Please help me figure out what I want to be when I grow up . . .

[Christy B]

I'm not 40 yet, that makes me really young and gives me plenty of time to decide, right? RIGHT?!?!?

I anticipate being able to return to school in two years to finish my bachelor's degree, so I need to figure out what I want to major in, and start brushing up, maybe even pick up a few classes at the local community college.

So. I have no idea what I want to do.

My educational background includes a certificate in medical office assisting, and two years of college as an English major/music minor.

I adored the administrative part of the medical field (I was employed at a state rehab hospital where I quickly went from clerical temp to assistant to the director of admissions). I am a timid, non-confrontational person -- until it depends on me to get someone's admission approved, in which case I mysteriously morph into some sort of bulldog on a mission.

I love education and academics but I really. don't. like. teaching. (This is why my oldest daughter has started attending a brick and mortar school this year for 8th grade, and why I plan for my younger daughter to join her in 6th, two years from now).

I've taught piano forever and will continue, I imagine, until I am deaf and blind.

What do I want to do? I could see myself happily working in a library, or a lab, or even as a real estate agent (seriously, I have an uncanny knack for real estate, I have no idea where that comes from). What do I major in? Not English, I discovered that I really despise analyzing literature.

What's a good career for an introverted insomniac that involves looking stuff up on the internet?

[Nan in Mass]

What about some sort of writing? Perhaps of a more technical nature? The introverted part and the insomniac part would be advantages. So would your liking for administration. It might be a little too much like teaching, though, if you were writing instruction manuals.

[Christy B]

What about some sort of writing? Perhaps of a more technical nature? The introverted part and the insomniac part would be advantages. So would your liking for administration. It might be a little too much like teaching, though, if you were writing instruction manuals.

I have a friend who does Serious Transcription work for some Important Companies. When she is faced with an unreasonable deadline, she lets me help her proof and edit the transcription (usually of lectures of an academic nature). I LOVE doing this. I like using the internet to research (for example, one lecture was a college lecture on Greek history, so I had to look up spellings of all sorts of Greek gods and myths, etc); I like dusting off my English handbooks to split hairs over correct comma placement -- that sort of thing. (Yes, I am proud to be a geek.)

I do this for "kicks" -- what would one study, for real, to do this sort of writing/editing/proofing? Not journalism . . . some sort of communications degree? I need to get my hands on some college catalogs and course listings, I suppose.

Adding writing to my list . . .

[Nan in Mass]

Maybe make another post asking what to major in if you want to do technical writing? I know there are technical writers here. They have contributed to my many posts asking for writing advice, and I've been grateful to them.

[Christy B]

Maybe make another post asking what to major in if you want to do technical writing? I know there are technical writers here. They have contributed to my many posts asking for writing advice, and I've been grateful to them.

I will start research along those lines!

[Nan in Mass]

If you do wind up trying it, maybe you could start working while you were taking classes, since you'll be within acadaemia at the time, with lots of over-worked profs wanting help like that. At the least, it might be a way to make a bit of money to help pay the tuition for whatever else you decide you want to do.

I decided I want to be an artist when I grow up. I don't have to go to school for this, which is rather nice. I'm too busy to study it much at the moment, but I am making a beginning by working on my drawing. I'm much better than I was. I can do that in tiny snippets of time. It's fun to think about, isn't it? I began deciding when my mother gave me the book "The Artist's Way". I think the author used her dock one weekend and told her about the book and she thought it sounded like it would be good for me. I wouldn't have thought of it, otherwise. I think of it as "when I grow up", too, and I'm a good bit older than you. Definately not grown up yet, though GRIN. I wonder if I will ever feel thoroughily grown up? I hope not.
-Nan

[Dana in OR]

If you want to get going in a short amount of time, go ahead and get your real estate license! It's not very hard and if you actually have time to devote to sales you can do quite well with it.

Once upon a time I did this but it was only part time in addition to my full time job. It was too much to take on - I had to stop after a few months. But it was a lot of fun and you have the potential to make a lot of money if you are not afraid to get in front of people and sell.

Dana