Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's off to run we go! A new and improved Teetz running Journal

[SarahDisney]

Like you said, this is your decision, but I just wanted to share a thought based on my own life.
I graduated college about 10 years ago with a degree in biology and thoughts of working in healthcare. 3 or 4 potential careers later ... I'm hoping I've finally found something that's going to stick. Something that has nothing to do with my 3 degrees (well, only two of them actually count, one was an AA I got with my BA) or any classes that I took before January 2017.

Picking a major is really tough, even if you know what you want to do, balance what you want with what's best for you in other areas (like financially).
If you can find a way to make architecture work, that's awesome. But if for some reason you can't ... that doesn't mean you're giving up your dream. Maybe you can do some graduate work in architecture or come back and get another degree in a few years. My sister started taking bio classes in her last year of college, stopped because she was struggling, and then 10 years later took the classes she had never taken and applied to optometry school. This isn't really the ideal situation, but if you decided that the responsible thing for you to do is give up architecture ... you're not giving up on your dream, you're just delaying it a bit.

Good luck making an impossible decision.

 

[rteetz]

Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. Nothing good ever comes easily. You'll know what decisions will be best for you. Architecture is pretty time consuming. An older sister of mine did it and at that time most of the people in her cohort weren't able to work with the time required in studio and classes. It is a really cool major though. I can't imagine you struggling socially. You're Dis-famous! Doesn't everyone up that way know that?! This site may have been your escape but you help an awful lot of people here be it planning trips, keeping us all up to date on news and rumors, or all things runDisney. So thank you for that. Good luck, you'll figure out how to get what you want.

I can’t afford school if I don’t work and I definitely can’t afford going to Disney without working. Architecture isn’t a cheap major either with all the supplies I’ve had to buy.

I’m a lot more social here than in real life thank you for the kind words.

 

[Capang]

@SarahDisney you nailed it. It is so common anymore to take the long way, if you will, to getting to where you need to be. It doesn't mean you're not getting there, you're just making your own path there. And it's so much more rewarding when you finally get there.

 

[Capang]

I can’t afford school if I don’t work and I definitely can’t afford going to Disney without working. Architecture isn’t a cheap major either with all the supplies I’ve had to buy.

I’m a lot more social here than in real life thank you for the kind words.

Any time. But keep your head up. There are so many ways to get to where you want to be, even if that isn't so apparent yet.

 

[rteetz]

Like you said, this is your decision, but I just wanted to share a thought based on my own life.
I graduated college about 10 years ago with a degree in biology and thoughts of working in healthcare. 3 or 4 potential careers later ... I'm hoping I've finally found something that's going to stick. Something that has nothing to do with my 3 degrees (well, only two of them actually count, one was an AA I got with my BA) or any classes that I took before January 2017.

Picking a major is really tough, even if you know what you want to do, balance what you want with what's best for you in other areas (like financially).
If you can find a way to make architecture work, that's awesome. But if for some reason you can't ... that doesn't mean you're giving up your dream. Maybe you can do some graduate work in architecture or come back and get another degree in a few years. My sister started taking bio classes in her last year of college, stopped because she was struggling, and then 10 years later took the classes she had never taken and applied to optometry school. This isn't really the ideal situation, but if you decided that the responsible thing for you to do is give up architecture ... you're not giving up on your dream, you're just delaying it a bit.

Good luck making an impossible decision.

Thank you! Everyone has their own story of course but hearing others definitely makes me feel like I’m not alone in all of this.

 

[rteetz]

@SarahDisney you nailed it. It is so common anymore to take the long way, if you will, to getting to where you need to be. It doesn't mean you're not getting there, you're just making your own path there. And it's so much more rewarding when you finally get there.

I think there is a societal problem in here. Going into college many people think they have it all figured out (including myself) and that you will graduate in four years no problem. Then reality hits and you take 5 or more years and go through a few majors.

 

[Capang]

I think there is a societal problem in here. Going into college many people think they have it all figured out (including myself) and that you will graduate in four years no problem. Then reality hits and you take 5 or more years and go through a few majors.

My major took me 5 years. Then I was forced to get a MEd. 3 more years. But my program (school counseling/agency counseling) was a doctoral level program with only a master's degree because the state dept of education decided they wouldn't pay employees for a doctoral degree. Now I don't even use that degree. My best friend went to 7 colleges. 7!!! He basically covered most of the major universities on Ohio. Doesn't really use the degree. My husband? No college. Makes more than me or any of my friends. I don't know anyone making it out of college in 4 years now. Either way, you will forge a path forward to where you want to be. Societal problems, for sure.

