What my life as an academic is actually like...

[sputnik]

 

I enjoy piling on, suck it up and get it done!

Lol, if I didn't complain, I wouldn't be a true college student.

 

Sure, a double major in History and Art History will put you on the path toward a lucrative career as a barista

Or a librarian, or in community planning, or in infrastructure development, or in law, or in a museum, or in archeological surveying, or as a writer......

You know, things I'd actually like to do, juxtaposed to majoring in something like engineering, something that I have absolutely no interest in.

 

"Mesoamerican Hero Twins of Old American Folklore" - can you really get college credit for that??

So my assumption is that you are not aware of who the Hero Twins are or why they're significant in Mesoamerican history and Native American culture, right? Thanks for coming along to try and dump on my major though...

 

 

Not my intention to belittle Mayan folklore or the academic rigors of liberal arts studies at Iowa State.  The whining just seems a bit narcissistic.  Best of luck in your scholarly pursuits.

[The History Kid]

One could say that about any complaint.

For the record, the point of this topic was actually the poking fun at the notes I had added to the paper, not complaining about the paper in general. If that makes me narcissistic, good. I'm glad I have enough of a sense of humor to laugh at my own plight. I'm also glad that I'm secure enough with what I am doing and happy enough with it to take some pride in my studies.

If it was not your intention, that's fine. But at least stand by the fact that it was belittling and it was ill thought out. Regardless of viewing it from an academic, cultural or social stance.

Edited March 10, 2016 by IbizaFlame

[Mallette]

Are you going to make it to Hope?

 

Dave

[The History Kid]

Are you going to make it to Hope?

I would really like to, honestly. But finding the funds for it are difficult, and taking the time off of work when money is something I need to retain when possible is a must. I think though, that if I wasn't going to be working on Capstone through the summer, and the chance of me attending summer classes wasn't all that great, I probably would.

I do intend to make it to one of these gatherings some day.

[ZEUS121996]

 

I have, a time or two, treaded towards doing a little more.

 

No problem in doing more.  But the point is following instructions.  My wife had 4.00 and earned a B in my class by not following instructions and attempting to do more than I asked. 

 

She married me anyway, but learned something extra.

 

Dave

 

You read about teachers getting into trouble more these days because of students who want to "overachieve" for a better grade. My Art prof in college had an amazing Carson City Dollar collection disappear after a star student went above and beyond. She was a smoking hot nude model for us as well. My prof OZZY got axed after years and he was brilliant!!!!!!!

 

Mark

[ZEUS121996]

IBIZ

I was going to go in April for the 1st time until it switched to May. If we can do April next year, I can swing by and pick you up. Make sure you bring your fishing gear, the pigs that Chief Bonehead pulls out are amazing! I will have to ask him if I need 20# test

 

Mark

Edited March 10, 2016 by ZEUS121996

[The History Kid]

IBIZ

I was going to go in April for the 1st time until it switched to May. If we can do April next year, I can swing by nd piuck you up. Make sure you bring your fishing gear, the pigs that Chief Bonehead pulls out are amazing! I will have to ask him if I need 20# test

 

Mark

Sounds like a deal to me. May need to hijack my brothers tackle gear, since someone stole $300 worth of mine.

[ZEUS121996]

 

IBIZ

I was going to go in April for the 1st time until it switched to May. If we can do April next year, I can swing by nd piuck you up. Make sure you bring your fishing gear, the pigs that Chief Bonehead pulls out are amazing! I will have to ask him if I need 20# test

 

Mark

Sounds like a deal to me. May need to hijack my brothers tackle gear, since someone stole $300 worth of mine

I have WAAAAAAY too much gear, I could probably set 10-15 people up.

 

Mark

[The History Kid]

It's been far too long since I've been fishing. Would be a great time!

[Matthews]

May need to hijack my brothers tackle gear, since someone stole $300 worth of mine.

Perhaps the best thing that ever happened!  I threw my last pole straight into the lake.  Never to return.  Some 20 years ago... 

[oscarsear]

Others have alluded to the practicality of certain majors.  I love history too but determined that it was very limited in career pathways........  especially lucrative ones.  My interests in history became more of a hobby than my acumen.  How much debt have you incurred in this endeavor?  What does your future hold?  If you do teach please make history enthusiastically interesting for your students.  Thar be nothing worse than a dry perfunctory history lesson delivered in monotonous drone tones, ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz.  

[derrickdj1]

Gilgamesh and Oedipus are two characters that may help you write this paper.  Heroes in one respect and tragic irony in another respect.  I never was good at writing anything other than research papers.  Even then, I had a professional editor for grammar, citations, ect.  Think of graduation to fuel some fire. 

 

My first couple of years in college, I skipped 90% of the classes and lectures since you had to read the book anyway.  I didn't even use the recommended books.  Somehow this worked out  very well.

