Study; how, what and why

[Mari]

I saw there are some ancient threads on what people are studying and why, but since I was interested in knowing what everyone had studied (or is studying) and in what kind of carreer you ended up (or think you'll end up in) I thought I'd ask.
There is also another reason: my kid sister is (once again) lost in the maze of studies. She started a study to become a teacher, but dropped out, then she decided she wanted to do something with P.E. or the human body, then decided that theaterschool was more for her, but since we can't afford that, she is once more looking for a study.
The only recurring theme in all her searching is biology. She loves biology, but doesn't want to become a biologist or teacher. She is very good with people and likes dealing with people, she is good at biology and science, her math skills are okay. Now I know that there are some people here who are studying or have studied something relating to biology and I would like to ask you to describe your studies and the career possibilities.
I hope there'll be a lot of replies And even if it doesn't help my sis decide, it might help others and it is interesting reading!

[Mari]

So here I go:
In high school I always said I wanted to study international law and later work with the UN, but since I'm a terrible public speaker, but didn't feel like doing backstage work. The minor I wanted to take when studying law was a Keltic language minor, so when I had to think of a new study I thought of studying this as a major, but that turned out to be an impossibility. So I took some tests (one saying I would make a good gardener and another saying I would make the perfect reverend/father/priest) but no matter what the results, I kept wanting to do something with languages. I decided on Japanese because I've had Japanese penpals ever since I was a kid and my parents had to write the letter in English for me. I didn't want to go to the University Leiden, but it is the only one offering Japanese. I absolutely love my studies (Japanese language and culture), learning especially much about history, religion and political science besides the culture and language. Unfortunately, my university doesn't offer sociologic or economics-related courses, which are a huge interest of mine. So I studied that and tourism when I was in Japan.
Someone with a BA in Japanese doesn't have much of a future and the percentage of graduates ending up with a job related to their studies is only 5% a large percentage ending up in unemployment first. The most common option is to become an office worker at a place with on the job training. This is not something I want to do, so after my very positive encounter with tourismstudies in Japan I decided that I want to do an Master of Science in hotel management. Thus if I can get enough money together, I will go to Switzerland next year to study this. (It is not possible to do so here) Should I find that I'm unable to get enough funding I have the secundary option of studying Human Resources Management, however this will take more time and might turn out to be just as expensive.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Hey, Mari. Consider coming to the US. I'll tell you right now, with any fluency in Japanese (not to mention Dutch) you could study hospitality management with any of the good programs, or go straight to work/study at Disney World. They have a number of college and interning programs, and they're very multicultural.

[Mari]

Thank you But getting a green card isn't easy as I understand it. Plus, I wouldn't want to live so far away from my family. A few months to a year would be okay though... *muses over the possibility*

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Um...it's actually closer to your family than Japan was. Also, people LIKE to visit you in Florida...I've noticed.

http://wdwcollegeprogram.com/sap/its...l/j1.html#this

[Mari]

Hehe, yeah I might convince my mum to come over to the US . Only problems is: I like snow. Very much. And I'm not very good with a high humidity grade. Not sure how it's like in Florida though.

EDIT: thanks for the link!

[brownjenkins]

I started college with the goal of getting a psychiatric degree but, after a little time, I realized that the medical world and, even moreso, the psych world, were not what I thought they were. Too much guesswork, trial and error and pseudo-science for my tastes. On top of that, it just seemed to require too many years of schoolwork, etc. I really wanted to get out working and moving on.

I switched to physics, but didn't stay in college all that much longer. Playing music had always been my passion, and when I met someone who felt the same way, we both decided to drop out, get jobs, and play music. It was a great time, with some great memories, even though the relationship and band didn't last.

But, back to employment... I started by getting a job at a financial firm where I learned a whole lot about economics and financial planning, and also about the print world, since it had it's own printshop. I split my time between financial writing/editing and learning graphic design on personal computers, which was a new thing back in 1985.

I also took a lot of night school courses over those years. Not with a degree in mind, just to learn. Some that stood out for me: anthopology, comparative religions, microbiology. On top of that, I spent a lot of my free time working with a local children's theatre, and still jamming, of course.

Time went by and I finally was ready to settle down at age 29. I debated between going deeper into the financial world or sticking with graphic design, or maybe even going back to school. My desires for a family won out though. Financial work is great money, but it becomes your life, and I really wanted to have a bunch of kids and spend a lot of time with them growing up. So I went the design route, which I enjoy as well, and let's me work 9-5 and spend the rest of the time with my family.

[Nautipus]

Wow. Sounds like a pretty neat little ride. What kinds of things do you design? Can you show some examples?