 

[rteetz]

My major took me 5 years. Then I was forced to get a MEd. 3 more years. But my program (school counseling/agency counseling) was a doctoral level program with only a master's degree because the state dept of education decided they wouldn't pay employees for a doctoral degree. Now I don't even use that degree. My best friend went to 7 colleges. 7!!! He basically covered most of the major universities on Ohio. Doesn't really use the degree. My husband? No college. Makes more than me or any of my friends. I don't know anyone making it out of college in 4 years now. Either way, you will forge a path forward to where you want to be. Societal problems, for sure.

That is the first I’ve heard of anyone going to more than 3 schools! It’s interesting to see these stories. My dad went to two schools and never even finished after 3.5 years just decided to be done and start working full time.

 

[Capang]

That is the first I’ve heard of anyone going to more than 3 schools! It’s interesting to see these stories. My dad went to two schools and never even finished after 3.5 years just decided to be done and start working full time.

Another friend of mine did 4 schools and didnt graduate. He dropped out with 2 finals left before graduation. Crazy. But he's done well for himself. You will be ok, too. That is always tough to see while you're in the middle of it though.

 

[lhermiston]

I'll tell you a couple stories and hopefully they make you feel better about where you're at right now. Not that you should feel bad, mind you. Life has no instruction manual.

First, my mom went to college before I was born, couldn't decide on what she wanted to do and left after two years. There was no sense in her staying in school, spending money, if she didn't know what to do with her education. So, she left school, married my dad, had me got a job. One of her jobs ended up paying for her to go back to school and several years later, she got her degree. A couple hours after that, my brother was born (no kidding). She now has her masters and is way more successful than I could EVER hope to be.

Now me. I took an aptitude test in high school that said I should be a doctor. Okay, cool. So, I went to the University of Iowa to major in physics on the pre-med track. First semester, took calculus and anatomy classes, passed them both, but they were freaking tough and I decided to drop physics/pre-med. Tried history with a plan to be a teacher. My first history class - which I'd always done great at - was not awesome. Okay, let's try computer science. Same thing.

Finally, like two weeks into maybe my junior year, I was in a math class related to computer science and I just walked out and went straight to academic advising. Give me something to try. What about journalism, they said. Okay, cool, let's try it. Got into a class and really liked the professor. Problem was to get a degree in journalism, you had to get into the school of journalism and my grades at that point ... were not stellar. First attempt, rejection. Second attempt next year, semester, whatever, rejection.

But wait, it gets better! Two weeks after I turned 22, my girlfriend told me she was pregnant. So, now the pressure is really on. I'd taken as many journalism and writing classes as possible without getting into the j-school because I knew I had to get a degree in SOMETHING so I could provide for my family (did I mention she was pregnant with twins?). Third attempt. Accepted. I graduated from UI a couple weeks after my daughters turned six months.

Here's something you might not know about journalism, though: the pay SUCKS. So, for years, we were dirty poor. Literally below the poverty line. Just clawing our way through life (with help from our parents, thankfully), just to get by. Eventually, she finished school, I got a raise here and there and little by little, we improved our station in life. Along the way, I won a ton of journalism awards, was named (with my colleague) the top investigative reporter in Iowa in 2009, married my girlfriend got a new job that paid even better, bought a house, had a third kid, ran the Disney World Marathon, etc.

Tomorrow, I'm ending my career in journalism after 12 years and going back to UI to work in strategic communication (fancy talk for Public Relations). I'll have an office and sweet benefits and life is looking pretty great compared to when I started.

TMI? Maybe. The point? I never in a million years would have expected this - not when I started college, not when I was changing majors, not when my girlfriend got pregnant, not when we struggled FOR YEARS. Plans change. Goals change. What you want out of life changes. And life isn't just a matter of going from Point A to Point B.

You seem to me like a bright guy and a real good dude. Keep at it, man. You're going to do just fine and some day you'll look back and realize this wasn't the path you had planned for yourself, but it turned out to be a pretty darn good one anyway.

Good luck, pal.

 

[rteetz]

I'll tell you a couple stories and hopefully they make you feel better about where you're at right now. Not that you should feel bad, mind you. Life has no instruction manual.

First, my mom went to college before I was born, couldn't decide on what she wanted to do and left after two years. There was no sense in her staying in school, spending money, if she didn't know what to do with her education. So, she left school, married my dad, had me got a job. One of her jobs ended up paying for her to go back to school and several years later, she got her degree. A couple hours after that, my brother was born (no kidding). She now has her masters and is way more successful than I could EVER hope to be.

Now me. I took an aptitude test in high school that said I should be a doctor. Okay, cool. So, I went to the University of Iowa to major in physics on the pre-med track. First semester, took calculus and anatomy classes, passed them both, but they were freaking tough and I decided to drop physics/pre-med. Tried history with a plan to be a teacher. My first history class - which I'd always done great at - was not awesome. Okay, let's try computer science. Same thing.

