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I tend to do a lot of thinking about just about every aspect of my life. One thing that continues to pop up and become more prevalent is what I am going to do with my life. I have many interests, many passions, dislikes, ideas, etc, but apart from that, the question has been up in the air for a very long time.
I am very curious to know how well any of you dudes here know what you want to do with your self, what you are doing to get there, and motivations regarding. It doesn't matter how old you are, in fact, the more diverse the people are who express their thoughts are, better.

Well, i'm 18 this summer and will be heading off to university providing i get the results i need (which i will).

I have never known what i want to do with my life and i still don't really. I figure i'll take it one step at a time and seize opportunities as they arise. I'm doing a course that will interest me at university (Computer games programming), rather than one with a lot of career options because i don't want to waste my life away doing something that bores me. If your everyday routine becomes one of boredom, how great can life be? Even if you get paid lots of money boredom is still boredom, and i'd hate it.

I fact, the main reason i'm going into university rather than straight into employment is that. To get a job doing something i enjoy, i'll need either a degree, or more time to develop my guitar playing skills (then i can teach/play gigs). So in half i'm only going to university to kill some time. It should be good fun though, i've been told by many that it's the best period of their lives.

I'm an undergraduate Computer Science student. I've been doing AI research for the last four years, so that's the line of work my resume is most likely to put me in. However, I think I'm more interested in computer security, and to that end my ideal career path at the moment is working for the NSA. Otherwise, I'm thinking of becoming a professor.

While I was in school I didn't think about the future much, aside from generally presuming I'd end up do something to do with computers. I figured I wouldn't be interested in programming as a career, and so I decided to study networking—a field I knew next to nothing about—for 2 years at TAFE. In the last semester of that I realised I'd learnt as much as I wanted to know about networking, and so I decided to change direction. I'm now in my first year of studying politics at university. Still not sure where I want that to take me but there are a few interesting options there.

18 and will possibly enter uni this year.

My whole life I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a car designer.
Long story short, two years ago I rethought it and I became kinda clueless to where to turn. I'm gonna go to Landscape Architecture in Uni. It's an interesting discipline, and It'll probably be easy to find work.

It's a job where there'll be room the express myself, free from routines. And even if there are routines there, they don't frighten me. As long as I have money to buy all the cars and little gadgets I want.

Tsukatu wrote:Otherwise, I'm thinking of becoming a professor.

For the record: if you do this, wherever you teach I will find you and be taught by you.

I'm doing a Mech Engineering major and likely a Comp Sci minor. I don't know where it'll take me, they're just areas I find interesting.

Robotics is kinda a distant fuzzy target of sorts.

Just finished my first year at CSU Fullerton, and for the moment I'm majoring in film. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with that. I like writing, I enjoy camerawork, and as tedious as it is I don't mind editing (mostly because I hate shoddy editing in a movie where I know it could be better). I'm leaning towards cinematography but I'll wait until I take the class before I really know where I want to take that. I'm also considering minoring in something that might, you know, actually land me a job making money.

Graduating high school in the next week, and heading to UCSB, majoring in electrical engineering. Pretty much all I have set up in front of face, really. Don't know where I'll go from there.

Web design/development. There is no doubt.

I'm an undergrad Comp Sci major, because I like programming.

I'm impressed by the number of engineering majors we have here. Damn liberal arts majors haven't invaded my internets yet (not to offend liberal arts majors, but 3/4 of your area is filled with frat boys)

Physics physics physics physics physics physics physics. I'm in physics. Hopefully I'll get a good job -- this field is too much fun.

Artist. Fo' sure.

I have become quite interested in AI over the last few years, so I'm looking to take courses in computer science and AI stuff at college when I get there in a year. I don't know what sort of careers will be available in that field, though. I'm just interested in the subject. At first it was computer science in general, and I thought that'd give me a lot of career opportunities whichever specialization I chose, and now I've specialized. I don't really know what's ahead of me though. Look forward to college.

I've done game development literally since I was four years old. It's the only thing I've done for long enough to know that I like it. In fact, maximo and I are putting out our own CCG (hopefully) later this year.

I've also had stints in Retail, and that can work as a temporary (Or even long-term) career, since I have such an affinity for rising quickly into leadership positions. I've been offered a number of management positions with a number of different companies, so I figure that'd work well. I've also gotten a ton of experience with computers, Networking, and Home Theater, and I could probably fix computers or get a job in IT if I wanted to.

Beyond that, I've pursued a career in radio (Both production and on-air), and I freakin' love doing radio.

My affinity with writing lends well to writing, and I'd love to be a novelist, or perhaps technical writing.

Finally, my grandfather used to work for Lockheed Martin as an engineer, and if I gave a shit about engineering, I could likely pursue a career doing that.

As for what I *want* to do, probably game design/development. I'm good at it, and I have fun doing it, so that's my first passion.

Maybe Blizz will write 1.5 before M&R does.

987654321 wrote:Maybe Blizz will write 1.5 before M&R does.