[Mari]

It is very nice that you keep on studying. I hope I can make enough time for that when I start working as well.
Nautipus, you're studying Marine biology right? My sis said something about being interested in that as well, so could you perhaps tell me/us more about it?

[Nautipus]

It's actually a funny story. I went to the beach for the first time when I was five, and knew I wanted to live in it. Literally. When I was five years old i wanted to grow up to be a giant squid, truly. Since then I've read nearly every book on marine life I could get my hands on, been SCUBA diving since I was eight (although I just got my license two years ago) and am now dabling in the fine art of underwater photography. I'll dive with any animal, and have dove with large predators. I LOVE the underwater world and try my best to learn all there is about it (a daunting task). I've worked with Duke University at their marine laborotory, did that for two summers, and really shone doing the work. I've done some work with aquariums around me as well. I intend to go to UNCW after my stay in Tennessee, and Hawaii has offered to take me on if I keep my grades up. Really very simple story for me. I really want to specialize in invertabrates, specifically cephalopods. I'm doing what I've always wanted to do.

[Mari]

That's wonderful.

[Nautipus]

What about your sister's interest? Tell us more about that.

[Mari]

That's just it. She doesn't know. The choices she made sofar were all based on opinions of others: she would make a wonderful teacher so she started that study, but her heart wasn't in it. She is very active when it comes to sports (and she is very good too!) so she's been advised to look into studies relating to sports and the human body. She did that for a while, but didn't like it after all, so she quit that as well. Now my aunt said she should try out for theaterschool having a good voice and all, so she got really obsessed with that, but that is not possible.
So now she has to search something else and she finally learned that she has to make the decision for herself and she says that she wants to do something with biology. She always loved that. Today she told me she was looking into that thing they do in CSI, prodding in dead bodies and stuff, but that she was also looking at marine biology. (don't know where she got the idea though!) So I think the next try will definitely have something to do with biology, but since there are so many different studies with different career options available it is difficult to find one that suits her. We did some tests, but those don't inform you on the more obscure studies (like Japanese ) and they generally just told her that she should study to be a biology teacher. Which she doesn't want to do. Anyway, by trying to get information on different kind of biology-related studies, I hope to help her find one that is right for her. Without pushing her. If only there was par ex. a list of studies based on biology with links to info on those particular studies. *sigh*

[Nautipus]

Here is a very general website about going into a biological field.


http://www.aibs.org/careers/

Here's one on Marine sciences.

http://ocean.peterbrueggeman.com/career.html

Hope these help.

[Mari]

Hope so too! She'd better appreciate it enough! (To the movies, her treat )

EDIT: I think the links will really help, especially the first. Thank you!
2nd EDIT: My sis was happy with the links, so thanks from her as well ^_^

[BeardofPants]

Degree in anthropology (archaeology & biological anthropology), and a post-grad diploma in Geography (maps, GIS, geospatial analysis, remote sensing (satellite imagery)). I work for the New Zealand Defence Force, providing maps, intelligence, and general geospatial products to all arms of the Defence Force, and other government agencies.

I'm currently learning to program in java cos I've always wanted to learn a language, and already have python under my belt. I'm doing a lot of R&D for GPS maps/software, and some of that involves java libraries.

[Mari]

Wow, that sounds very interesting! One of my teachers in Japan was a very famous person in that field. What was his name again... He was from somewhere in Africa and invented a computer program with satelite maps or something.
Do you like your work? I mean, if you start out as an archeologist, you're current job is a bit different right?

[BeardofPants]

I never made it that far - I started doing a masters in anthropology, and decided that I needed a more hard science, so I switched and did GIS stuff instead. I love it. Not often you end up doing what you did @ uni, and plus, working for the defence force, it's very varied - you never know what you're going to do every day.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I'm currently studying liberal arts, which in this particular case means basically a crash course in Western thought, studying philosophy (mostly epistemological and political) from the presocratics to Nietzsche and Marx, mathematics from Euclid to Lobachevski and calculus (by way of Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler, and Descartes), theology from Athanasius to Vatican II, natural science from Galen to the Scientific American, and literature (though it gets much thinner as an upperclassman) from Homer to Flannery O'Connor, Willa Cather, and T. S. Eliot. Why? To get up to speed on what people have been saying.

After this, I'm not sure. I'm currently primarily considering trying to become a professional polyglot, and learn several different languages, then become a translator. I'd begin with Russian and Portuguese, since I have a grounding in them already. If not, then I will probably go on to study theology, probably more Eastern than I've been doing so far.

[Mari]

I don't know about Theology courses where you live, but in the Netherlands the problem is that they are all from the Christian point of view and very heavily Christianity orientated. Even the World religion courses are. But I'm sometimes reading the coursework of a friend of mine who studies Theology. Interesting stuff.