Finally, like two weeks into maybe my junior year, I was in a math class related to computer science and I just walked out and went straight to academic advising. Give me something to try. What about journalism, they said. Okay, cool, let's try it. Got into a class and really liked the professor. Problem was to get a degree in journalism, you had to get into the school of journalism and my grades at that point ... were not stellar. First attempt, rejection. Second attempt next year, semester, whatever, rejection.

But wait, it gets better! Two weeks after I turned 22, my girlfriend told me she was pregnant. So, now the pressure is really on. I'd taken as many journalism and writing classes as possible without getting into the j-school because I knew I had to get a degree in SOMETHING so I could provide for my family (did I mention she was pregnant with twins?). Third attempt. Accepted. I graduated from UI a couple weeks after my daughters turned six months.

Here's something you might not know about journalism, though: the pay SUCKS. So, for years, we were dirty poor. Literally below the poverty line. Just clawing our way through life (with help from our parents, thankfully), just to get by. Eventually, she finished school, I got a raise here and there and little by little, we improved our station in life. Along the way, I won a ton of journalism awards, was named (with my colleague) the top investigative reporter in Iowa in 2009, married my girlfriend got a new job that paid even better, bought a house, had a third kid, ran the Disney World Marathon, etc.

Tomorrow, I'm ending my career in journalism after 12 years and going back to UI to work in strategic communication (fancy talk for Public Relations). I'll have an office and sweet benefits and life is looking pretty great compared to when I started.

TMI? Maybe. The point? I never in a million years would have expected this - not when I started college, not when I was changing majors, not when my girlfriend got pregnant, not when we struggled FOR YEARS. Plans change. Goals change. What you want out of life changes. And life isn't just a matter of going from Point A to Point B.

You seem to me like a bright guy and a real good dude. Keep at it, man. You're going to do just fine and some day you'll look back and realize this wasn't the path you had planned for yourself, but it turned out to be a pretty darn good one anyway.

Good luck, pal.

Thank you!

I have heard about the struggles of journalism as that was one of the 3 majors so far.

 

[lhermiston]

Thank you!

I have heard about the struggles of journalism as that wa some of 3 majors so far.

It's not always easy, but it's been fun and rewarding in its own way.

 

[Keels]

Adulting sucks, but just follow your gut and you'll make the right decision.

I wanted to major in theatrical management, and even got accepted and a scholarship to SUNY-Purchase. But my parents said #NOPE, I needed to major in a real career, so my fallback was to play golf at UF and study Economics. I ended up transferring to Rollins here in Orlando where I (still) played golf and (still) studied Economics ... I even got an MA in Economics. SO. MUCH. ECONOMICS.

All this time, I was working as a sports journalist on the desk at the Orlando Sentinel. I created a web platform and application that helped simplify and automate the high school box score process (so, back in the day, coaches would have to call in to give the score and stats, and newspapers would use an old-school program similar to straight-line HTML to create the type for the box scores, we'd then print them out and have to cut and paste them together on the print floor to create the agate page - this was all before pagination, and good GOD I sound super old just typing this all out SOMEONE BRING ME A PICA POLE AND A PROPORTION WHEEL), and I ended up being able to "sell" that to the rest of the papers in the Tribune chain and eventually got me to Texas where I spent another eight years in various roles as a sports journalist, mostly in graphic design and digital space.

After that, I went to work for NASCAR for a while, and then I was Director of Analysis for a major management consulting firm. And now, I'm just getting ready for my next career as PowerBall winner.

At the end of last year, I finished developing a scheduling automation platform and application process geared to help charities that offer group work efforts (ie. Habitat for Humanity) fill empty slots with individuals who WANT to assist in community service events, but don't have a large group to join with. This week, I've worked on rolling it out to a couple of local-level charities as beta testers. But anyway, I digress.

The morale of the story IS - it doesn't matter what your degree is in. A degree is a degree is a degree. You're not going to be an Imagineer straight out of college ... many of my Imagineer friends spent over a decade working in different capacities in different fields giving them the overall base of knowledge that they needed to become an Imagineer. Nobody doing any hiring out of college is going to turn down a motivated employee with a business degree, a solid work ethic and vision on what they would like their career to entail.

 

[Keels]

Also, I vote you do Goofy because all the cool kids are doing Goofy. And it will give you enough time and energy to DATW - "water" and "soda" and "juice", only though!

 

[rteetz]

Adulting sucks, but just follow your gut and you'll make the right decision.

I wanted to major in theatrical management, and even got accepted and a scholarship to SUNY-Purchase. But my parents said #NOPE, I needed to major in a real career, so my fallback was to play golf at UF and study Economics. I ended up transferring to Rollins here in Orlando where I (still) played golf and (still) studied Economics ... I even got an MA in Economics. SO. MUCH. ECONOMICS.

