speak Japanese as a child, and I took up through fourth-year German in high school and college. I’d love to get them back, and to learn French and Italian.
That’s cool. I’m the exact opposite. I hate school with a passion. I do my best studying on my own, and none of what I would consider my biggest breakthroughs occured in a class.
And I hope you follow through with the linguist route. Languages are my passion. I don’t speak Japanese, although I’m sure it would be a challenge. None of the brainiest people at my library want to be linguists, though. They all want to be scientists or gear heads. Languages have gotten a bad rap, which is odd because I find that I could not hope to work at this place without them. We have a lot of international students, and I thought linguists would be much more in demand.
You know John, we must have gone to different schools together! I’ve been to Mt Palomar and Scripps Institute too. Biology is easy, if you don’t mind all the squishy stuff. Jellies bite. They are cool though.
Those “nifty geological structures” you fly over are called mountains… this is gonna be a lota work.
I think, later this year we’re going to try to get down to the Peacock opal mine in Nevada and find our fortune in opals. Now that’s geology! I’m going to stick some rocks in the tumbler tonight to make them shiny, that geology too. But, so is looking into the maw of an active volcano. Awe-inspiring but you go broke burning up shoes, walking over barely cooled Lava, not to mention being buried under tons of ash, or swept away in a lahar. Weather huh? Waist deep in flood water, mud slides. Have you ever seen a tornado being born? Its actually pretty cool, that is, if you don’t die.
John, I think you should learn a musical instrument…Or how about Library Science!?
(You do know I’m just teasing right? Later Dude, I have to go buy groceries so we don’t die… of starvation!
Seriously though… You’ve got the yellow sand of the desert. Dark rock mountains stick up out of the sand, surrounded by sand and rubble at their bases. How did they get there? Upheavals, massive earthquakes thrusting them violently up? Or are they volcanos that died before reaching the surface, only recently being uncovered by the shifting sands? Entry-level stuff, but I want to know. And then there’s the thought of the vast sea that once covered parts of the area. And the dry riverbeds where water flows in the wet season, or during flash floods from the mountains. And the flora and fauna. The colours are great. You have the yellow sand, the red and black rock, the flowering plants in the rainy season, the grasses near the dry- or semi-dry lakebeds, the grey-green of the sage, the blue of the sky and the white of the clouds. Coyotes, black widow spiders, scorpions, rattlesnakes, other snakes, lizards, ants, bees… Did you know that are several species of pupfish living in Death Valley, or that the dry lakes at Edwards AFB are home to brine shrimp that hatch when the lakebeds fill with water? There’s a lot of geology, meteorology, and biology right there! Not to mention archaeological, anthropological and historical sites.
You might like Computational Linguistics which I am studying currently. It’s an interdisciplinary field that deals with all aspects of automatic natural language processing - e.g. using computational methods as a tool for linguistic research, allowing users to interact with systems via language or providing tools that help users with language (translation, searches, screen readers…) It combines parts of Computer Science and regular Linguistics. The details depend on the department, but typically it includes basic CS, some programming, basic Linguistics and more specialized classes. Depending on your preferences you might end up as either a “software developer who works on language-related things” or “the linguist who also knows about technical things”. The non-academic career prospects are a significantly better than for for traditional linguists. Obviously it is a niche subject, but I am glad that I found it.
Heh heh. For all you Sequential Thread Title fans, this “What should I learn in school?” thread is immediately followed by “Are Kindergarteners Expected to be Reading?”
I think treis has the right idea: sign up at a community college, and take a class or two in each area that appeals to you. I know it could get pricey, but better to spend a little more and know for sure than waste money in a degree program.
I started college as a psych major … until I took a few classes. The people stuff was cool, the research stuff not so much. So I learned, and switched to communications.
Take a math class, take a biology class, etc. If you’re still stuck after you’ve tried everything, well, blame treis!
! Geology? Fascinating things, rocks are. When dad and I would fly to Las Vegas I had a couple of hours of looking at interesting geological structures while one or the other of us flew the plane. Biology? I’ve always liked marine bilogy especially. Aeronautics? That’s one that you can probably guess I really like; only I don’t think there’s a programme here. Programming? That would be in tune with my past career, only I’m trying to do videography and filmmaking now.
