I was a French major. Then, for years, a journalist. Am now a media relations manager. It's been a great ride.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want my kids to launch successfully. They should have a well paying job, in an area that interests and challenges them.

We have put in the effort with them in academics and EC. We have given them good morals and values. They also have a responsibility to do for their kids what we have done for them. They have to provide for their families and be good citizens. A big part of it is to be employable at more than minimum wages.

This sounds too much to me like you have struck a bargain with them and it is up to them to hold up their side of the deal.

For example, "Mom and Dad, I want to be a teacher. I probably won't make much money, but I think I can do well and make a difference for kids."

"Son/Daughter, we have invested a lot of time in your education and extracurricular activities, and being a teacher simply will not pay us back for that time. If you have kids, you will not be able to afford as large of a house as you were raised in. So no, you cannot be a teacher."

Are you saying that teachers cannot make a living and provide for their families? Another DCUM snob lacking reading comprehension! Where in my post have I said that they have to pay us back? Or they have to have a big house? Perhaps that's your expectation with your kids, certainly not mine.

A teacher would be a perfectly suitable profession and I would make sure that they take all the courses and classes that is required to become a teacher.

Anonymous wrote:I want my kids to launch successfully. They should have a well paying job, in an area that interests and challenges them.

We have put in the effort with them in academics and EC. We have given them good morals and values. They also have a responsibility to do for their kids what we have done for them. They have to provide for their families and be good citizens. A big part of it is to be employable at more than minimum wages.

This sounds too much to me like you have struck a bargain with them and it is up to them to hold up their side of the deal.

For example, "Mom and Dad, I want to be a teacher. I probably won't make much money, but I think I can do well and make a difference for kids."

"Son/Daughter, we have invested a lot of time in your education and extracurricular activities, and being a teacher simply will not pay us back for that time. If you have kids, you will not be able to afford as large of a house as you were raised in. So no, you cannot be a teacher."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 23 and was a theatre major. I'm sure most of you here would think that's ridiculous. But in the year since I've graduated I've been very successfully employed within my field. I will probably never be very wealthy, but I will be happy. I was also willing to work my butt off in school to be sure I was prepared, and now work my butt off to ensure a successful career. I wouldn't have been nearly as willing to put in that effort to study something "safe" that I hated. I have plenty of friends who caved in to their parents wishes that they study something profitable but have been floundering since graduation because they can't bear to actually face a career in this thing they have no interest in.

Good for you! I'm 40 with a fine arts degree, making a living doing something totally unrelated, but stable and well-paying enough to keep my family comfortable. I am not the least bit sorry about my art degree. The gallery game wasn't for me, though. I worked my butt off after college to make sure I could make a living OUTSIDE my studied field, and my art is still there.

Wanted to add that I made sure my not-formally-studied-for career was something I loved and cared about as much as art. I'm happy to say it is.

Anonymous wrote:I'm 23 and was a theatre major. I'm sure most of you here would think that's ridiculous. But in the year since I've graduated I've been very successfully employed within my field. I will probably never be very wealthy, but I will be happy. I was also willing to work my butt off in school to be sure I was prepared, and now work my butt off to ensure a successful career. I wouldn't have been nearly as willing to put in that effort to study something "safe" that I hated. I have plenty of friends who caved in to their parents wishes that they study something profitable but have been floundering since graduation because they can't bear to actually face a career in this thing they have no interest in.

Good for you! I'm 40 with a fine arts degree, making a living doing something totally unrelated, but stable and well-paying enough to keep my family comfortable. I am not the least bit sorry about my art degree. The gallery game wasn't for me, though. I worked my butt off after college to make sure I could make a living OUTSIDE my studied field, and my art is still there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS IS AN English major. Essentially unemployed for 3+ years now. I wish I had been more involved in steering him away from English as a major.

His unemployment has nothing to do with his major, and everything to do with not having thought about or knowing what his goals were during college. THAT'S where you should have been more involved.

