If you had to do it all over again...

[curly_kate]

What career would you go into? I think I might have gone into landscape design or carpentry. Neither of those were really considered an option when I was attending my all girls high school.

 

[Mickey328]

Oh, the possibilities! If I had the options available now and were young I'd probably go into forensics of some sort...working on puzzles all day...what fun! Well, either that or find me a good farmer and settle down to play in the dirt and raise critters

 

[897tgigvib]

Should have done Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, Technology, Fabrication, Biology, Botany, Organic Methodology, Plant Breeding, Seed Stewardship, Soils and Land Management...


Yea! All of that, and more!

I would have needed to graduate from High school when I was around 10 to do it all, and most of them could be Associate Degrees.

 

[journey11]

I wanted to go to art school, but was advised against it--no money in it they said. I majored in Biochemistry/Pre-vet med, but didn't complete my four year degree. I tried to work two jobs and a full course load, had to pay my own way, but you toss in a little partying and there you go. If I had it to do over again, I should have stayed at home those first couple of years and lived with my mom and got my core classes out of the way much cheaper. But now almost 20 years later, if I were to go back to school I think I would like to work for the DNR as a park ranger or conservation officer. Not much money in that either, but at least I would enjoy it.

 

[Smart Red]

If I had to do it all over again. . .

I'd not change a thing I've done since I turned 21. I met my DH three days before.

Upon further contemplation, I don't think I'd change anything before 21 either. All that happened made me the person I am today. Change one thing and I'd risk not meeting DH at all.

DH was responsible for me going to college. After dating for a short time, HE asked me what I had planned for my life. I said I had always planned to be a teacher. HE then told me we could go to a movie IF I WERE ENROLLED IN COLLEGE by the end of the week. Never thought a person could get into college that quickly, but enrolled I was.

After getting my degree, I was given my dream job. Even with DH retired for ten years before me, I never begrudged getting up and going into work. I didn't tell the district until after I retired, but I would have worked for far less just for the fun of it.

DH took over where Dad stopped - spoiling me terribly - in all the nicest ways. I had always said I'd sell my soul for 40 acres and water. HE presented me with 30 acres and a man-made pond just to be sure my soul was safe.

Nope! There is nothing I would want to change or do over if it meant not finding and marrying my precious DH.

We just celebrated our 42th anniversary. My gift to HIM was 24 hours of wedded bliss (to make up for the 41 years and 364 days still in question). Nope! HE'S a special guy and I'd not change nor trade him for the world.

Love, Smart Red

 

[journey11]

Nope! There is nothing I would want to change or do over if it meant not finding and marrying my precious DH.

That is so true, Red, and definitely bears consideration. Where would you be? Possibly not in the right place at the right time. My DH wanted to go into the Air Force, but didn't after his mom had a complete hysterical breakdown at the thought of it. Lucky for me, or we wouldn't have met! Who knows where I would have ended up on my path. I love that song, Bless the Broken Road.

 

[curly_kate]

Oh, I would love to work for the parks! You're right about the low pay, but what an amazing job! And SmartRed, I see what you mean about meeting your husband. I wouldn't trade mine for anything in the world. I'm a lucky girl. I'm a teacher, but haven't been able to find a classroom job since I moved out here. I'm teaching online, which has its perks, but I definitely didn't want to work in front of a computer all day when I was going to college. So it has led to my dreaming about a new career path.

 

[digitS']

If I had to do it all over again. . .

I'd not change a thing . . .

Well, I wouldn't say that I've been ecstatic since I was 21 but it would be hard to know what I could have changed that would have made much difference. Spouses can be both wonderful and a wrench in the works. Because of love and circumstance, sometimes completely beyond their control, my course wasn't always self-determined.

I should not have been so negative about museum work and realized that "a living museum," like the one in Sturbridge Massachusetts, could have been right down my alley . But, I had never experienced "a living museum" by that time in my early life. I wasn't going off to some theme park or walling myself into a more conventional museum. Nope.

The options for something that I knew something about wasn't great and are not great today. Look at the agriculture job openings vs. degrees granted in the image below. (I am seriously out of date for that chart and just would have been happy to have had a farm.) My family had worked things in the opposite direction from when Dad thought he could create a working farm. All he was going to do was work himself to death for no money. By the time I was able to try it on my own, the amount of land they owned only made it possible for me to live closer to the farms where I could find work. I wasn't going to have my own farm without some of the most amazing imaginative gymnastics!

I've had other interests and majoring in either the humanities or social sciences was fun. Realizing that there was only ONE person employed as an anthropologist in a neighboring county with a quarter of a million people gave me some idea of what I could do with myself. Yep, drive circles in someone's field on a tractor or go to work in a greenhouse.

Steve

 

[vfem]

Great question!

I actually went into school as an Internet Technology and Development Major. Graduated at the top of my class in 2004.

Decided I hated working with computers, wanted a family and here I am! There was good money in it, I just don't like it... and now, I'm completely out of date with everything if I wanted to go back. So I guess I would be a panhandler?

 

[Smart Red]

So I guess I would be a panhandler?

Hey, in my youth I knew a couple of panhandlers that made BIG BUCKS! Not a 'job' I'd ever consider for myself, but those guys took yearly vacations to Europe, drove fast, flashy cars, and had a couple of model-types on their arms after work hours.

Love, Smart Red