I need to bum advice from y'all.

[Flounder]

Okay. So when I finished high school, I was clueless as to what to do with the rest of my life, I had been accepted to a very good school, locally, called the Rochester Institute of Technology. I went for business, I could not stand engineering. Well after a few months in the business program I decided it wasn't for me, I was miserable, I found it to be boring, the professors and advisors had a "if you're having trouble, join a tech program" attitude. Quite literally, on the day I emailed my advisor's boss asking for help because my advisor was not responding to emails and wouldn't see anybody without an appointment they both responded to my email asking for a meeting to help with my curriculum, general advise on how to complete my classes (order, etc) and if I should look into another program by FWDing me the "Application to Transfer" paperwork.

Then I found myself enrolled in college, still not knowing what I wanted to do with life. My mom works at the school I am at so I'm not racking up tuition. I did IT work for a little while, but again, no way I could code my whole life, I was going insane.

Well, at the very end of last year, I had a friend suggest "History is your passion, do that." And I felt so dumb, I should have done that from the get-go. But now I am in a school that offers no History program, I am taking the Multidisciplinary Tract, which means instead of a "Bachelors of History" I will get a "Bachelors of Applies Arts and Sciences" with concentrations/ minors in American History, European History, and Business. Which I was happy with until I realized with how competitive that field is, I need the History degree to be able to keep up, and am now looking to transfer.

I have 2 options, stay local, my family is relatively close, so it will keep me close to them, new friends from the new school but plenty of the same ones from my current school, all is good, I am content.

I always wanted to go south for college, and never did. Stay on the East Coast (Virgina, Carolinas, Georgia), close enough to drive home for holidays, but far enough to enjoy some good weather, get away from our bitter winters that I HATE! I feel like this could be my opportunity, take the last 2 years of my schooling and go south. It means starting over, new friends, new scene, new everything (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). But it means being that far from my family, and going from seeing them at least once a week to every few months, and talking just on the phone. It's just something I have always wanted to do, and I could be fine up here in NY, but never knowing that I could have been 10x's happier had I gone south. And if I stay, graduate, find a job, maybe a lady, it's harder to take that risk to move for a few years to see if you like it. It would also mean more loans, I'd have to pay for housing, maybe not tuition (tuition exchange program with RIT), but still more than if I stayed here.

I talked it out with a friend of a friend, someone close enough that I know them, but not so close that they're saying "Stay man, stay!" or "Go man, go!" depending on their opinion of me. And in the end I ended up saying something along the lines of "I don't know, leaving family behind would suck, but no one says I can't come back in the end, NY is my home. And if I hate it, it's 2 years, just a drop in the bucket compared to life." And he thinks I answered my own question, which I may have.

I have always tried to live my life as if I would die tomorrow. You can't take money with you. You can't go back in time. And this has me all twisted up, because if something happened to me next year and I was here, I would never know what it was like. If something happened to me next year and I was there, I'd be so far from home.

Just looking for general thoughts. Anecdotes? Thanks.

[pnoon]

Pursue your passion. Time to cut the cord and leave the nest. Family will always be there. I gave both my kids the option of where they wanted to go to college but I strongly encouraged them to leave home. It is part of growing up and maturing.
:2

[jluck]

Hell yes, go! Have fun see new things. With todays technology you are never far from friend and family.

[oooo35980]

Branch out, go do other things, you can always come back home but you'll regret it if you never leave at all.

[sevans105]

Hell yes, go! Have fun see new things. With todays technology you are never far from friend and family.

I agree with jluck. Spread the wings. Being on your own is a fantastic experience. When I was 19 I had the chance to live overseas for a couple years. Great experience. Was it rough at first? Sure. Did I learn who I was and what I could do and how to take care of myself? Absolutely.

Do it! Take the leap!

[CigarNut]

Pursue your passion. Time to cut the cord and leave the nest. Family will always be there. I gave both my kids the option of where they wanted to go to college but I strongly encouraged them to leave home. It is part of growing up and maturing.
:2What he said!

:tu :tu

[Flounder]

Well, I live in an apt in Rochester, my parents are 30 miles away, so I am not living at home per say. But I get your point. Another thing is, does anyone have advise for picking a damn school? I am looking through all of the ones I could (potentially) get free tuition to, and I'm going to end up with like 20 schools in the region I'm looking at. I am trying to avoid anything with real strong religious influences as I am not a religious guy, but beyond that, I am screwed.

