I agree that "do what you enjoy" doesn't always mean "do what you enjoy most." But I think a lot more people could do choice A or B if they really wanted to. And I know several people who regret what they studied in school (choice Z) because they don't like doing it in "real life."
I know an author and an painter (as in paintings, not houses). The author was laid off and decided that he'd try writing since that's what he always wanted to do. The painter quit his "awful" day job to try something he loved, but didn't feel was practical. Both felt inspired even as the idea of not having a "job" scared them spitless. Life is still tough for both of them, but they are starting to find success (and money). I have another friend who makes maps for a living -- talk about a job that isn't in high demand -- but she loves it. I pity the recent (2000+ era) CS grads who don't like programming, but thought that being a CS major would hand them an easy high-paying job. My sister (also CS) told me that one of her professors once asked the class how many people there enjoyed programming. Only half raised their hands. Now the other half is struggling to find a job to do something they don't like. There are thousands of Post Office workers who support their families just fine. And Hyrum, you could still do programming on the side (which you are anyway, I noticed :-). --Dan On Thu, 09 Oct 2003 18:34:11 -0600, "Hyrum Wright" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > On Thu, 2003-10-09 at 16:20, Andrew Jorgensen wrote: > > Shaun Ladewig wrote: > > > > >>I'll just put a plug in for physics and astronomy here. > > > > > > Hey, I'm with you!! Everyone should be in the "one true major". > > > > I really have to disagree (not with you personally). I think you should > > major in what you're interested in doing for a living. I don't mean to > > offend anyone but if you want to be an IT professional, major in IT. If > > you want to be a Computer Scientist (or, by extension, a developer; > > hopefully someday there will be a software engineering degree at BYU) > > major in CS. If you want to be a Technical Manager (PHB) major in MIS. > > I'm with you there, but at the same time, it is important to study > something and be prepared to do something that will help support your > family. I also think, being BYU and all, we should be educating > ourselves to help the Gospel grow. In all seriousness, I would love to > be a postman, you know the kind that walk door-to-door in the same > neighborhood for years and just gets to be outside, not in a cube. > > But frankly, I don't think that I can do a lot of good that way. No > offense to postmen/postwomen, because we need them. I just don't think > that that is the best thing to prepare myself to do as a profession. I > think the fact that most of us attend BYU (or a similar institution of > higher learning) demonstrates the fact that we can make a different in > the world, and the Church. That's what the Perpetual Education Fund is > helping people in developing countries do. > > With that in mind, it doesn't really do a lot of good if I'm studying > Computer Science (which I throughly enjoy, btw), and, when I graduate, I > can't get a job working in that field, for one of any number of > reasons. If I get a job elsewhere, I'm not doing what I love, and maybe > should have studied something else in the first place, because I'm not > able to do what I love anyway. Or, I may simply not have a job at all, > and then I become a burden to my family, the Church, and the community, > which is quite the opposite of the goal to "go forth to serve." > > In short, I'm all about studying what I love, and encouraging others to > do the same, but there is a balance to be struck, and not everybody will > be able to do what they would most like to do for a living. Some people > will get choice A, a whole lot of people will get choice B, and, > unfortunately, some people will be stuck doing choice Z. That's just > the way life is. > > Anyway, I'm going to get off the soap box now, and head to a UUG > meeting...oh, wait, it got canceled...something about parking and > traffic...guess I'll have to go watch jocks in spandex knock each other > senseless. > > -Hyrum > > -- > Need an Open Source Genealogy tool? Help write one! > http://openancestry.sourceforge.net/ > ____________________ BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
