Help me decide what to study

[karika]

Hello. I am 39. My children are 7yo and 18 mo. I am soon to get a sect 8 voucher so I can have a place to live again (right now I am staying in my own room at my exdh home (dd1's father). I am very excited to be in my own place again. I am also realizing I am going to have to figure out how to provide for us. xdh is good enough with the children and would watch them for me if I took classes or had a job opposite of his (which right now he is unemployed, after being laid off. He is looking hard for work). I have 70 credits from a 4 yr university from 89-92 (old ones). I really like math and science. I took an interest inventory and assessment test back then and the lady said she had never seen it match so many jobs, there were 108 or 300 can't remember, but it was everything from bus driver to warden to psychiatrist to statistician.... When I went to school the first time I could not pin myself down, which led to my eventual dropping out. I am very interested in physics, quantum physics, and theoretical physics but don't think that would get me a job somewhere. Here are job titles that have come to me... environmental engineer, physics teacher, researcher, geophysicist, astrophysicist, accountant, high school math teacher, other types of engineering, naturopath, breastfeeding consultant (but not the way I read LC are done, just call myself a consultant and help women), lifestyle coach, inventor (lol I have come up with many ideas that ended up being produced by someone else years later, and they usually would cost a million dollars to get going). I am sure there are others, but it is late here and the children are finally asleep. so, anyone doing any of the above job titles, or have anything to share about them? Anyone know where I can take some free online assessment/ interest/aptitude tests? I want to be able to travel within N America (I do not want to fly anymore)but have a home base (taking my daughters with me which is probably impossible, but hey as long as I am dreaming....) I would want something that can be done at home a lot or with my daughters with me (I homeschool). In a few years (which would be when I would graduate from college) dd1 would be old enough to stay with dd2 most likely for short times. I do not need a lot of money, I can be happy with small amount as long as I can eat well (organic). Any advice, btdt, or websites to share?

[SoulCakes]

I can't really point you in the right direction, but I can say that studying physics will definitely get you a good job! The hard sciences are always a good bet for employability. Another thing you need to find out more about is whether your old credits will transfer to your new institution. I know some universities won't accept credit that are more than 10 years old, but I'm sure it varies by institution.

I also had a really hard time narrowing it down - there were just so many things that were interesting! After three years of school I just sort of accepted the fact that I kept coming back to one subject area time and time again, so I stuck with it. It'll be helpful if you don't force yourself to commit and take a variety of classes in your first year to see what you actually enjoy studying. If you're able to transfer all of your credits and don't want to spend time 'tasting' different areas, then you'll probably have to take a risk and just pick something. I also used to take a lot of different assessments, hoping 'the one true calling' would jump out at me, but that never happened. Having too many interests and abilities isn't always a good thing!

Anyway, good luck! The options can seem overwhelming, but it's freeing to have every possibility open to you. Have fun choosing!

[Happiestever]

Oh man I wish I were good in science and math. You are so lucky to be gifted in these areas, since they are extremely in demand (and hard IMO). You can definitely get a great career from a science or math education. I would encourage to think about which you prefer and ultimately see yourself doing ten and twenty years from now. I would love to be a research scientist myself, but I am not that great with microscopes LOL

[Ravenlunatic]

Well it seems that becoming a science teacher would be an excellent fit for you, but then you say you homeschool? So maybe that isn't so great. I would guess that your credits will transfer and that you are only several semesters away from a degree that you could use for teaching.

From your list it seems unlikely to me that you would find viable employment that wouldn't take you away from your children. Are you hoping for fulltime work? or are you going to be able to get by on half time?

Maybe you should look into becoming a CPA. You could open your own home based business and do the books for small business in your town.

Good Luck

[MissMaegie'sMama]

If you Google "career assessment test" you can find hundreds of sites that offer free tests that can help you pinpoint possible good career matches. LiveCareer is one I've used. Most of these sites offer "premium" matches, meaning if you pay for a report the information they give you will be more detailed. I've found that the free reports are sufficient to get the ball rolling, though. With an aptitude for math and science, you're sitting in a good place as far as finding a match that will allow you to make a good living! I'm also good at math and science, but I'm not teacher material, so I chose to get my Bachelor's in an applied science (food science) rather than in a theoretical science. If you'd like to teach, then any math or science degree could potentially land you a job. Math teachers are in especially short supply at the K-12 level.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you luck!

