# What did you study in college?



## BookTenTiger (Apr 17, 2022)

I love it when a poster suddenly breaks out some deep knowledge about economics or philosophy or apple growing, and backs it up with a college degree. It demonstrates to me how our hobby is just one part of everyone's lives, and everyone on here has many other fields of expertise.

So if you went to college, what did you study? Did you enjoy it? Do you use the knowledge or degree?

If you want to go to college (either back or for the first time), what do you want to study?

Let's make sure to keep this discussion respectful and not lay any judgment on folks' degrees, college experiences, or choices to go or not to go to college.


----------



## BookTenTiger (Apr 17, 2022)

I got my undergraduate degree at University of California Santa Cruz. Go Banana Slugs!

I got a major in Modern Literature and a minor in Education.

I loved going to UCSC. The school is spread out in the forested hills above the seaside town of Santa Cruz. To walk to class I'd pass through redwood forests and past bluffs looking over the sea.

Studying Literature was perfect for me, a shy kid who loved to read. I really got to learn a new way of experiencing media, and I feel like studying Literature actually helps me understand the way people communicate and express themselves through speech, writing, and art.

I went on to get my teaching credential from Sonoma State University, a state school about two hours north of San Francisco. My experience there wasn't as great. All of California was in a budget crisis, and so the school was shortening classes, canceling classes, and trying to get as many students through as quickly as possible. I honestly didn't feel prepared to be a teacher my first year, and the learning process was painful and traumatic. But I survived and am still teaching 10 years later!


----------



## monsmord (Apr 17, 2022)

My undergrad was music/composition. I'd hoped to score for film and stage. Aaaaaand, yeah, my parents advised me to stick with architecture, the original plan. Who knew parents knew stuff? When scoring didn't pan out immediately, I fell into computers, did that for decades, and now, middle-aged, I'm working on my fiction craft. I still harbour hopes of finishing my one-act opera after Poe, a song cycle on some weird fiction, et al. All my hobbies and interests keep colliding. Last week, I jotted some notes on a gaming musical!


----------



## DeviousQuail (Apr 17, 2022)

Econ with a minor in mathematics. I love working with data and I've been able to use what I learned in every job I've ever had with the exception of the last four years as a stay at home dad. That has been all willpower and learning to not feel weird about being the only dad in my parents group. 

I think the most enjoyable part of getting my degree was having to take all the courses required for my liberal arts degree. I loved my economics and math courses but college level courses on astronomy, history, writing, anthropology, etc just blow every high school class out of the water.


----------



## BookTenTiger (Apr 17, 2022)

DeviousQuail said:


> Econ with a minor in mathematics. I love working with data and I've been able to use what I learned in every job I've ever had with the exception of the last four years as a stay at home dad. That has been all willpower and learning to not feel weird about being the only dad in my parents group.
> 
> I think the most enjoyable part of getting my degree was having to take all the courses required for my liberal arts degree. I loved my economics and math courses but college level courses on astronomy, history, writing, anthropology, etc just blow every high school class out of the water.



I've spent this last year being a stay at home dad for my newborn!


----------



## Ryujin (Apr 17, 2022)

I always wanted to be a "scientist" which translated by my child's brain actually meant engineer. I had also considered Law, Design, and Technical Writing. Still do some of that stuff on the side, in various ways. As I was coming up on college age my parents split and my father was a deadbeat, so community college it was. (I later learned that he was never going to help out with post secondary education and I'd have been out the door on my 18th birthday anyway.)

I ended up taking Electronics Technology and graduated as a technologist. Unfortunately this was around the time when tech was starting to boom (early '80s) and everyone, and his brother was getting into computers as the "way to make it big." The classes were fully 50% larger than previous years, even after adding more. I often felt like I was teaching myself which was OK, because my high school electronics shop teacher had been a Canadian Navy electronics guy. He only started teaching after retiring and had us doing college level work, in grade 12. In first year a friend and I saved maybe half the class from failing a required course, by holding tutoring sessions between classes. The Statics and Dynamics instructor had been elected to cull the herd. 