[The History Kid]

Others have alluded to the practicality of certain majors. I love history too but determined that it was very limited in career pathways........ especially lucrative ones. My interests in history became more of a hobby than my acumen. How much debt have you incurred in this endeavor? What does your future hold? If you do teach please make history enthusiastically interesting for your students. Thar be nothing worse than a dry perfunctory history lesson delivered in monotonous drone tones, ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz.

Oscar, I sense you meant well with this post, so please know I mean well with this answer. I am so tired of hearing the argument that career paths are limited as that is just flat out not true. Career pathways for history majors are extremely vast and plentiful and there are many high paying jobs available within the field. This is true in many fields that require research intense academics. Don't let the people who don't research job descriptions and degree descriptions paint the picture of a major.

[muel]

I tell my own kids to pay no attention to naysayers who see no value in education beyond the obvious potential job prospects. However, I also tell them they better weigh the amount of debt they accumulate for their education of choice with the potential income from those potential jobs of choice lest they are stuck in debt for the next couple of decades.  

 

It is amazing how many jobs require a degree but they don't care what field it is in.  There are obvious exceptions of course.

[The History Kid]

I think that if you're patient on scholarships, you should be fine with debts. I wasn't smart about how I did mine and will pay for it. But at least I'll be happy everyday.

[oscarsear]

 

Others have alluded to the practicality of certain majors. I love history too but determined that it was very limited in career pathways........ especially lucrative ones. My interests in history became more of a hobby than my acumen. How much debt have you incurred in this endeavor? What does your future hold? If you do teach please make history enthusiastically interesting for your students. Thar be nothing worse than a dry perfunctory history lesson delivered in monotonous drone tones, ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz.

Oscar, I sense you meant well with this post, so please know I mean well with this answer. I am so tired of hearing the argument that career paths are limited as that is just flat out not true. Career pathways for history majors are extremely vast and plentiful and there are many high paying jobs available within the field. This is true in many fields that require research intense academics. Don't let the people who don't research job descriptions and degree descriptions paint the picture of a major.

 

All too often we hear the ultimate lamentations of those with degrees that gain them wobbly foundations.  Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is always honorable and if that is the expectation then so be it.  My 0.02 would not have our gov't backing any loans for undergrad degrees without vital application.  History certainly must be studied and restudied and its many valuable lessons enlightened so that humanity can appreciate the contemporary status quo and not revisit failed endeavors.  History is both true adventure and daily perspective.  Still I knew how many health practitioners would be needed per X number of souls.........  and I suppose that guided my logic.  It was a career w/o boundaries; anywhere there were people, there was need.  Life is an exciting place when you develop the minds full potential, that we can certainly agree on.

[Quiet_Hollow]

Associate degree in an applied field (IT, comm, software, electronics, mechanics, finance, business, etc.). Hands down the best bang for the buck.

 

A person can always continue beyond that if required, and there are tricks to managing the debt from biting off too much too early.

 

Ignorant parents insist on sending their kids off to college like it's their only salvation in life. It's not....and the majority of people pursuing a bachelors degree shouldn't be there. Most simply aren't scholars or professional material.

 

Many guidance counselors can't say this outright, but it's really not about the money, it's about the quality of the person.

[The History Kid]

All too often we hear the ultimate lamentations of those with degrees that gain them wobbly foundations.

I would argue that this is largely because most students don't actually put thought into what it is that they're doing. They know they had to learn things, but they don't even understand what it is that they have learned, what skills they've been taught, or the abilities they've earned. Many of those people would have a problem finding a job in any field they went into, or they'd find someone to complain about in any field as well.

[muel]

I once heard a professor say that the number one social problem in the world is population... there are too many people.  Kind of funny to me to hear a sociologist say basically that the problem with people is that there are too many of them.

 

(insert tongue in cheek) Now by that logic you could say that if there are too many people then we shouldn't have as much health care so we won't have as many people survive so there wouldn't be the need for as many health practitioners.  I'm sure someone somewhere in government or academia has considered this.  

 

Personally, I wish the world would be flooded with medical practitioners.  

[Fjd]

 

I am so tired of hearing the argument that career paths are limited as that is just flat out not true. Career pathways for history majors are extremely vast and plentiful and there are many high paying jobs available within the field. This is true in many fields that require research intense academics. Don't let the people who don't research job descriptions and degree descriptions paint the picture of a major.

 

 

It is amazing how many jobs require a degree but they don't care what field it is in.  There are obvious exceptions of course.

 

 

Interesting as I see the “parent” coming out in many.  And they say that men aren’t able to nurture. 

 

I had a few minutes to kill in the game of "hurry up and wait for the attorneys" today, so here is my two cents.  Since it can often be difficult to process what seems to be "parent-type" advice, I’ll try not to come across as a “parent” with the following and maybe you will be able to use portions of it as more of a type of isolated “one-shot” mentoring.  I’ve been fortunate enough to have several “one-shot” mentoring types of situations over my lifetime where someone came into my life when I needed it, took brief interest when they didn’t have to, left my life as quickly as they entered it; and I was subsequently able to cull a “take-away” from the situation that was helpful at the time or could be used later.   