It has everything to do with his major.

Not for 3 years+ (see original post above…). I hate to say it, but anyone who has not gotten a job for 3 years after graduating college has larger problems than simply the choice of major…if nothing else I would have thought that he would have considered returning to school to further his studies. That's a really long time to not be doing anything worthwhile and, frankly, at this point I would think his only hope in getting a decent job would be to return to school. I'm not sure many companies would want to hire someone who hasn't done anything for 3+ years…Good luck to your DS in getting it all straight!

The notion that everyone “needs” to work or “should” work in antiquated. There is a nascent movement, which will take hold within our children’s adult lives, that we can eliminate the “need” for everyone to work by automating everything that can be automated. We can start by eliminating "busy work" jobs.

Industrial society has driven down the cost of production through two things: exploitation of cheap overseas labor, and mechanization and automation. Mechanization has vastly reduced the need for labor. More could be done to continue this trend, but historically it has been opposed by unions because it puts people out of work. In Japan where there is a labor shortage and aging population they automate everything that can be automated. Any remaining jobs should be divided up between everyone who wants to work, reducing the hours of all jobs until all those who want to work have the working hours that they want.

We need to change how society thinks about people who do not work. Stop resenting them, stop begrudging them any small luxuries that they may have. Every adult citizen would receive a salary, paid to them by the government, of enough to cover basic living costs. It would perhaps be set at a level that would cover one person living in a shared house or a couple living together.

This sounds very "far out" but it is the future - there just isn't so much work that everyone needs to work.

I want my kids to launch successfully. They should have a well paying job, in an area that interests and challenges them.

We have put in the effort with them in academics and EC. We have given them good morals and values. They also have a responsibility to do for their kids what we have done for them. They have to provide for their families and be good citizens. A big part of it is to be employable at more than minimum wages.

Anonymous wrote:I'm 23 and was a theatre major. I'm sure most of you here would think that's ridiculous. But in the year since I've graduated I've been very successfully employed within my field. I will probably never be very wealthy, but I will be happy. I was also willing to work my butt off in school to be sure I was prepared, and now work my butt off to ensure a successful career. I wouldn't have been nearly as willing to put in that effort to study something "safe" that I hated. I have plenty of friends who caved in to their parents wishes that they study something profitable but have been floundering since graduation because they can't bear to actually face a career in this thing they have no interest in.

All majors are not the same. If college isn't going to help you get a job it probably isn't necessary - just pursue your passion without college.

While I understood it was difficult to find a job in his profession, he/she sure as hell got a job. An adult takes care of themselves. The thought of not working never occurred to my kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS IS AN English major. Essentially unemployed for 3+ years now. I wish I had been more involved in steering him away from English as a major.

His unemployment has nothing to do with his major, and everything to do with not having thought about or knowing what his goals were during college. THAT'S where you should have been more involved.

It has everything to do with his major.

No it doesn't. http://www.businessinsider.com/successful-people-with-english-majors-2013-5?op=1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS IS AN English major. Essentially unemployed for 3+ years now. I wish I had been more involved in steering him away from English as a major.

His unemployment has nothing to do with his major, and everything to do with not having thought about or knowing what his goals were during college. THAT'S where you should have been more involved.

It has everything to do with his major.

I'm 23 and was a theatre major. I'm sure most of you here would think that's ridiculous. But in the year since I've graduated I've been very successfully employed within my field. I will probably never be very wealthy, but I will be happy. I was also willing to work my butt off in school to be sure I was prepared, and now work my butt off to ensure a successful career. I wouldn't have been nearly as willing to put in that effort to study something "safe" that I hated. I have plenty of friends who caved in to their parents wishes that they study something profitable but have been floundering since graduation because they can't bear to actually face a career in this thing they have no interest in.

You "have insights that hope ensure?" Do tell what those insights are. Sure, I hope my kids have jobs, and I assume they will at some point. I don't know any parents of my college senior's friends that are hoping for their child to be unemployed.