In second year we went through 4 instructors for Basic Electronic Theory, in the fist month and a half, before a new guy was hired. When he started trying to explain to the class how a standard transistor circuit was a non-inverting amplifier, but couldn't make the math work (it's not), I knew that I had to do something; get out. I went to the course coordinator and petitioned for advanced standing. Even said I would take the final exam right then and there. Nope, the best he could do was give me leave to not attend class, except for test dates. I won the only bursary available to the course that year. Third year came and went, and I was in the top 3.

Did I enjoy it? Not really. It was a necessity if I was going to do anything like what I wanted to. The experience soured me a fair bit on standardized education, even if I currently work in a post secondary institution.


----------



## FitzTheRuke (Apr 17, 2022)

Well, right out of highschool I jumped in with both feet into an engineering program. I helped tutor other students in calculus in exchange for their notes from lectures, during which I often worked on my D&D campaigns. After a particularly boring hydraulics class, I started questioning why I wanted to do it. 

I've always been an artist with a gift for math - torn in two directions. Too much of a dreamer to pay attention in class, but good enough at tests to get by. I'm also terrible at doing what I'm told.

In the end, I bought a struggling Comic & Game store at the age of 19, and with no business experience whatsoever, I learned as I went and turned it around. 28 years later, I do well enough to support a family of four, five employees, and get to play D&D on weekends as part of my job. (Though not for the past two years. Business has been good during that time, but it's not near as much fun. A _lot_ of headaches, but it's hard to complain when compared to many jobs.) 

I'd say dropping out worked out fine for me. 

After "only" about 20 years, my mom stopped asking me when I'd get a "real" job!


----------



## TheLibrarian (Apr 17, 2022)

As an undergrad I double majored in History & Religion.  

Upon graduating, I was shocked to find that no one was hiring in those fields.  

I didn't get it so I doubled down and got a Masters in History.  

I still didn't get why folks weren't knocking down my door for my expertise upon graduating.

Then I got _another _Masters in Library and Information Science.  That was the ticket.  Now I'm rolling in money and have a harem of b!tches.  I'm a pretty big deal.   

More seriously... I think I always liked to help folks discover new things and better themselves through learning.  So becoming a librarian was a really good fit for me.  Currently I use those skills in a corporate setting which actually pays pretty well.


----------



## dragoner (Apr 17, 2022)

.


----------



## beancounter (Apr 17, 2022)

One guess...   

 Accounting


----------



## J.Quondam (Apr 17, 2022)

Wait... 
Was I supposed to _study_ in college?


----------



## Gnosistika (Apr 17, 2022)

I got my fine arts degree 24 years ago, I always wanted to be an artist. Then a year after I got my degree I went into teaching martial arts, then soon after ended up in the security cluster. Was a CPO for many years only to end up being a  project coordinator at a telecommunications company. Then about 10 years ago my team and I were retrenched and I fell back on teaching much needed specialised safety and selfdefence in the rural areas, then Covid happened. So now I am a house husband/consultant while my wife's career is skyrocketing. I still haven't produced any fine arts


----------



## BookTenTiger (Apr 17, 2022)

FitzTheRuke said:


> Well, right out of highschool I jumped in with both feet into an engineering program. I helped tutor other students in calculus in exchange for their notes from lectures, during which I often worked on my D&D campaigns. After a particularly boring hydraulics class, I started questioning why I wanted to do it.
> 
> I've always been an artist with a gift for math - torn in two directions. Too much of a dreamer to pay attention in class, but good enough at tests to get by. I'm also terrible at doing what I'm told.
> 
> ...



That's an awesome story. Where is your game store?


----------



## DeviousQuail (Apr 17, 2022)

BookTenTiger said:


> I've spent this last year being a stay at home dad for my newborn!



Nice. The growth from 1 to 2 is incredible. Enjoy it because once they learn how to say no things start to get tricky.


----------



## BookTenTiger (Apr 17, 2022)

I do want to go back to school and get Masters in Education. Then maybe in ten years get a PhD in Education. I am very interested in the research side of it.

Although it would also be fun to get a Master's in Literature... I love talking about books!


