A degree in Role Playing?

[Copadope]

Two Saturdays ago (May 22th) I graduated from Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. I majored in psychology with minors in math and IT (new media emphasis). I'll probably end up going for a masters of some sort sometime in the future, but in the meantime I'd like to get a job. And if that job happens to be related to the field of psychology, all the better, but at this point I'm not being too picky.

I'm somewhat interested in human factor engineering (aka user-friendliness), so I'm considering that as a possibility for future study. But right now I'm taking a break from the college lifestyle (even though I loved it). Trying to get out from under the wing of dear Maw and Paw and strike out on my own. We'll see how that goes... :P

[Jester]

University of Alberta, so it's not likely. Although we do have a pretty damn good saxophone teacher.

Performance isn't exactly easy, but it's what you do with the degree afterwards that's really hard. Like me, going into something completely different afterwards. :P

Jester

[Chameleon]

What degree(s) fellow lurkers obtained through their years at college?

College? err... whats that?? Thought you attended Boston University :P
Now, joking aside, Ryerson University (in Toronto) was gracious enough to give me a B.Sc. Applied Computer Science with a Minor in Mathematics.

What degrees are people in the process of persuing?

I am persuing nothing but my student debt. Well, not entirely, I am also, persuing enrollment to the Canadian Forces DEO (Direct Entry Officer) program for Signal Ops.

Or what degree will the not-yet-college bound lurkers pursue?

I am bound to persue a Masters and PHD in something, hopefully related to Network Systems (I love that stuff) but I must aquire real world experience before I can enter the program. The GPA just isn't good enough to get me in on that basis alone. The good thing, once I am in, the Forces will pay for my continued education, all I have to do is work for them.

[Freepaperclips]

I've always liked the idea of bagging groceries, so I'm getting an English Lit major at the University of Washington. Absolutely useless, but a great deal of fun.

One of my goals while in school is to have a page of one of my papers entirely black and see if it raises my grade (obscure Tristram Shandy joke), or lowers it (teacher doesn't like Laurence Stern). I guess we'll see. B)

[Mithrandir]

I am currently studying BME (Biomedical Engineering) at the University of Michigan. Just finished my Freshman year and I am very much looking forward to jumping into the real meat of the subject which (allegedly) begins next year. My first year certainly was enjoyable, but was mostly spent doing pre-req stuff that I'm not terribly interested in which I couldn't get out of with AP credit or tests.

Not quite sure whether I want to stay in the engineering school or go to the medical school for my Masters yet... but if I did have my life planned out that far ahead at this point in my life, I would certainly administer a rather swift kick to my own behind.

[Lord_Olf]

Hail,

as for me, I'm currently headed for an M.A. (as Assur said, roughly equivalent to a Master's) in Political Science, with Philosophy and Japanology (yeah, not just the culture, the language, too) as secondary subjects.

Especially Japanese is great fun, since it is so completely different from my native language and other languages I've learned along the way. Also, Political Science and Philosophy complement each other nicely.

The only funny thing is that right now, I'm planning to work as an Instructor for Scuba Diving after I finish University, so not all of the subjects will be needed for that, also speaking and understanding Japanese, even if only to a certain limit, will be extremely useful for me (and has already been, having worked in South Korea during last summer).

Well, now you know :-)

Take care,
Lord_Olf

[whyBish]

all the questions were about verb conjugation and pronouns.

What scares me most about that post is that I actually know what you are talking about, and know how to do it (well, not perfectly ;-) ).
Perhaps taking Spanish has improved my English ...

[ShadowHM]

Hi

You raise a topic that I have been pondering for a while now.

My eldest son will finish high school this week. He wants to pursue a career in the Tower Crane Business. Until recently, the formal part of the education required for this career path was comprised of two semesters at a technical college, in between periods of apprenticeship to a qualified Operator.

The rules have (very) recently been changed. Now he need not take any formal classes, although the six year apprenticeship length is unchanged. Instead, he has the option of home study for the qualifying exams, under the tutelage of his employer. I suspect that he will opt for this route, as he does have a 'Master' that he will be working under, who will ensure that he learns not just operation, but the more technical sides of 'why and how', as well as the more specialist area of tower crane repair.

This means that he will, for the relevant planning horizon, be finished with formal education as of this week.

He has two passions at the moment. He loves the mechanics of the big cranes and the challenge of the big machinery. He also loves Drama. It was his sole love among the high school courses he took, and he particularly loved directing.

