Following a passion vs. reality??

[LuvingLife]

I can't help it, I'm hopelessly in love with History, I enjoy it, I live it, and I practically breathe it on occasion it has become a major part of my life. I enjoy historical events, researching and writing decriptive reports/essays on it, and I just can't seem to get enough of it. I know it is not an ideal job area, but I don't feel as though I would enjoy anything else but this. Now I know many people who cannot believe I would enter a field such as this, but why take a job that pays lots of money that I may loathe compared to a passion of mine which I very much enjoy?

 

Well, I have a plan, nothing is set in stone, but it is something I have been working daily at. Here is the plan that is subject to change if necessary:

 

1. I take a few years off, learn a trade (i.e. medical billing and coding/Medical Assisting) and earn enough money to help put myself through college.

 

2. I major in Histpry, but minor in buisness or maybe even a double major in buisness and History, I was told by many that this would be a wise plan as then I would have something to fall back onto.

 

 

So this is what I am trying to acheive, I am considering taking about 2 years off to become a certified MA or MB/C as then I would have a job that would allow me to work while still being able to attend school. I believe this would be a wiser choice as it could take awhile for me to land a secure job in the field.

 

Would you follow a passion? Or would you listen to those around you and go for a job that would leave you feeling disastisfied with what you do?:bigear:

[elegantlion]

NM- decided to send a PM

Edited March 5, 2012 by elegantlion
TMI

[aggieamy]

My answer isn't probably going to be one that you'll like. It's practical and the same advice I'd give my daughter.

 

Let me briefly start with my story. I remember being 17 years old and trying to figure out what I was going to major in when I got to college. My strengths were math and science (physics to be exact). They weren't passions but I was good at them. I did some researching and finally decided I was going to be an architect. I was so excited. I told my dad and he looked at me and said "Don't be an architect. Be an engineer. That way you'll have a job." It was unromantic and I was disappointed because engineers build boring things and architects build beautiful things. Now I'm thirty and am so glad I took his advice. The last firm I worked at before I started my own company had laid off 90% of their architects and only two engineers. That was pretty standard for the industry a few years ago and lots of architects I know are still without jobs.

 

I love history too so I understand the passion but it's a better hobby than job. What do you plan on doing with your history degree? If you want to do that you should have a pretty solid idea of what type of jobs you want to pursue with that. I'd say the same thing with a general business degree. You need a more complete plan then having a business minor as a backup plan. The people I know that have been sucessful with business degrees have specific goals - accounting, marketing, HR. I'd sit down and make a list of the exact types of jobs you'll be able to get with those majors and then see how much the expected salary is and how hard they are to come by.

 

I'm obviously a woman and I have a daughter and what I'm going to tell her is to make sure you have a degree that you will be able to support yourself and your family with. Right now if something should happen to DH then Little Librarian and I would be just fine financially because I have the earning potential to support us both. That gives me a lot of freedom and confidence in life.

 

My boring advice is to major in something highly marketable and stable. You have lots of time to pursue passions when you have income.

 

ETA - Nothing against architects! I love them. They build beautiful things. I realized my post might sound harsh and that wasn't my intention.

Edited March 5, 2012 by aggieamy

[Mama Geek]

I really think you have to think about what job you will want to do as an adult with a history degree and will it be something that you will be able to support yourself with and be able to pay off any college debt with.

 

I did know a guy that went to our church that was a PhD in History who was teaching at a local college. He was pretty successful, but I don't know if you want to be a college professor or not.

 

College professors have a long hard road to get to tenure. I have watched my SIL really struggle with it and finally get there.

[LuvingLife]

My answer isn't probably going to be one that you'll like. It's practical and the same advice I'd give my daughter.