----------



## FitzTheRuke (Apr 17, 2022)

BookTenTiger said:


> That's an awesome story. Where is your game store?




Just outside of Vancouver, in Canada.

Hourglass Comics and Games

(Which is where you will find, that while I am very good at selling comics and an excellent DM, I have no skills whatsoever on designing and maintaining a website). Also, no interest, which might help if it were) otherwise.


----------



## Hex08 (Apr 17, 2022)

I went right to college after high school with no idea what I wanted to do, I chose my university because my girlfriend was going there. I majored in getting drunk and was eventually shown the door. I would go back on and off again but never completed a degree. Finally, in the mid-2000s I realized I was tired of sales and went back to school again. This time it was all online and I got my Bachelors in Network Administration I also almost completed a second degree in Network Security. While I never used my networking skills in a job I have spent time in Tech/IT fields but not currently.


----------



## billd91 (Apr 17, 2022)

Undergrad: Political Science (which at my college was called Government) and Mathematics
Graduate: Political Science (MA), Library and Information Studies (MLS)
So, of course, I've worked in medical records/claims software for the last 25 years...


----------



## Richards (Apr 17, 2022)

My undergraduate degree was in Mathematics at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.  It was originally going to be Mathematics Education with the thought of becoming a math teacher, but I was on a 4-year Air Force scholarship and during my freshman year the Air Force decided they were no longer going to award scholarships for Mathematic Education...I could either switch to a straight Math degree or pay my own way through college.  Suddenly straight Math seemed the way to go - I figured I could always pick up an education degree later on.  (Spoiler: I never did.)  But that worked out okay; I graduated, got commissioned, and spent the next 20 years in the ICBM career field: starting out as a missileer pulling alerts at Minot AFB ND and from there sticking to various jobs in the ICBM codes field.  When I retired, they converted my billet to civilian as I left and then hired me to replace myself.  I've been an Air Force civilian since 2007 and have enjoyed it.  (My first decision as a civilian: no more shaving my face!  I don't necessarily _want _a beard, but if that's the price I pay for not having to shave it's well worth it.)

I also, along the way, picked up a Master's in Business Administration, something I didn't really want and have never really used, but not getting a Master's as a Captain was a pretty good way at the time of not making Major and I didn't want to shoot myself in the foot.  And the Air Force paid for most of it, so all I had to do was attend the classes at night and during weekends and put in the work, so it would have been foolish for me not to have done it.

Johnathan


----------



## Ryujin (Apr 17, 2022)

J.Quondam said:


> Wait...
> Was I supposed to _study_ in college?



Yes, but _what_ was optional. For example the room immediately outside of our electronics lab was the secretarial course's typing classroom.


----------



## Cadence (Apr 17, 2022)

Started off double majoring in physics and math at UIUC.  After not making it to many of the huge lecture sections in physics during the first two semesters I switched to just math, although the grades were ok (in that physics way where a score well under 50% might still be a B).  Two years into my courses in the Ph.D.  program in math I saw a seminar in statistics and thought "wait, we can work on problems directly related to the real world?".  Not sure if I would have been able to pass the other qualifiers in math anyway, but didn't need to since I jumped ship to stats.  First job out was a tenure track job in stats, and have been plugging away at the holy trinity of teaching, research, and service ever since.  Not much influence on my ttrpging from it.  (If Gauss was a 3rd gen antediluvian then I'm 12th generation.  Even counting for dilution, this apple has fallen far from the tree.)


----------



## Arilyn (Apr 17, 2022)

I have a degree in General Studies, which was fun because it let you choose classes from a wide range of topics. I focussed a on English, sociology, history with a smattering of science. This degree then acted as a prerequisite for entering the teaching program at a UBC (University of British Columbia) satellite centre. I received my teaching degree and have spent many years teaching primary school, and working as teacher/principal at a small band school. I'm currently teaching adults. (Special Education Teacher Assistant and Community Support Worker).


----------



## TheAlkaizer (Apr 17, 2022)

In Quebec we have another school level between High School and college. I studied Computer Science for two years.

