My head i gonna explode!!!
Since January, I have been going back and forth from one career thought to another, and back again. I need some sort of feedback from someone, so I will list my career choices for you then you can tell me what you think.
1. Naval architect:
I lack the math skills required to have this career. I hate math anyway. :p
2. Architectural drafter:
This would better suit me in the architectural department. I would create models (computer mostly) and/or draw up the actual blueprints based off the architects measurements or whatever.
3. US Army officer (this one's stretching it :p):
As you know, I have an extreme interest in military history and because of that I also have an interest in military tactics. I also love watching battle scenes in movies. I'm sure someone is going to say 'movies are not like the real thing.' I understand that. I will most likely not go for this one.....I'm too much of a wimp.
4. Writer.
Again here comes the military interest coming in. With those other two blogs, I'm am going to be able to store and organize a lot of information about their respective wars. I will also be able to go into detail extensively. That is, whenever I get posting on those blogs.
I have practically no knowledge on what it takes to get a book (or more) published. I do know that you have to have a target audience. I think (and so does my dad) that WWII books would have a large target audience. People studying it, professors, possibly officers in the US army and all of its branches who are looking for strategies used in those battles, etc. So, I've already got a target audience. Should/Can I go to college for this? I haven't really looked too much into this career yet.
My goal for writing is a bit ambitious. I want to write the most comprehensive and detail account of WWII and/or the Civil War. Obviously these will have to include more than one book to go through all the detail [not to mention TONS of reasearch (which I find fun)]. Yeah this is a bit ambitious. But I think it would be better to start out big then scale down. That's just my mad thinking. :p
I know this is common in just about everyone to go through all this. But my head is seriously going to explode soon.
So what do you guys think?
Oh and incase you haven't seen it yet, I have been posting quotes on my IM thingy and also over there under my name and profile picture. These are quotes that I like for one reason or another. The one over there now is one of many favorites from the film Patton, which is based on the famous WWII general, George. S. Patton III.
11 comments:
Oooh I get first comment. So rare indeed.
Well, it might help if I actually left a comment. Duh.
I don't know if you posted these in order of preference, or just randomly. But here's my thoughts.
1) Don't EVER let "I hate math" get in the way of your dreams. Ever. If you want this field - and the better career path - go for it. You'll get past the math part. Never ever ever make that mistake of thinking "I don't have the skills for that" or "I won't be good enough at it". When I was applying to colleges, I had the strong desire (and the academic standing) to do something in science - biotechnology for example. And I said to myself, well, I am REALLY bad at math, I'll go for the easier choice (completely unrelated arts field) - and to this day part of me regrets that decision made purely because I wasn't so good at Algebra.
2) This would also be valid, although without knowing much about the field, isn't this sort of the subordinate field to Architect? Sort of like instead of being the artist you'll be the guy who runs the studio and stocks the paint? (I'm generalizing here obviously)
3) Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
'nuff said. Worst case, become like Jack Ryan (in Tom Clancy novels) - or go into the academic side of things - they have professors and so forth. But seriously. The army. Yikes. Well, I suppose that reflects MY thoughts on joining the military (without sparking a huge debate her in comments). But I'll just say this: go visit a VA hospital one day.
4) Heh. That's like being an actor. So you really want to be a waiter? :)
Sorry to hog the comments here.
One other thing - you DON'T have to LOCK IN to a career option before you leave highschool. Sure, it will play a large part in what college/university you choose to attend, but even then - you've usually got a year or two to really really decide, and can always change your mind.
(The word verification on this one is "silli". Hmm. )
Seth makes an interesting point about maybe being able to do the naval architecture without being really strong in math
dunno about it, but it's worth looking into
As for 2 and 4, It's a question of what interests you.
To be prepared to write military history that would get the professional audience you speak of, I think you'd be well advised to go to a liberal arts college and major in history. Then go to grad school so you'll be able to do all the research and have the credentials and put the footnotes and bibliographies etc. into your books so that the professional audience will pay attention.
Once you got your graduate degree, it would probably be convenient to have a university faculty position as a base for your research.
An undergraduate degree in history would probably give you what you need to write for a popular audience.
Okay, now that Seth has taken all the space, Sethy gets a chance...
My Advice:
Draughting is a good start - it can lead you into actual design in the longer term. I agree - don't worry about the math. It is simply a skill that will come.
There is nothing stopping you from writing at the same time. A decision to write makes no income guarantees. It is incredibly competetive and requires an enormous amount of 'no income' time to produce a product that may never be published. So you need a 'bill payer' while you write. Once you get published - hell, you may make a fortune and it will give you the flexibility to make further choices then.
Also, technology and consumer acceptance is not far away from self publishing electronically, so don't stress about knowing nothing about getting a book to market.
Randy Pausch (In his book 'The Last Lecture') reminds parents that locking their child into a career choice is dumb because chances are because of the incredible rate of technology advance, their careers may not even be invented yet.
Basically my advice to my daughters - and my advice to you: Enjoy what you do, and let it develop. If you choose the 'wrong' course for college or university, don't stress. You will flow naturally into the career you haven't even thought of yet.
My father told me when I was 15: It is one thing to find a career that pays, it is another to find one you enjoy. Rather strive for the latter.
Sethy (not to be confused with Seth above)
Oh, and the Patton quote reminds me:
Somebody told me that he took his dad to see "Patton," and when the character of Patton's aide Codman appeared, the father said, "That's not Coddie!" The son said, "No, it's an actor playing him," and the father, who knew them both, replied, "Well if they could get Georgie Patton, they should have been able to get Coddie."
well the others have been far more eloquent than i. my 2c is not to start off trying to have writing as a career. the target audience you mentioned is pretty small and will not buy a lot of books! better to do something else and maybe flow into writing later
and dont let the math put you off doing something you'd enjoy without giving it a dam good try first!
the world is your lobster
torchy!
What the others have said! Especially that you don't have to decide on a career while you're still in high school. Some kids do but they're in the minority, I'm sure. I didn't know what I wanted to for a living 'til I graduated from college, so I went back and took some additional courses through my university's school of continuing education and made it into computer programming, like I wanted, and I love it.
Writer obvs :) Because its the one that everyone looks at and says 'yeah good luck with that'. And you can work from home.
Gah lol my comment is so short compared to all the other ones but its quality not size (of posts obvs) =]
x
Peter
Him i agree with the position others have said about math. I know a good tutor :P
What ever yo do get teh best education you can it will help you th emost inthe long run
Like others have pointed out you can always maintain a couple fo these and otehrideas beofre you have to settle on one
Writing can always be done on the side while you study, work and live htis long life to come
take care and be safe
bob
ditto to what everyone else said - but think about this - get yourself a broad-based liberal arts education or if you have the aptitude an engineering degree that can be applied in any number of different ways (mechanical or civil engineering are very versatile) a solid foundation that prepares you for all kinds of careers is your best bet - let your first job or graduate school guide you down the right path and spend your energy right now enjoying yourself as much as possible! Focus on a college where you can develop and expand your horizons, with small class sizes so you can get to know the professors, and a diverse student body where you can explore yourself - in PA there are dozens of such schools
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