[LostAbbott]

Brother, I gotta go with everyone else, whenever the chance for adventure comes up always jump. As for history if that is your passion then do it. A lot of people will lump history into one of the "new useless majors" but as with everything it is what you make of it and how you use your education after graduation. Go for it and good luck.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Prefy]

I can relate to your situation quite well.

I graduated high school in 2005 and I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do as a career. All throughout grade school I was very astute in Math and Science and was very interested in microbiology. My whole high school life was directed to eventually having a career in the field, I wrote 7 AP exams in grade 12 and essentially had my first year of post secondary completed before I graduated and actually did some special study courses with other high schools.

After graduation I enrolled in the University of Manitoba and got into my second year of my Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. I enjoyed the first quite a bit but I think I started debated in the back of mind whether or not I could see myself working in a lab for the rest of my life.

Moving into the third year of my degree I was was pretty eager to continue but I was starting to just want school to be finished. Concurrently with this time I had needed to make some cash to pay for my education and a pretty cool opportunity came up to work with the American Hockey League team in my hometown.

Sport has been a life long passion (even thought I didn't know it at the time) of mine which I actively watched and participated all throughout my life(hockey being #1). So my thought process with the job was that it would be a good opportunity to make some cash, watch hockey for free and get away from the lab environment for a 10 hours a week.

Little did I know what a can of worms that decision would open :D

It didn't take long before I realized that I was a lot more eager to go to my part time job then I was to go to school and work in the lab. It had never occurred to me previously that there was even a potential to work in the sports industry and I started to wonder if i could make it a career.

I did a little digging and found out that there was a specialized undergrad program at Brock University in Sports Management in St. Catharines, Ontario about 2000 KMs away from my hometown that would give me a great foundation to pursue a career in sports.

After I did the research I actually tried to dismiss the idea as irresponsible citing the fact that three years of school were in the books already, they were all payed for through scholarship, I was living at home for free, I had a gf of three years at the time and wasn't sure how the long distance thing would work out, my whole support network would be gone etc etc...basically making every excuse possible.

I talked about it with many friends, family and my gf and all of them kept saying the same thing, that I needed to follow my passion.

Ultimately when contemplating this advice I came to the conclusion that my passion was sport, and that lead to me deciding to enroll at Brock and pursue a career in sport.

Fast forward to the current day and I couldn't be happier with my decision.

I have completed my degree in Sports Management, secured my first job working with a professional hockey team in hockey operations (I get to go to a hockey rink to work everyday :D), I am going to be marrying the girl that I wasn't sure if a long distance relationship would work out with in the summer and have meet a whole bunch of great new people in the process.

With all that in mind I think I can relate quite well to the the decision you are contemplating and I realize that is is not an easy one to make but my advice to you is the same as I was given to follow your passion, you will be happier for it.:tu

[Cornrow_Wallis]

Well, I live in an apt in Rochester, my parents are 30 miles away, so I am not living at home per say. But I get your point. Another thing is, does anyone have advise for picking a damn school? I am looking through all of the ones I could (potentially) get free tuition to, and I'm going to end up with like 20 schools in the region I'm looking at. I am trying to avoid anything with real strong religious influences as I am not a religious guy, but beyond that, I am screwed.

Any chance that you could visit a few of them before you pick one? Not like orientation or anything, just head down and wander around for a while is what I mean.

[Flounder]

Any chance that you could visit a few of them before you pick one? Not like orientation or anything, just head down and wander around for a while is what I mean.

I could try a weekend road trip, but application deadlines are hitting up anytime between nowish and mid-March, and money is an issue. I have found 1 that jumped out at me just online from each state. I have 16 schools that look promising, tomorrow I will have my mother look up the tuition exchange stats. (Some schools take very little for the free-ride from their affiliated institutions). the school right here that I got into, only takes <10% of outside applicants, some schools take 75-80%, so that will play a role too.

[Flounder]

I can relate to your situation quite well.

I graduated high school in 2005 and I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do as a career. All throughout grade school I was very astute in Math and Science and was very interested in microbiology. My whole high school life was directed to eventually having a career in the field, I wrote 7 AP exams in grade 12 and essentially had my first year of post secondary completed before I graduated and actually did some special study courses with other high schools.

After graduation I enrolled in the University of Manitoba and got into my second year of my Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. I enjoyed the first quite a bit but I think I started debated in the back of mind whether or not I could see myself working in a lab for the rest of my life.

