[DatDude]

I'm 18 year old guy living in central Europe and rather soon I will have to decide what I'm going to study.
The problem is, that I literally have no clue what I should pick.

The only thing I'm doing right now is working out almost daily, occasionally meat with friends, study for finals and play games. Apart from that I don't really have any particular interests. I'm also not particulary interested in any subject, the thing that I would like to do would be taking a couple months off after school and try to make money with playing a game that I am actually pretty good at without playing a lot and solely focus on that.(Streaming, coaching, turn pro)

But this is pretty unrealistic so the chances of me doing that are almost non existent especially when in theory I could do it while visiting university.

So I am sitting here and wondering what to do with my life. I don't want to choose something that in the future will be a useless degree.(Art)

Probably someting that interests me the most would be philosophy/psychology but I don't think that degree would be valuable either.

When I was little I was actually pretty interested in computer science but as I grew older I became older my values have changed and I actually try to sociallize more, weightlift daily and be more active so not sure if that lifestyle would fit me. The only reason I would consider it is the money, I guess...

Honestly what would be your advice for me to do?What is a certain study direction that is actually really valuable?

[Gopnik]

You are very young, I'd suggest you wait at least a year before considering going to uni. You could try the European volunteering service, it would be a good way of spending some time abroad, broadening your horizons and meeting new people. You get paid a bit of money to cover some of your expenses and it would give you time to reflect on what you want to do later on:

http://europeanvoluntaryservice.org/

Alternatively you could try to find a job in your home town or somewhere else abroad e.g in London or Manchester if you want to improve your English or if money is not a problem, you could enroll in a language course in Germany or Spain and learn German/Spanish. Worse case scenario, you return to your country having grown as a person and having learnt a new language, which would improve your CV in the future.

[jake1720]

If you get good grades in ChemE/MechE at a good school the world is pretty much your oyster.

Studying english is not a good idea.

[joost]

Business/Finance. Those are useful degrees. Top riches are engineers though.

Even if you become a famous poet, shaman, priest, gigolo, actor, etc (and makes lot of money), you need to know how to invest it. You can't go wrong with it.

[Jones]

I'm only a few years older than you, and I hear you completely, as I'm just finishing up one in Canada. University is good for girls, but unless you do something STEM related, I wouldn't bother with university. It's debt and a few years just fucking around, unless you have an outlined a plan for yourself that includes financing. (policing could be one route you could manage in university, if it is offered).

Keep it up at the gym. Thats essential at your age.

Play girls, but don't make them your #1.

I'm assuming you wanna make money and live well. Hustling your talents and being an entrepreneur is an option if you have talents/products to offer for money. If being an entrepreneur isn't your thing, a sales job that allows you to use game, improve socializing skills, and also teaches you how to make money through the art of making a deal. You also work out, so a manual labor job can put the body you're using to work.

Keep in mind you don't necessarily need a career, as there are many options for you. Realize that there is always an option C in addition to option A and B.

Don't seek approval and never apologize. Be proud of who you are.

[Marmite]

(03-12-2016 01:08 PM)DatDude Wrote:  

...

When I was little I was actually pretty interested in computer science but as I grew older I became older my values have changed and I actually try to sociallize more, weightlift daily and be more active so not sure if that lifestyle would fit me. The only reason I would consider it is the money, I guess...

...

Computer science is a subject you can learn on a one years masters program after studying engineering, rather than wasting three or four years studying it. Hell, most of the subject matter can be learned through online courses. I wish I would have studied electronic and communication engineering rather than computer science. Then again, I now wish that I had studied mathematics, so your interests will most likely change over time. Study psychology if you want to become a psychologist, else it is another subject along with philosophy that you can study in your spare time.

I would put off going to university until you are absolutely certain that you have chosen the correct course for you.

[ScrapperTL]

If you are dead-set on university, ONLY "learn" something that will make you money.
I use the term "learn" loosely, what I actually want to say is "acquire status" (degree/paper) in something that will make you money.

Law, Computer Programming and Engineering will open many job opportunities.

If you decide not to goto university, go into Sales (for the learning experience) OR apprentice in a real masculine craft like Carpentry, Electrician, Plumber.

#1 advice though,
For the love of God stay away from any suspect/silly studies that any Democrat or Progressive/Liberal recommends to you.

[WalkingMan]

Hey man. Just saw your thread.

I'm in the US, but the advice I would give to you is to do research on what fields will still be in demand after college.

Do this now. Not when you graduate.

Also, think about the lifestyle you want.

Do you want a nice apartment in the city?

Do you want a job that lets you travel?

Do you want to study a major that gives you more time to party or less time? This last one is a bit silly, I know. But it does matter.

Make a list of all the things you want out of your ideal job.

You can also take career tests and read books and stuff.


Now I'll talk a little about my path.

I took a while to get out of college. I went back and forth, so it took me 6 years to get a BA. During that time, I stopped after my first year and refused to continue until I was sure of what career I wanted. I didn't wanna leave my life to chance.

I came up with these points:

-I wanted a job that paid well (at least 40k starting with a high ceiling for growth)
-I wanted a job that didn't have to require me changing my major and starting all over again (English)
-I wanted to live in NYC
-I wanted to travel to a different country and teach English for a year
-I wanted a major that would help me look good to English teacher recruiters.

Also, during this time I decided to give up trying to find the one job that I would love forever and decided to be practical about my future career. There is no career on this planet that I will love 100%. Letting that go made life much easier.

I was very close to changing my major to Environmental Engineering, but at the last minute I found a career called Technical Writing that checked off all the boxes on my list.

I eventually finished my A.A. in English, got a B.A. in Professional Communications, taught English in Thailand for a year right after I graduated, came home, spent a year working on my freelance writing business, then got hired last fall as a Technical Writer. Just moved to NYC a few weeks ago.

If I stay at my company for four years it wouldn't be too difficult for me to find another job that pays me anywhere from 80-100k. I see them online all the time, and I always see jobs in multiple states and countries too (China, Germany, France...)

People like to bash English majors here, but things worked out really well for me. There are good careers out there. But you have to plan your success.

Bottom line: I got everything I wanted because I sat down and planned for it.

I decided what kind of lifestyle I wanted first, then I researched what job would let me have that lifestyle.

Experiment and find out what works for you. But don't wait too long. That's a personal regret of mine. Give yourself a deadline to decide what you want to do as a career.

Best of luck.

[Huey]

I graduated high school with the intention of studying CS in college. I took a year off to really think about what I wanted to do and decided not to go to college. My friends and family thought I was crazy; my father even threatened to kick me out if I didn't get a job within a year, so I was in a tight spot.

I enrolled in reputable "school" for web development (I'll get around to writing a data sheet on this sometime) a couple of months ago and I'm almost finished with the course I'm taking. I even have guaranteed interviews with promising start-ups after I'm done. I have a friend who did the same a year ago and he's working at a company making north of $70k/year and he's not even 20 yet. Sure I'm missing out on the college experience but at least I won't be in debt, I'm doing something I like, and I'm already ahead of most kids my age. A reasonable sacrifice I'd say.

I don't post this to brag, but if you're going to college to study a subject, make sure it's something you really wanna do. If it's for something like programming, look for alternatives. You can go the self-study route or join a coding bootcamp. If you really like psychology look into well paying fields like i-o psychology. And if you're truly out of options, consider joining the military or go to a vocational school; there's no shame in either of those choices.

[WalkingMan]

^ I thought about doing a coding bootcamp too. I can afford it now. And it still falls inline with my ultimate goal of location independence. If I learn something really in demand I could potentially quit my job and start making money a lot sooner. Maybe within the year.