My fear is that he will be losing out on the 'fun' side of the more formal studies that he could undertake in an educational institution. I know I learned a lot more in University than I expected, just because of the synergies with other courses than the ones I originally signed up for. There were other 'General Education' courses that were so much fun that I ended up exploring other directions as well. It was easy to do so, because I was there and the courses all ended up being applied to the degrees I eventually earned.

I have been counselling him to enrol in night classes at the University closest to his employment to take Drama courses, just for the fun of it. That way he can accomplish several ends. He can meet people other than construction workers. :P He can explore another side of his personality and abilities than the purely technical education he will receive at work. And he can have an outlet for energy that will get him out of his apartment of an evening.

But it will take more energy / focus to make that happen than it would if he were in a University setting to start with. And I am not sure that he will be able to make that happen.

As a mother, there is a comfort zone in knowing that my son has chosen to pursue employment in something that he does love and that will earn him a very good living. But, also as a mother, I worry about the limitations it might give him in exploring all the other things he doesn't even yet know about that he might love too.

[Jeunemaitre]

I finished my B.S. in Psychology cum laude at Syracuse University in the spring of 2000. I finally ended up with this because they threatened to cancel my registration for 1st semester, 3rd year if I didn't formally declare a major. And yes, it is a Bachelor of Science degree, earned with my credits in psych lab courses, and independent study/research credits. To tell the truth though, I enjoyed my first two years of general courses than I did the last two years of all psychology, all the time. I also had to put up with the "what will you do with that" line of questions, but I generally responded with "I can quantify how you feel about having fries with that."

Shameless plug - congrats to the Div IA lacrosse national champion Orangemen (for the ninth time). Great second half of the game, but I'd like to see how it turned out if the starting NAVY goalie hadn't been injured during the game. And I know they just changed the nickname to "The Orange," but I'm not willing to succumb to the influence of Nike.

[jahcs]

Ph.D vs PHD
That's how you tell the difference between those who earned their doctorate and those who "Piled it Higher and Deeper." :D :P j/k

Wow, I am out of my league with all you folks. I have an A.A.S. in Automotive Technology. (Read: Mechanic) These courses included electrical theory, computer theory, engine repair, transmission repair, small business management, and accounting, among others.

My time in the Army has taught me funner stuff like demolition, bridgebuilding, heavy equipment operation, leadership skills, etc.

BTW: My girlfriend is almost done with a 4 year degree in environmental science and human geography and a private E2 in the Army can read a map better and faster than most of her classmates. (Of course most E4's can read a map better than lieutenant graduated from ROTC.)

[Jarulf]

I never remember what the different school system correspond to here in Sweden (so no idea what college really is). Anyway, I have got (since many years) my Master of science in Chemical Engineering at the University. I have also done my PhD in chemical engineering although I have yet to present my dissertation. Right now (since a bit of over a year) I work for a company providinve chemicals (and non chemical) products for water cleaning, pulp and paper industry as well as specialy chemicals (bonus to anyone figuring out which one, and that does not have my work mail address). :)

And yes, like Pete, I would (almost) consider it a degree in having fun although computer and programming would probably have been more fun should I have to redo it all over again.

[Saxywoo]

Hail,

I went to Purdue Univerisity (West Lafayette, IN; USA) to study in what they called at the time "Computer Programming Technology" or "CPT" for short. They later changed it to "Computer Information Systems Technology" or "CIST" for short, but that was about a year or two after I left.

I originally applied to Purdue to be a pilot, since they have a pretty elete aviation program. I didn't get into it, though I had originally been accepted into the program. (100 spots open in the program, and as upper-classmen and incoming Freshmen with flight experience came in, I got bumped down the list. At semester start, I was number 102 on the list of 100 - hence, I didn't get in.)

I stuck with the CPT program for 3 years, before I got so fed up with the experience that I bailed. Here's what happened....I went and looked into the Co-Op program (Cooperative Education program, where you go and work for a company for a semester, head back to school for a semester, then head back to the company, and so on and so forth for 4 years, which would have delayed my graduation by 2.5 years, but in the long run, would have given me an edge over my fellow graduates. I recommend doing this. Work experience will take you a long way, especially if it's with a large company. I worked with Kraft Foods in Chicago.)