[LynnS6]

Have you considered finance? It could range from everything from bookkeeping to CPA to tax prep to investment -- it would use your talents at math and analysis, and many jobs in that field can be flexible in terms of time/place.

How long are you willing to be in school for? While hard sciences are decent for some things, an undergraduate degree in physics is about as useful as an undergraduate degree in psychology. It's not useless, but it's a 'starter' degree that will either get you a generic white collar job or get you ready for graduate school. Mostly you need an advanced degree to really get hired in the field.

The education field, unfortunately, usually has daytime hours, which would either necessitate child care or school for your kids.

[Linda on the move]

If I had to do it all over again (my kids are now 12 and 13) I would train for a job that runs on the school year (like teaching high school science) and put the kids in school.

It would provide a solid wage, health insurance, etc. and still provide a great deal of time with the kids. I'm no longer a fan of homeschooling (which, over the long haul, I think provides TOO much time with the kids).

I also think that it will be difficult to truly provide a solid education to your own children, provide them proper social outlets, and work full time -- even if you are doing it at home.

However, having summers off together and having a regular work schedule with extended days off over Christmas and such would be wonderful for your family all the way through the teen years.

And science and math teachers are always in demand.

[PGTlatte]

If I had it to do over again, what I would consider first is what industries I might like to work in, thinking about the lifestyle factors that come with working each industry......and after narrowing that down, look into the different jobs that people can hold in that industry, and what education is required to get into those jobs.

Some random experiences have led me to this....

For seven years I did work I enjoyed, but in industries that overall came with unpleasant, hazardous, and sometimes hostile work environments, excessive overtime, sometimes extended out of town travel, and almost no work-life balance. So even though I enjoyed the actual work, I burned out for other reasons.

For four years I worked in a job I didn't love, but it had some good points...and since it was in the education industry, the company gave us as holidays all the days on which public schools are normally closed. It was also a nice office environment, and I could buy lovely books at half price.

My mom is a nurse. People in her line of work sometimes work very long hours, sometimes have to come in on short notice, sometimes need to work evenings and weekends, and sometimes have to deal with very distressing situations at work. They may also be able to enjoy more flexible work scheduling than a 9-5 job can ever offer, while earning much more money than most other jobs with flexible schedules.

My DH is in the IT industry. His job requires him to be on call sometimes, carry a pager, and to sometimes get up and work several hours in the middle of the night. All of his time off has to be pre-scheduled and approved due to coverage needs at work. He feels pretty trapped by this.

What I've come to believe is that the actual work someone does is only part of their job satisfaction. All of the conditions that come with doing the work can make a huge difference in how someone feels about their career. If I had a career to plan over again, I would spend more time thinking about the conditions I want to end up with and then look specifically for industries and positions that would be likely to have the conditions I would be happy with.

[journeymom]

Originally Posted by laundrycrisis

What I've come to believe is that the actual work someone does is only part of their job satisfaction. All of the conditions that come with doing the work can make a huge difference in how someone feels about their career. If I had a career to plan over again, I would spend more time thinking about the conditions I want to end up with and then look specifically for industries and positions that would be likely to have the conditions I would be happy with.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by karika

I want to be able to travel within N America (I do not want to fly anymore)but have a home base (taking my daughters with me which is probably impossible, but hey as long as I am dreaming....)

The thing about business travel is that you really don't have any control over it. It is next to impossible to go with a family member because schedules change at the last minute, sometimes include dinners, etc. We tried going along with my DH sometimes back when the kids were homeschooling and the trip was close enough to drive. It sorta worked for a little awhile, but really wasn't something that a single parent could do, and it didn't work very well with 2 parents.

If you taught school, you'd have all summer off and could camp through national parks with your kids, which would be wonderful. Far more fun for them than being drug along on business trips.

[neveryoumindthere]

What helped me the MOST, was writing a description of my Job from H*ll with a complete description of who,what,where, etc. and then rewriting it using the complete opposite of everything I described.

so if my job from hell was working a 23 hr day with no one in a basement with concrete floors and bare walls, then i switched it to 4 hour work day, in a high rise building with huge windows and art on the walls, etc..

hth!

[EFmom]

You might find the Occupational Outlook Handbook to be of some interest in getting ideas.

If I were you, before I settled on being a high school teacher, I'd talk to several. Dh is a high school science teacher and he's hating it more and more every year. He loves the actual teaching, but what NCLB is doing to education is unspeakable. He's had more colleagues quit this year... Some of them with no other jobs lined up, it's that bad.