All this time, I was working as a sports journalist on the desk at the Orlando Sentinel. I created a web platform and application that helped simplify and automate the high school box score process (so, back in the day, coaches would have to call in to give the score and stats, and newspapers would use an old-school program similar to straight-line HTML to create the type for the box scores, we'd then print them out and have to cut and paste them together on the print floor to create the agate page - this was all before pagination, and good GOD I sound super old just typing this all out SOMEONE BRING ME A PICA POLE AND A PROPORTION WHEEL), and I ended up being able to "sell" that to the rest of the papers in the Tribune chain and eventually got me to Texas where I spent another eight years in various roles as a sports journalist, mostly in graphic design and digital space.

After that, I went to work for NASCAR for a while, and then I was Director of Analysis for a major management consulting firm. And now, I'm just getting ready for my next career as PowerBall winner.

At the end of last year, I finished developing a scheduling automation platform and application process geared to help charities that offer group work efforts (ie. Habitat for Humanity) fill empty slots with individuals who WANT to assist in community service events, but don't have a large group to join with. This week, I've worked on rolling it out to a couple of local-level charities as beta testers. But anyway, I digress.

The morale of the story IS - it doesn't matter what your degree is in. A degree is a degree is a degree. You're not going to be an Imagineer straight out of college ... many of my Imagineer friends spent over a decade working in different capacities in different fields giving them the overall base of knowledge that they needed to become an Imagineer. Nobody doing any hiring out of college is going to turn down a motivated employee with a business degree, a solid work ethic and vision on what they would like their career to entail.

Thanks Keels!

 

[rteetz]

Also, I vote you do Goofy because all the cool kids are doing Goofy. And it will give you enough time and energy to DATW - "water" and "soda" and "juice", only though!

It might end up just Goofy. I’m still not sure. I don’t drink a lot of soda

 

[Jules76126]

I actually kind of a lost soul in college. I wanted to go to school in Florida so I did that freshman year and was pre-law. I struggled with being so far from home so I transferred after a year to a school in MA. I hated it. It was the complete opposite of the last school I attended. After a semester, I decided to do the CP to figure stuff out. I then transferred to a third school and was a history major as they did not have pre-law. I some how graduated in 3.5 years, thanks to AP credits and summer classes. After graduation, I decided not to spend the money on law school and floated for a while, got my teaching license for high school, and then decided to go to grad school in London. Graduated and applied to PhD programs while working a corporate job, because yeah money. Ultimately, didn't do the PhD, but got a job in college admissions which I really like. So I took a very long route to figure things out as well. I may still do a PhD at some point, as there is always time. But believe me, I totally get where you are coming from, and it does work out. Just make sure you do what you want and what works best for your life.

 

[rteetz]

I actually kind of a lost soul in college. I wanted to go to school in Florida so I did that freshman year and was pre-law. I struggled with being so far from home so a transferred after a year to a school in MA. I hated it. It was the complete opposite of the last school I attended. After a semester, I decided to do the CP to figure stuff out. I then transferred to a third school and was a history major as they did not have pre-law. I some how graduated in 3.5 years, thanks to AP credits and summer classes. After graduation, I decided not to spend the money on law school and floated for a while, got my teaching license for high school, and then decided to go to grad school in London. Graduated and applied to PhD programs while working a corporate job, because yeah money. Ultimately, didn't do the PhD, but got a job in college admissions which I really like. So I took a very long route to figure things out as well. I may still do a PhD at some point, as there is always time. But believe me, I totally get where you are coming from, and it does work out. Just make sure you do what you want and what works best for your life.

Thanks!

 

[KSellers88]

I think the majority of people go into college having no idea what they want to actually do. I started out as a chemistry major, pre-pharmacy. Then I worked at CVS Pharmacy for one year as a Pharmacy Technician and absolutely hated it. Most customers were so rude, the hours were horrible, and I just didn't want to spend so many years of my life getting a degree to be miserable when I graduated. So I switched to early childhood education. Same story, different major. I volunteered at an elementary school and quickly changed my major to business administration. I'll just say teachers are not paid nearly enough for what they deal with on a daily basis. Business administration wasn't really a passion, but it seemed to fit and I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to do, so I got my Bachelors, started working at an amazing company that paid for me to get my MBA and now I am slowly working my way up in the company. I still say I don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but I definitely plan to retire from this company unless I will the lottery or something.

Only you know what is best for your life, and sometimes things work out even when you don't see the plan or expect them to. That is basically what happened to me.

 

[rteetz]

I'll just say teachers are not paid nearly enough for what they deal with on a daily basis.

Amen, my mom, grandpa, aunt, uncle, and cousin are teachers.

Only you know what is best for your life, and sometimes things work out even when you don't see the plan or expect them to. That is basically what happened to me.

Thanks! I know I will figure it out just hitting a rough patch right now.