Moving into the third year of my degree I was was pretty eager to continue but I was starting to just want school to be finished. Concurrently with this time I had needed to make some cash to pay for my education and a pretty cool opportunity came up to work with the American Hockey League team in my hometown.

Sport has been a life long passion (even thought I didn't know it at the time) of mine which I actively watched and participated all throughout my life(hockey being #1). So my thought process with the job was that it would be a good opportunity to make some cash, watch hockey for free and get away from the lab environment for a 10 hours a week.

Little did I know what a can of worms that decision would open :D

It didn't take long before I realized that I was a lot more eager to go to my part time job then I was to go to school and work in the lab. It had never occurred to me previously that there was even a potential to work in the sports industry and I started to wonder if i could make it a career.

I did a little digging and found out that there was a specialized undergrad program at Brock University in Sports Management in St. Catharines, Ontario about 2000 KMs away from my hometown that would give me a great foundation to pursue a career in sports.

After I did the research I actually tried to dismiss the idea as irresponsible citing the fact that three years of school were in the books already, they were all payed for through scholarship, I was living at home for free, I had a gf of three years at the time and wasn't sure how the long distance thing would work out, my whole support network would be gone etc etc...basically making every excuse possible.

I talked about it with many friends, family and my gf and all of them kept saying the same thing, that I needed to follow my passion.

Ultimately when contemplating this advice I came to the conclusion that my passion was sport, and that lead to me deciding to enroll at Brock and pursue a career in sport.

Fast forward to the current day and I couldn't be happier with my decision.

I have completed my degree in Sports Management, secured my first job working with a professional hockey team in hockey operations (I get to go to a hockey rink to work everyday :D), I am going to be marrying the girl that I wasn't sure if a long distance relationship would work out with in the summer and have meet a whole bunch of great new people in the process.

With all that in mind I think I can relate quite well to the the decision you are contemplating and I realize that is is not an easy one to make but my advice to you is the same as I was given to follow your passion, you will be happier for it.:tu

Thanks buddy. Your story helped a lot. I haven't brought it up to my Pops yet, but when I mentioned it to my mother she mentioned that she "wont tell me no, because it's my life and my choice, and if it's what I want to do; great." But she will incite me to consider the consequences of money and distance, stuff like that.

The next step is bringing it up to my brother, who is more or less my best friend, and getting his thoughts.

[sevans105]

Ethan,

Go where the good program is. Financial aid exists for a reason. Consider it an investment in ETHAN.

[longknocker]

Go With A Field You Enjoy & Research The Current & Future Job Opportunities In That Particular Field. Definitely Go Where You Want To!:tu My Son Had A Tennis Scholarship For All 4 Years At A Local College, But Always Wanted To Attend Alabama. He's Glad He Did!:D GL & Keep Us Informed!:tu

[Taki]

Ethan,

Go where the good program is. Financial aid exists for a reason. Consider it an investment in ETHAN.

+1 Great advice above....go and do it brotehr :tu

[tengel78]

I agree with everyone else. Pursue your passion. This will probably be the easiest time in your life to do it and you won't regret it.

[Blak Smyth]

Do whatever will improve your future. I spent too much time "living in the now" when I was growing up and not enough time focusing on my future. This is the best advice I can give.

[mase]

You'll never regret investing time improving yourself. Going away to college was the best thing I ever did. You'll meet and live with a ton of interesting people from various backgrounds. This will expand your way of thinking and you'll be a much more informed person. Plus, it's a ton of fun.

Most of my current friends are those people I went to college with. I rarely talk with people from high school. I wouldn't worry about losing your current crop of friends. Go. Challenge yourself and you'll discover many new things about yourself.

[goomer]

Sounds to me like you have a high quality problem. You have the option of leaving the area, expanding your experiences and maturing more as a person. Or you can stay home. You have the option of many schools all of which will charge no tuition or very low tuition. It's time to put some big boy britches on and make the move. I don't mean to sound harsh but it seems like an outstanding opportunity. As far as which school to go to, look up how their history program rates compared to other schools and how many of their history grads get jobs. Also check out how many are accepted into advanced degree programs at good schools. You may decide to go ahead and get your masters or doctorate. Picking the right school now may give you better options later. Either way you go, consider yourself lucky to have the options.

[hammondc]

Hey bro. I can relate to the moving away situation. I went to college in my hometown (Rock Hill, SC) and the company I work for is in near the same town. I applied and was hired for a manufacturer's rep position in South Texas and transferred.