 

While I have set up a few situations where “learning” could take place to help foster resiliency skills, I’ve never been the “hovering” type that needed to “co-play” or be a “play-by-play” coach to my kids.  I tended to believe that they needed to figure things out for themselves (not absent of guidance but within certain general ground rules) in order to learn how to be independent and better prepared for the adversity that life has already thrown, and will continue to throw, at them.

 

Given the above, I'm not going to spend my two cents on you by starting the hovering practice here on the forum either, and sure NOT going to say suck it up and figure out how to like the assignment since I'm certainly not a believer that anyone needs to even remotely like any task to complete the task successfully.  Essentially, I’m leaving you on your own to figure out how to make this assignment an “opportunity” to expand your frame of reference and perspective on things (even if the result only entrenches you further into your original position); in addition to maybe using the assignment as an opportunity in honing your logic, writing, and communication skills even further than they already are.  

 

First, I have a similar observation as Muel in that there are a lot of jobs that require a degree as a minimum requirement but the field of study is not really important.

 

Now to expand on that observation and a nuance that I’m reading into your post regarding college majors and the apparent lack of research happening; whether you intended or not, I will comment on what a college degree, in general, seems to mean in the job market. 

 

To be clear, I do fully understand that certain professions do require specific college degrees, in addition to passing certain certification examinations as entry requirements; and often additional study to maintain licensing. 

 

Although I did not start college until I was 37, I happen to have started out my latest career path in one of those types of professions and I’m very familiar with continuous learning; whether the learning is on-the-job or formally for education credits to maintain licensing.  Before that, I was one of those leftover “relics” ready for extinction and fossilization without notice since I had worked my way into a position that required a college degree (and a specialized major too) but did not have a college degree.

 

In general (exceptions noted), many employers do not really care about the major, sure aren’t concerned with the classes taken; and as a side note, really will not want to hear about the 4.0 GPA when a person has been out of college for a couple of years. 

 

Essentially, the college degree becomes corroborative evidence that a person that graduated from college can be taught something and that the person has the ability to follow through and complete something.  As a bonus, the graduate hired may also have learned that the universe doesn’t revolve around them, deadlines must be met and that the graduate actually can work effectively within the bureaucracy of a business or corporation.  In some respects the college degree becomes more of a screening tool and many hiring decisions tend to be based on all parties concerned establishing a comfortable level of “familiarity” rather than major selected.  In other words, when interviewing it may just be much more important to learn as much as you possibly can about where you want to work and who you will be meeting with; and know how to verbally communicate.  

 

I realize that verbal communication tends to scare many, especially with many primarily communicating through various social media instead of sitting down and talking; however, that is not something that cannot be overcome by simply joining and participating at the local Toastmasters group (which in my experience has been a very relaxed and non-threatening environment).  Then I typically recommend plain old fashioned practice, practice and more practice related to responses to the "expected" ground covered in an interview.  There are many good practice aids regarding core interview questions for preparing for an interview.  This practice can be done in mock interview settings or just sitting at your table by yourself and speaking out loud.  I believe that once you can verbalize responses for the expected core questions with the ease of a conversation, the entire interview will become a conversation and that type of transition can go a long way in establishing the "familiarity" I mention above.  

 

While I fully realize that YMMV with the above, I've been that relic on chopping block three times due to corporate acquisitions, restructurings and relocations and had to reinvest myself each time.  In addition, I have been on both sides of the interview desk during the span of my careers and after doing interviews for a while, I believe it has become fairly easy for me to identify the person that has prepared vs. the person that comes in unprepared with no practice and trying to "wing it." 

 

Every year for a seven-year period I had to integrate new college graduates that were in the top of their respective graduating classes and from some of the top colleges in the country into our cross-functional teams.  Each new graduate was starting from the same place and had essentially the same initial qualifications on paper, but you would be surprised at the huge disparities in development when it comes to critically thinking on their own in the workplace for which there was no apparent correlation to college major or school attended.  Over a portion of the last ten years I have gotten to see some familiar faces come through my door again, having learned more than they ever dreamed while in college, now as part of the more complex projects with higher risk.  

 

Anecdotally from this experience, I can confirm that learning doesn’t stop once that degree is in hand and the major selected is not determinative of a person’s capability to learn and continue learning.  That point of holding the degree in hand and starting the new job is only the beginning of learning.  Those new hires that demonstrate the ability to continue learning; show qualities of self-discipline, self-motivation, and resourcefulness tend to quickly outpace those that don’t; regardless of degree work.

 

Oh well, I noticed my time is up and I need to go play "hurry up and wait" again; and I've only spent one cent.  All the best to you and I guess I'll save the other penny for another thread.