Knowing What's Best for You, at a young age

[digitS']

Never get married in college; it's hard to get a start if a prospective employer finds you've already made one mistake. ~ E. Hubbard

I was just reading a report from the ACT folks. They do those college entrance tests.

They say that 4 out of 5 young people who take the ACT have chosen a major. Two out of 5 say that they are "very sure." And yet, all of these students had about a 50:50 chance of getting it right or wrong based on their interests and skills as shown by the test.

The "average" young person may as well flip a coin . . .

This is skewed a little since those students from families with parents who had no college degree themselves, were far more likely to be "sure" of their major. Interestingly, only about one-third of those with parents with college degrees expressed any idea for a college major. Lower for young men. . .

Steve

 

[journey11]

I've heard it said that whatever is your real passion when you are grade school age is most likely what you are truly gifted at and should do when you grow up. Then you get to 11th grade and people start to tell you there is no career or no money to be had in that and you should pick something more practical and solid. So you go off to college, change your major 4 or 5 times, get by with good enough grades, get a job, but end up unfulfilled for the rest of your life.


I believe more mistakes are made by doing what we feel others think we should do, rather than by simply following our hearts.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

then you retire and do what you want to do because that subject is popular with the 'hip' folks of today!

 

[journey11]

I think most of us just hope to live long enough or be healthy enough to be able to do what we really wanted to by the time we reach retirement.

 

[digitS']

I think that "being practical" weighs pretty heavy on kids from poorer families - if they can see their way clear to go to college.

Honestly, I don't know if it will work very well either way. There are majors that do not carry well into the world of work opportunities.

The liberal arts . . . :/ . . Ray Bradbury died last year at the age of 91. A child in a poor family during the Depression, Bradbury said: "Libraries raised me. I don't believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don't have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years."

He had a very supportive family, but he was selling big-time during his 20's and early 30's. Wikipedia tells us, he claimed that he knew that he wanted to be a writer, or at least "in the arts," as a young boy.

Steve
College is a refuge from hasty judgement. ~ Robert Frost

 

[bobm]

One of my granddaughter on her /// rd. birthday told all of us that she wants to be an uptommygist . (The other 5 [ except the 3 month old]. have their carriers all picked out too) Both mom and dad have College degrees as well as all 4 of her grandparents...

 

[peteyfoozer]

I knew at 5 that I wanted to train horses, and that is how I made my living for over 35 years. My oldest son used to go sit on one of the tractors as a toddler, whenever he got mad. He's a heavy equipment operator today. My youngest used to sit on the front porch for hours with a hand carved rifle across his lap. He's a professional hunting guide. Neither of my parents, nor myself went to college. (I quit high school in 9th grade, but both the boys finished HS then went to work.)

 

[897tgigvib]

I was in kinnygarden when i wanted to be an astronaut. still do!

 

[Smart Red]

Dad was a teacher. I worked in a factory after high school. A boyfriend once asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I replied that I had always wanted to be a teacher. He offered to take me out the next Friday. . . IF I WAS ENROLLED IN COLLEGE. Surprising to me, I managed to be accepted and enrolled in less than a week. Now that I am retired, that boyfriend is enjoying my pension, my cooking, and all those other things boyfriends tend to enjoy.

My Maverick is 12. For the past 2 years at least, he has 'known' what he wants to be. First he will graduate from high school with straight A's. Then he will go into the military so he has a way to get college paid. Then he will be an attorney specializing in patent and business law before going into politics. At the same time he will be raising his own breed of chickens on my/his farm.

His younger sister, Gypsy, has many ideas of what she wants to be. She is a dreamer and has no consideration of where her income might come from while she rescues pets in danger and feeds the starving children in third world countries. Right now, however, she wants to be ("a baker NOT a cook") pastry chef. If the messes in my kitchen are any indication, she'll be a great pastry chef some day.

 

[digitS']

I've heard it said that whatever is your real passion when you are grade school age is most likely what you are truly gifted at and should do when you grow up. Then you get to 11th grade and people start to tell you there is no career or no money to be had in that and you should pick something more practical and solid. So you go off to college. . .

Carl Sagan said something about the remarkable amount of enthusiasm in grade school students for science and the remarkable lack of enthusiasm in college students for science. Obviously, some are disinterested in grade school as some are very interested in college.

I think there might be that a passion for a number of different subjects by grade school kids. Trying to be practical later on, results in not a very good balance of interest & skills with school work, as we can see from that ACT study. Square pegs are hammered into round holes.

"The Pew Research Center surveyed about 2,000 Americans and found that 47 percent think the main purpose of college is to teach work-related skills and knowledge. But 39 percent say the main purpose of college is intellectual and personal growth. About 12 percent said the years we spend at an institute of higher learning should be devoted to both.

Interestingly, those with more education are more likely to view college as a place for personal and intellectual growth." from the Today Show The graph of their responses look very much like those college-bound kids picking majors and comparing them by the education of their parents.

Edit: Remember that on average, their success in coming up with a good match of skills, interests and majors is no better than flipping a coin.

Steve