The department head at the time when I was in my second year was going to retire at the end of the year. Two of the professors were jockeying for the position. One prof was the head of the Co-Op program, and the other one was the most stuck up guy I've met in a long time. His claim to fame is that he roomed with the guy that came up with the Ethernet (network topology/methodology). I got off on the wrong foot with him the first day of my networking class because he said that something would never, ever happen in reality, though it's supposed to work in theory. Here's how this conversation went (in the middle of class):

"......so that will never happen, and you will never see it implemented. It won't work."
"That's not entirely accurate."
"You'll never see a company implement it on thier network. Are you saying that you have and it works?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Kraft Foods in Chicago."
"And how long ago was that?"
"Everyday for the last 8 months."

Okay, so I had and issue with the guy, partly because he was so cocky, but the fact of the matter was that he was wrong. And I guess he didn't appreciate a student correcting him. But the battle for being department head was raging. The two professors were grouping students around them like pawns on a chess board. And it was really hard to stay out of that whole thing. Everywhere you turned, you could see the students picking sides. It was sick.

I got through that, and then went back to Kraft Foods, where I was once again feeling right at home. That ended after another 8 months (originally supposed to be for the duration of the semester, but Kraft and I liked each other, so it was extended another 4 months to include the summer semester). I went back to school, and moved into an apartment to help out a friend, who decided that he wasn't going to be going back to school. There's where I really entered the 7 inner circle of hell.

My two roommates were the absolute worst kind of losers on the planet. They were both in a Chemistry fraternity (co-ed educational frat), which I couldn't join because I wasn't a Chem major. I didn't have a problem with that, since I had a lot of friends that were in it, and I was always looked upon as the official unofficial member. The sad part was that one of my roommates was the fraterity's president, and I was more active in the fraternity than he was. But I would come home to find that both roommates were throwing a party that I didn't know about, wasn't asked about. I walked in and confronted on of my roommates with the simple question of "WTF?" (You see, they broke into my room, took my stereo out, speakers and all, and put it in the living room, but breaking my CD player in the process - Kenwood 6 disc magazine with a single CD tray as well. Originally about $400.) The roommate's response was "Oh you're home...Before you get mad, I need to talk to you..." My response was "Too late."

My retaliation for them breaking my CD player, moving my stereo, and throwing a party without asking if it was okay with me (it was agreed in the beginning of the year that all parties thrown had to be approved by all three of us) was to hit them where it hurt them the most. You see, they sat around that played the PlayStation (which wasn't mine) and watched TV all the time. I gave the TV to my older brother, who was married and also going to school at the time the following day. Granted, I had to listen to them complain for the rest of the year that I got rid of the TV, but I made it clear that they were not to touch my stereo again. And as far as getting rid of the TV, I had Diablo (the original) at the time, which was more than entertaining at the time.

About 4 - 5 weeks before the year ended, both roommates discovered pot. One roommate was a senior, and the other a junior. I'm sorry to say that the senior was already locked into being able to graduate. I watched the junior's grades plummet. I thought about turning them in, since they filled me with such angst on a daily basis. They smoked it in the apartment, and I'm fairly sure that they kept it in the apartment, thus putting me in jeopardy as well. The last thing that I wanted was to have law enforcement kicking in my door, taking all my possessions, and hauling me off to jail because my roommates were stupid. And knowing those guys, they probably would have brought me down with them.

I packed my stuff 2 weeks before the end of the year (and I moved out the day after the semester ended), but I kept finding that my room had been invaded, and boxes that I knew had been packed were unpacked, and pots and pans that I had packed and sealed in boxes were on the stove. I was furious about that, but thankful that I had my computer password protected, though I would find them every once in a while trying to get onto it during that time.

That was my last year there. I had gotten fed up with the politics, and the lousy roommates.

I guess the moral of the story is this:

1) Be VERY careful choosing your roommates.
2) Don't get involved with office politics at the university.
3) Password protect your computer.
4) When looking for an apartment, don't bother trying to help a friend out. Go on your own if you have to.
5) Stay away from those performance enhancing drugs (Hey, the IOC says they are...)
6) If possible, lock your bedroom door at all times (whether you're in it or not).
7) Don't place too much trust in roommates...ever.
8) Get a Co-Op or an Internship. It'll do you wonders when you're out in the working world.
9) Keep your nose the the grindstone, be it work or school.
10) When living at school, life/pack light. If you can't fit everything into one full sized van (car), then you probably could lose some stuff.
11) Despite what happens, always try to have fun.
12) An internet connection when you have an apartment is essential
13) A good game to play when you have an apartment is essential

That's all. Sorry for the long read. Hope that helps you.

-SaxyCorp