 

Let me briefly start with my story. I remember being 17 years old and trying to figure out what I was going to major in when I got to college. My strengths were math and science (physics to be exact). They weren't passions but I was good at them. I did some researching and finally decided I was going to be an architect. I was so excited. I told my dad and he looked at me and said "Don't be an architect. Be an engineer. That way you'll have a job." It was unromantic and I was disappointed because engineers build boring things and architects build beautiful things. Now I'm thirty and am so glad I took his advice. The last firm I worked at before I started my own company had laid off 90% of their architects and only two engineers. That was pretty standard for the industry a few years ago and lots of architects I know are still without jobs.

 

I love history too so I understand the passion but it's a better hobby than job. What do you plan on doing with your history degree? If you want to do that you should have a pretty solid idea of what type of jobs you want to pursue with that. I'd say the same thing with a general business degree. You need a more complete plan then having a business minor as a backup plan. The people I know that have been sucessful with business degrees have specific goals - accounting, marketing, HR. I'd sit down and make a list of the exact types of jobs you'll be able to get with those majors and then see how much the expected salary is and how hard they are to come by.

 

I'm obviously a woman and I have a daughter and what I'm going to tell her is to make sure you have a degree that you will be able to support yourself and your family with. Right now if something should happen to DH then Little Librarian and I would be just fine financially because I have the earning potential to support us both. That gives me a lot of freedom and confidence in life.

 

My boring advice is to major in something highly marketable and stable. You have lots of time to pursue passions when you have income.

 

ETA - Nothing against architects! I love them. They build beautiful things. I realized my post might sound harsh and that wasn't my intention.

 

:tongue_smilie: I was afraid of that, but that's okay, it just opens my eyes a little wider to reality!! I am going to go ahead do a double major in history with accounting/buisness, or buisness with a history minor. Oye, sometimes reality hurts.:glare:

[LuvingLife]

I really think you have to think about what job you will want to do as an adult with a history degree and will it be something that you will be able to support yourself with and be able to pay off any college debt with.

 

I did know a guy that went to our church that was a PhD in History who was teaching at a local college. He was pretty successful, but I don't know if you want to be a college professor or not.

 

College professors have a long hard road to get to tenure. I have watched my SIL really struggle with it and finally get there.

 

No thanks!! I wouldn't make a good teacher, I wouldn't be luvinglife so to speak;).

 

So option 2 sounds like a better plan, I know what I want, now I just need to get there, and I can see myself doing Accounting and keeping history as a hobby of mine.

 

Thank you all for the advice!

[Barbara H]

Learning a trade is a great idea. Do you have a good memory? Do you work quickly? Those are both really important abilities for medical coding.

 

As far as history leading to a good life.... I can think of three people I know who majored in history who are having happy lives: One works in a museum, one is a college professor, and one went on to get an MSW and became a social worker. It is always great to have a back up plan but I would not assume exploring your love of history is a dead end.

 

One of the least employable degrees right now is a general business degree. If you are interested in business you are well advised to get some additional specialty training such as accounting or computer science.

[LuvingLife]

Learning a trade is a great idea. Do you have a good memory? Do you work quickly? Those are both really important abilities for medical coding.

 

As far as history leading to a good life.... I can think of three people I know who majored in history who are having happy lives: One works in a museum, one is a college professor, and one went on to get an MSW and became a social worker. It is always great to have a back up plan but I would not assume exploring your love of history is a dead end.

 

One of the least employable degrees right now is a general business degree. If you are interested in business you are well advised to get some additional specialty training such as accounting or computer science.

 

I have an excellent memory and work quickly, that is why medical billing and coding was an option. I enjoy history and will most likely keep it as a hobby of mine, and will probably go into Accounting or Medical Billing and Coding, we'll see. My dad wants to try and get me into MB/C field after he advances farther into the field, it is a great field as is Accounting. If I can graduate with something like MB/C, work to obtain more money, and then head off to college, the debt load will hopefully decrease.

 

I have many colleges near me that offer Accounting and they are all excellent schools!:)

[Janice H]

Today, with the high costs of attendance and potential debt incurred to attend college, obtaining a history degree without other credentials is very risky. When costs were lower, pursuing a dream was less risky.You seem to be one of the nicest, most earnest kids, so I really hate posting this. Hope it's better for you to have all the bad news out at once.