Then I did a bachelor composed of a minor in Video Game Studies and a major in English Literature. Following that, I got a second cycle specialized degree in Game Design.


----------



## Dannyalcatraz (Apr 17, 2022)

Undergrad: Trinity University (San Antonio)- Majored in Evonomics & Philosophy, with minors in Art/Art History, English, and Religion.  Came up 3 classes short of earning 2 BAs…and I dropped 3 classes in my 4 years.  The double BA would have been nice, but I dropped those classes for VERY good reasons and do not regret doing so.

Post-Grad: JD from UT Austin School of Law, MBA (Sports & Entertainment Marketing) from University of Dallas, certified in Mediation through UT Arlington.

…plus assorted other college-level classes I’ve taken just because.  I think I took some kind of class every summer from 3rd grade until I graduated from law school.  Some of that was to fill curriculum requirements, some for self-edification.  And of course, I still have to take continuing education courses to maintain my license.


----------



## Dannyalcatraz (Apr 17, 2022)

BookTenTiger said:


> Let's make sure to keep this discussion respectful and not lay any judgment on folks' degrees, college experiences, or choices to go or not to go to college.



Amen to that!

I’ll just say that the man who gave my Dad a Rolex for his med school graduation had a 3rd grade education and ran a VERY successful blue-collar business.  All legal work is worthy of respect.


----------



## Campbell (Apr 17, 2022)

Michigan Tech (1 year, did not graduate) - Computer Science
Art Institute of Colorado (2 years, did not graduate) - Film Production
United States Army (4 Years) Network Switching Systems Operator /Maintainer (Counted because of substantial technical training)
University of Colorado (3 years, graduated Sigma Cum Laude) - Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Concentration in Information Science)

I currently work as a Software Engineer


----------



## Ryujin (Apr 17, 2022)

TheAlkaizer said:


> In Quebec we have another school level between High School and college. I studied Computer Science for two years.




CEGEP. Depending upon when you went to school, you might have worked on some computers that I was responsible for making work. (HR logo on them)


----------



## Tonguez (Apr 17, 2022)

I started doing a Bcom/BA but got bored with economics so didnt get the Commerce degree though I did get some Marketing papers in my BA (Anthropology). Then a few years later did a Postgrad Diploma in Education


----------



## thirdkingdom (Apr 17, 2022)

Traditional wooden boatbuilding.


----------



## MGibster (Apr 17, 2022)

I majored in history as an undergraduate with a minor in anthropology.  I went to graduate school for history where most of my studies were concentrated in American history from 1877-1939 and spent an awful lot of time on prohibition and lynching.


----------



## reelo (Apr 17, 2022)

I have studied several years of archeology, main focus Middle East (Sumerian up to Late Babylonian), secondary focus European Prehistory, as well as Sumerian philology.
I didn't earn my degree, though, I got cold feet at the last minute. It was around the time things got serious with my gf (now wife) and I realized chances of employment were very slim, outside of academia.
I now work as a public servant, ground property tax. Money sure is better than as a freelance archeologist.
In hindsight, it was a great time, though mostly wasted on WoW and weed.


----------



## Tonguez (Apr 17, 2022)

thirdkingdom said:


> Traditional wooden boatbuilding.



Wow, really? My great grandfather was a traditional boat builder and my grandfather a cooper before he joined the merchant marines. Amazing skill to have these days


----------



## CleverNickName (Apr 17, 2022)

I have an art degree from Oklahoma State University (B.A. Technical Illustration), and I have an engineering degree from Portland State University (B.S. Civil Engineering) with a minor in Geology.


----------



## thirdkingdom (Apr 18, 2022)

Tonguez said:


> Wow, really? My great grandfather was a traditional boat builder and my grandfather a cooper before he joined the merchant marines. Amazing skill to have these days




Huh, interesting. I went to trad college for a year before dropping out and working construction/cabinetry for a couple of years, and then ended up out in Port Townsend, Washington at the school of wooden boatbuilding there. My grandfather was in the merchant marines, as well! During WWII.


