Anonymous wrote:Immigrant engineer with two(!) English majors. The eldest spent several years bringing coffee to the editors and reading slush at a big publishing firm, thought long and hard about going to law school, and then got recruited to be an editor at a different imprint. They are now living a glamorous (to me) life with benefit and award dinners, international work travel and friends reviewed in the NYT. The baby just started grad school and is living the best life a 23-year-old could have on a $50k stipend without a trust fund.
DH and I are two scientists, and our oldest is majoring in international affairs. Sigh. Our rule is to let the kids do what they love. Otherwise they're going to be miserable. But we did also tell them the passion jobs rarely pay as well as the others.