 

Economist and former professor, Thomas Sowell here http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell022112.php3 Go the article for the gory details. He's talking about places like Brown, U of Pennsylvania, John Hopkins, and Harvard, not just degrees from "local state u".

 

"Now, 50 years later, there is a long feature article in the February 17th issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education on the chronic over-supply of historians. Worse yet, leading university history departments are resisting demands that they keep track of what happens to their students after they get their Ph.D.s — and inform prospective Ph.D.s of what the market is like.

If any business operated this way, selling customers something that was very costly in time and money, and which the sellers knew in advance was almost certain to disappoint their expectations, academics would be bursting with indignation — and demanding full disclosure to the customers, if not criminal prosecutions."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JFSinIL]

You should be an accountant who for her pastime participates in historical reenactments. With your accounting salary, you will be able to afford to travel to historic destinations and/or participate in reenactments.

 

It is not an either/or.

 

I had a neighbor once who worked a 9-5 job...and taught a history class at the local cc.

[TechWife]

It's been so exciting to read about the different things you are thinking about doing with your life as you near the end of your high school years!

 

I am teaching a career exploration class in our co-op and I wanted to pass along an excellent web site: Career Zone. In their Explore section, you can take a variety of assessments that will help match your interests and skills to potential careers. Additionally, I recommend the book What Color is Your Parachute for Teens. It is a great resource, but don't rush through it. Give yourself a little time to think about the questions it asks. I think you could complete it in two or three weeks, depending on how much time you devote to it.

[Mama Geek]

I have had a few coworkers who are engineers whose passion is history/politics. Out in the real world it makes for interesting office conversation when things are slow. I have learned so much from them. One of my coworkers gave me an incredible list of history books that he has read that I will try to incorporate into dd's schooling when she is older.

[laughing lioness]

I would just caution about investing so heavily in your passion that you are in bondage to it- either from a time/money or job pov. Passions that HAVE to be pursued due to debt or whatever, usally become dead weights around one's neck.

 

Secondly, I think if you already have a way to support yourself, why go to college to pursue your passion? Autodidactism has a lot more going for it imho, than binding oneself to a series of hoops to jump through, unless you are getting the degree for a specific purpose, or can't get the learning on your own.

Have you read The New Global Student? It might not be specifically about what you are looking to do, but it's an interesting read regarding how to do what you want to do w/o unseemly debt, while having an adventure.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

WRT picking history as a major.

 

Don't do it. :D Okay, I'll clarify. Don't do it unless you have a very specific end game.

 

I guess this is the point at which I reveal that I am currently pursuing my bachelor's degree and my major is..... history!! :tongue_smilie: I'm going to graduate school to get my PhD and want to be a college professor. I've been told, more than once and by more than one person, that if there is any other thing in the world that I can see myself doing- do it, because it is a long, hard road through grad school, with no guarantee of a job at the end. Quite unfortunately for me, this is it for me. I live and breathe the research I'm doing now, and can't wait to continue it into the next 8-9 years of my life.

 

But for many who choose this road, it means putting off having a family for quite a long time. I already have my daughter, and I'm lucky to have a mother who supports me and is willing to follow me around the country to help. It wouldn't be possible without her.

 

I have a 3.8 gpa, double minor in French and Spanish, member of my school's honor's program, will graduate at least magna cum laude, have excellent references and many research conferences on my CV- and grad school is still something I'm worried about getting into. It's not an easy road.

 

BUT. I'll go ahead and offer a little hope. If history really is your passion, and you don't think you could live without it, the go ahead and major in history. Just have a back up plan. Have other options. Know that there will be set backs, and times when the plan has to change. (And also know that if you major in history- you will need to go to graduate school. B.A with a history major will get you... close to nothing.) I *think* you've PMed me before about this, feel free to do so again.