My family and my wife's family are all in our hometown. We caught a lot of grief for moving away, but most of it was from folks being selfish about their relationship with us. It is definitely harder for the people moving away as you have to find new places and new friends. It is lonely for a bit, but everything falls into place.

4 years later and there is no way in hell I would move back. I'd like to be close enough to drive (instead of the 18hrs away we are now) but not right back in hometown. Coming from me (and I do not know you at all) I'd say do what is best for you. If you want to move for college, do it. You may come to regret it if you do not.

(actually a guy I work with is from Rochester. He is in Phoenix right now.)

[MurphysLaw]

I went away to college when I got my first degree, and it was a great experience (I'm sure my wife wouldve frowned upon me going away while getting my current degree :D). I highly recommend stepping out of your comfort zone and just going for it. If you have the chance to visit the schools first, do it, you'll get a feel of the school and if it's the place for you.

[kaisersozei]

If you're looking for advice on particular colleges/programs in the SE, post up your selections and we can weigh in with opinions. My oldest graduated from Radford in May, and I have two high-school seniors that will be attending college in either VA or NC next year.

[chachee52]

I have had similar problems in the past. some of which I don't regret what i did, and another I regret a lot of not jumping on it.
when I first started college I thought I wanted Physical Therapy. I started at a very good school, well known (I'll leave the name out), and has a great rep in the field. When I got there, it wasn't the school for me. I was having trouble and went to my advisors and they told me "just go into the tests (mid terms/finals) and know that you will probably fail and we'll figure something out after" (I'm not joking, that's actually what they said). At that time I was really sure i didn't want to be at this school, but had done some work in the field and PT was what I wanted. So I transfered and found a school that I really liked.
So for that part of picking schools, make sure you feel comfortable at the school you pick. I think that I picked the first school because of it's reputation and not what I wanted out of the school. So if you can find an Alumni group if you can't see the school in person. Talk to people about the school and find out what they really think about the school.
The second story that I regret is after school I wanted to head to Alaska to live for a year or two. There were tons of jobs (and they paid great). My nephew, who I was also very close to, was young I think maybe in Jr High and I consider myself as a father figure to him at the time. When I went to talk to him he asked me not to go. So I didn't because of him. Now I am married, have a house (which I don't regret either), but have never lived in Alaska. My nephew is off doing his own thing and I don't see him much. I very much so regret getting away from "home" and not seeing Alaska.
So follow your heart and do what YOU want/need to do. And good luck. It's a tough descion

[shilala]

I'm with everyone else in "spreading your wings", Ethan.
Don't be too quick to dismiss the "religious" schools. My stepson is currently going to a prep school that's very strong on faith, but it's all faiths. It's very open religion-wise and teaches the kids to respect each other's religions, and he's getting a great respect for the moralities that all faiths provide. He really hasn't picked up a faith or religion or anything for himself yet, but none of it bothers him at all. It's actually done just the opposite, it's made him want to learn about the religions to see what they're about.
It's definately had a positive impact on him. I don't know if he'll come out of it all with anything for himself aside from knowledge of the ideals of the different faiths, but as his step-parent, and someone who loves him very much, and someone who knows how these ideals will give him peace and confidence as he moves out to college and beyond, I couldn't be more pleased.
If the schools are going to hold you down and tattoo you and staple a hat on your head, I'd definately lean away. But don't discount them directly on religious affiliation, look at their numbers, placement, ratings, etc. Pick the best school.
You'll do great. Take this to Dad, too. I'm sure he's got great input for you. :tu

[Flounder]

Take this to Dad, too. I'm sure he's got great input for you. :tu

Oh, I know. Just harder there because I am closer with him than my Mom, so it'll make that conversation difficult.

[ChicagoWhiteSox]

You have to do what's best for you and your career. Choose the best school you can get into. If that means going across country, then do so. Get the best GPA you can. Network, get to know your professors, intern, and do whatever you can to prepare yourself for when you do graduate. While I do agree with everyone saying that you should pursue your passion, you do however have to take into consideration the job market of whatever you choose to do. Face it, the economy is very sh!tty right, so make sure you think long and hard about your future:2 Hope this helps a bit.

[Flounder]

Well, this just in:

At a career fair on campus today I learned that my Multidisciplinary Degree is more versatile than a History BA would be.. So there's no sense in me leaving. Maybe I just go south for my Masters if I choose to get it...

[forgop]

Pursue whatever it is that you're passionate about. Don't do something to appease others or you'll be looking back at this 20-30 years from now with regret. You only get one shot at your time on this earth, so why spend it doing something you don't like?