I had thought about it. When they shot down our idea for Legacy integration, I was all, "Well, maybe we could just make our own version..." But then we figured v1.5 would be out, y'know... ever, and because we didn't want to reverse-engineer the game against M&R's will, we never even explored it.

Also, I guess I could do web development if I put my mind to it, but eh.

Kablizzy wrote:I guess I could do web development if I put my mind to it, but eh.

This is exactly my attitude toward web development. A friend of mine at my university (and roommate next year) who is heavily into web development asked me why it doesn't appeal to me, and I didn't really have an answer apart from a tautology.

I'm 19, I'm in CEGEP (Quebec Pre-University. :( ) in Filmmaking. My ideal career path would be screenwriter, although I suspect my education will not (and certainly has not) help at all in that goal. So, independently, I am working on my first feature-length script right now, which I'll either try and sell to the Film Board of Canada or produce and distribute myself with my various internet abilities.

When it's finished, we all want to watch it! Please?

Ultimate goal - to work in TV, almost certainly as a writer.
Path to get there - I haven't a goddamn clue.

987654321 wrote:When it's finished, we all want to watch it! Please?

Ditto.

Started off college with a couple summer courses (not a smart idea btw) and I'm just getting all my core classes done so I can focus on my major from that point on. I'll almost certainly go into something money-related, most likely majoring in finance or business. I used to want to be a professional musician, but I don't want a part-time hobby to become a poorly-paying job.

ＭＡＸＸＸＯＮ wrote:Started off college with a couple summer courses (not a smart idea btw) and I'm just getting all my core classes done so I can focus on my major from that point on. I'll almost certainly go into something money-related, most likely majoring in finance or business. I used to want to be a professional musician, but I don't want a part-time hobby to become a poorly-paying job.

Money money money. Everybody sees it like that. Why do we all want so much money? Because it makes us happy. Through purchasing we gain happiness. But in order to get that money for the sake of gaining happiness, we sacrifice our happiness by doing a boring (but well paying) job. That's a bit counter-intuitive, from my point of view.

So if you can get a poorly-paying job out of a hobby, isn't that more beneficial? You won't get as much money (and therefore happiness), but you won't be sacrificing any at all, and drastically cut down on your outgoings in that sense. Since you'll also be enjoying your poorly-paying job, you get happiness even whilst doing it. So in the end, you get much more happiness out of that poorly-paying job than you do out of the well-paying job.

Consumerism at work, that is.

Though if you can get a well-paying job that you enjoy, then you should definately take it. I mean, that's the jackpot really, isn't it? It's a pity they're few and far between.

SlappyMcGee wrote:I'm 19, I'm in CEGEP (Quebec Pre-University. :( ) in Filmmaking. My ideal career path would be screenwriter, although I suspect my education will not (and certainly has not) help at all in that goal. So, independently, I am working on my first feature-length script right now, which I'll either try and sell to the Film Board of Canada or produce and distribute myself with my various internet abilities.

You and Kashkin should get together.

Destiny: Money fixes everything except broken hearts. Money isn't just colored paper, Money *is* tangible happiness, it does buy happiness, and only when you've been without will you understand just how much money means. Now some people squander it, but those people are fucktards. You hear about people who win the lottery and it ruins them, but that's only because they're fucking stupid. It's not the money's fault that people are retards. You give me money, and I can do anything. Money is enabling. I'll tell you this - I lived the first 25 years of my live either in poverty or near-poverty. I was *miserable*. I moved out here to West Vriginia, left my entire life behind, took a *worse* job that paid me exactly the same - Really, the only thing that changed was that my cost of living went way down. And for the first time in my life, I'm genuinely, truly, unerringly happy. Everyone is some level of miserable at their jobs. The more you get paid for it, the easier the rest of you life becomes. Call me a cynic, but this is what life has taught me.

Kablizzy wrote:Destiny: Money fixes everything except broken hearts. Money isn't just colored paper, Money *is* tangible happiness, it does buy happiness, and only when you've been without will you understand just how much money means. Now some people squander it, but those people are fucktards. You hear about people who win the lottery and it ruins them, but that's only because they're fucking stupid. It's not the money's fault that people are retards. You give me money, and I can do anything. Money is enabling. I'll tell you this - I lived the first 25 years of my live either in poverty or near-poverty. I was *miserable*. I moved out here to West Vriginia, left my entire life behind, took a *worse* job that paid me exactly the same - Really, the only thing that changed was that my cost of living went way down. And for the first time in my life, I'm genuinely, truly, unerringly happy. Everyone is some level of miserable at their jobs. The more you get paid for it, the easier the rest of you life becomes. Call me a cynic, but this is what life has taught me.

ha, true. Also, money gets its (non-intrinsic) value from work. If you don't work for money, you won't see its value as much as someone that worked their ass off for it.
I'm also majoring in computer science (seeing a trend here?), and I have to agree that web development is pretty boring, from what I've done with it.