 

(And as others have mentioned- there's nothing wrong with having a career in another field and pursuing a love of history in other ways)

[Ester Maria]

I would just caution about investing so heavily in your passion that you are in bondage to it- either from a time/money or job pov. Passions that HAVE to be pursued due to debt or whatever, usally become dead weights around one's neck.

 

Secondly, I think if you already have a way to support yourself, why go to college to pursue your passion? Autodidactism has a lot more going for it imho, than binding oneself to a series of hoops to jump through, unless you are getting the degree for a specific purpose, or can't get the learning on your own.

Agreed.

 

I was once told that one should study humanities which do not have much opportunities of practical application (something which many foreign languages do, for example - but history, not really) in three cases:

 

1. You are rich. You can allow yourself to pursue a "hobby degree" as your main one because you have the material means to fall back on when needed and even take another route, when / if needed;

2. You are pursuing that "hobby degree" alongside another, main degree, something that you not only can, but are likely to financially profit from once you get into the field, and you are good at that;

3. You are self-confident. Crazy self-confident. You lack material means and you lack another marketable skill as a probable source of income, so all of your eggs go into one basket, and you are willing to bet, as statistically unprobable as it is, that you of all people are going to be that sought after expert in that field, or simply somebody who can secure themselves a decent living off that alone.

 

Think about it.

 

I am NOT, God forbid, talking you out of pursuing your passion.

But there are ways of pursuing your passion, and an academic degree is not necessarily the only way to do it, the only framework within which to do it, and it is not necessary to do it in a way that you also opt professionally to go into a passion.

Yes, in an ideal world, you do what is your passion. But for many, many people, the world is not ideal, and you perhaps do not need to make it even less ideal by taking upon yourself a financial and time burden which may on the long run complicate your life greatly.

 

So, think about it. Are you willing to bet on being that good, or you would like to tie a hobby degree with a more applicable degree / another career? Of course, if the option 1) holds true, then you are essentially good, at least until the current monetary system crashes. :lol:

[mrbmom77]

I guess I'll be the lone dissenting voice. I graduated with a BA in History and minor in Anthropology in December 2010. I support myself and two children and help my grandmother each month. I don't get child support or welfare. We're not rich, or even middle class, but the bills are paid, the kids are fed, and we're all happy. We also live in a fairly low cost-of-living area. I guess it depends on what lifestyle you want to live, your area, etc.

I work in a house museum and love every minute of it.

You'll never make a lot of money. But I love what I do, I'm not stressed out, and it's well worth it to me.

The one thing I would encourage is working your way through and not having the student loan debt. I was working FT and raising the kids and taking a full load - it was too much and I burnt out. I ended up quitting my job and taking out loans the last two years. Since you're young and have no family, you have the chance to avoid that debt.

I would definitely NOT get a business degree unless you focused on tech or something. From what I've been reading and hearing, the market is glutted with them.

[Trilliums]

I would encourage you to research specific careers one can pursue with a degree in history. It is one thing to study a field you enjoy, but another to be employed in it. If I had a child interested in a career that was obtainable through a history degree, I'd support them 100%. What that career might be depends largely on your area of interest. Do you enjoy a particular time period? Do you enjoy writing about certain eras? Do you enjoy period costumes? All these interests could lead to careers in the field.

 

If you go through the training for medical billing, chances are that is where you will stay. I'd really encourage you to pursue an education in your ideal job immediately after high school, or after a gap year. That being said, I know there may be particular circumstances that prevent this, but I still think striving for a direct path can have many benefits.

 

 

By the way....there seems to be a real need for a high school level American History curriculum. :)

[LuvingLife]

All of your replies are grateful and highly appreciated as I really needed some advice in this area. I am going to be persuing a degree in Accounting if all things come together, and if not, then I will be get a degree in medical billing and coding. But I am aiming for Accounting, so this is hopefully where I will make it to.

 

I do not want to spend the rest of my life working in McD's! I hate fast food:tongue_smilie:

 

Thank you again for you awesome advice, and I cannot wait to see what happens in the future.:001_smile: