Art, Sports, or Math&Science for the future

[Sord]

Art- any form of art, culinary, musical, painting, literat, acting etc.

Sports- physical activities, football, base/softball, tennis, etc.

Math&Science- basically what it is, though it can be seperated, since calculating money is not exactly scientific (unless there is formulae, in which you need calculus to prove and hence that could be the science of math or whatever)

Any way, highschool is coming on (for me an many others) and I'm very confused on which directions to take. I know that what I take in high-school will/can effect where I go for college and hence my job. The problem is, I'm sort of torn between two categories.

I enjoy art, of many varieties, cooking, writing, drawing, but my skill are more toward science (physical/chemistry) and math, and while I like science, I detest math, but math is almost always used in science. So basically I'm torn between things in which to proceed with, and it constantly troubles me with indecision.

What are your thoughts? Any one torn between others (that's why I put sport's in there)?




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sord on 2004-05-25 18:29 ]</font>

[astuarlen]

Hah, well I never had to make this decision, considering that my HS offers next to nothing in the way of art classes except for the musically-inclined. As much as I was aprehensive about the arrangement (I am seriously into visual art) it has worked out just fine for the past 3 years. If you can, I would recommend taking demanding science and math classes but pursuing more artistic things outside of school. Afterall, I feel that art is about experimentation and self-directed exploration as much--if not more than--technical skills. Just because your talents and interests lie in multiple areas doesn't mean you have to choose just yet! Keep your options as open as possible, because you almost never know where your true calling will fall. Disclaimer: results may vary.

[Nai_Calus]

I never gave a shit about that in High School, heh. When I got out, I thought I wanted to work in computer graphics. Even got into and went into art school majoring in it. Hated art school. Utterly hated. Only thing I really enjoyed was the work experience stuff I was doing to help pay for tuition, working with the school's network administrator on the computers. Flunked out of art college. What am I doing now?

...Majoring in Networking Technology at the local community college, working at eventually becoming a network administrator. Was going to the art college a waste? Depends on how you look at it. But I've found something I like and enjoy because of it, and I think that makes it somewhat successful.

So... Don't worry about it, eh? Follow your heart, but do other things, too. You never know. You just might stumble across something you never even thought about doing or even really knew about, entirely by accident.

[Shigecki]

Just have fun in high school. You're too young to worry about your future right now. Besides, high school isn't real life, and doesn't prepare you for real life. It's just a stepping stool for college. College is what should prepare you for real life. Just keep your nose clean, get good grades, and you should do just fine.

Beside, who says you can't do everything. Art, sports or what ever else you want to do.

[HUnewearl_Meira]

How do you like the idea of being an engineer, Sord?

Focus on taking Drafting classes and science classes right now, then choose a field of engineering (there are dozens of sorts-- Soils Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Traffic Engineering, Architectural Engineering, etc), and major in that direction in College. Or if you get burned out with school, you can take your knowledge and get a job drafting at an Engineering firm, without losing any time.

To get a Professional Engineering license, you must first spend either 3 years studying it in College, or spend 3 years working in the field. Then, you'll be elligible to take the EIT (Engineer In Training) exam. Within 2 years of receiving your EIT, you should be able to earn in the neighborhood of $40,000 a year as a Project Manager (the project manager actually takes a 10% cut of the budget planned for each project; some projects may only have $10,000 budgets, but I've seen them go as high as $5,000,000) at an engineering firm, and 3 years after earning your EIT, you can take the PE (Professional Engineer) test. Once you get your PE, you can immediately expect a raise, and Engineers (at the firm I work for, at least) typically make at least $50,000 a year, and if they've been around for a while, they make considerably more. The president of the firm I work at, for example, doesn't necessarily show up every day. Basically all he does is check plans, and discuss business with some of the clients on some of the tougher jobs (although, he does seem to travel for business quite a bit). He's at the top rung because he's been with this company for quite some time, and he knows what he's doing. I don't know how much he makes, but I'm quite confident that it's well over $300,000 a year.

So yeah, if you like sciences and can deal with the math, go after some variety of Engineering.

[astuarlen]

Just curious, Meira, but you're an engineer right? If so, what kind, and where did you go to college?

[RuneLateralus]

Dude...it is high school You should not be thinking about what you are going to be doing then. Let yourself live and be true to yourself...well, for the first 2 years at least. At that point you need to think about college, but you got time to figure out what you want to do.

And if you are talking about social cliques....forget them. Cliques are just ways of you becoming a zombie and following the crowd, not yourself.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: RuneLateralus on 2004-05-27 15:53 ]</font>

[HUnewearl_Meira]

On 2004-05-27 13:17, astuarlen wrote:
Just curious, Meira, but you're an engineer right? If so, what kind, and where did you go to college?

I'm not an Engineer yet. I've got a few years to go before I get there.

For the record, I'm very much not a College Graduate. However, the State of California, through my High School CAD instructor, has made me a Certified Draftsman. This means that I'm not just a High School Graduate, but on a technicality, I'm a Technical School Graduate, as well-- right out of High School.

I did go on to a Junior College, but I never completed any classes due to general impatience with the coursework. Since I took far more CAD classes in High School than I really needed (1 period a day Freshman year, 2 periods a day Sophomore and Junior years, and 3 periods a day my Senior year-- far more than I needed to get my Draftsman's Certificate), there was really nothing that the college CAD classes could teach me, so I just gave up on advanced edjumacation and went ahead and started persuing CAD-based jobs.

It about a year from October, before I'm elligible to take the test, and become an Engineer In Training.