----------



## Ryujin (Apr 18, 2022)

thirdkingdom said:


> Huh, interesting. I went to trad college for a year before dropping out and working construction/cabinetry for a couple of years, and then ended up out in Port Townsend, Washington at the school of wooden boatbuilding there. My grandfather was in the merchant marines, as well! During WWII.



Beautiful area. Seems like the perfect place to leave a skill like boat building.


----------



## Umbran (Apr 18, 2022)

In undergrad, I majored in Physics, with effectively a minor in Renaissance Drama.  My biggest extra curricular activities were in theater.

My graduate studies were also in physics.  My thesis was on simulating the propagation of quantum mechanical spin in high energy physics events.


----------



## Olgar Shiverstone (Apr 18, 2022)

Rocket Science.


----------



## Retreater (Apr 18, 2022)

Started with History then changed my major to English with a focus in Creative Writing. Took some time off to decide if I wanted to get my Masters in Comparative Mythology or Creative Writing, but ultimately got a full-time job, got married, and never got that Masters degree.


----------



## Kobold Stew (Apr 18, 2022)

First degree focused on Greek and Roman history and archaeology, as I wanted to be paid to scuba dive off the coast of Greece. In grad school, I ended up studying Greek poetry because I can scuba dive if I want to in any case, and this lets me read and talk about ancient plays as well.

I love it, and am very fortunate that I get to make my living teaching the stuff.


----------



## Parmandur (Apr 18, 2022)

Great topic, love the variety of backgrounds here.

For my undergraduate, I got a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in English with a Medieval Studies focus. Almost got a Minor in Celtic Studies, but didn't feel motivated to get the full requirements for that. I've worked in some odd jobs since then, but writing and communicating have always been vital skills.

After graduating right into an economic collapse at the tail end of the Bush administration, I pursued a few years of Studies in Philosophy and Theology with the Dominican Friars at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. I didn't get a degree, but I learned to be Stoic about my life circumstances.

After several years of working in Silicon Valley in Customer Support, I'm just finishing up a remote study degree in Lobrary & Information Science from San Jose State University, and we'll see where that goes.


----------



## Fifth Element (Apr 18, 2022)

Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in accounting (the equivalent of a 'major'), and while there were no 'minors' did a lot of economics as part of it. Also took as many linguistics courses as I could with the credit hours I didn't have to devote to business courses, for personal interest.

Since I'm a CPA, the degree was certainly useful career-wise. In fact an undergraduate degree was required to begin the (at the time) CA program. Business and commerce degrees are of course the most common, but I've worked with CPAs with degrees in math, chemistry, biology, and a number of other subjects.


----------



## ART! (Apr 18, 2022)

Does being in the military count? I'm going to say it counts. Did that, and then on to college: film-making, and then switched to fine arts (drawing). I worked in and out of the comic book biz (co-writing, penciling, coloring, retail) for about 20 years. Now I work in printing, so not really putting any of that to use, per se.


----------



## Blue (Apr 18, 2022)

Okay, it was quite some time ago that I went to university.  I majored in CIS, which was Computer and Information Science - a slight twist on the usual CS degree.  It also had very little room in terms of free credits, so as a intellectual challenge I looked at what could I fit in for a minor without taking any additional classes, and it was HR.  Which ended up being a bunch of management classes that actually have stood me in good stead.


----------



## Smackpixi (Apr 18, 2022)

University of Minnesota, Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature.  I was also like half a class shy of a minor in women’s studies, it’s been 20 years, I forget why I didn’t bother with that, think there was some additional bs to the minor I didn’t want to do, also didn’t really care about the field, just liked the classes.  Which is how I ended up with the major as well.  Just liked the classes so kept taking them and after three years added up what I’d been taking classes in, and discovered what my major was going to be.  Senior thesis was on Mad Max trilogy.

Edit, I enjoyed it.  I had the privilege of going to school casually, rather than say for a purpose and having to pay for it.  Huge school, like third to Ohio State and Texas for undergrad population, but, as I said, I just took classes I wanted to so outside a couple obligatory credits needed, most of classes were under 20 people.  I met some girls at fancy east coast schools online and visited them and sat in on some classes there, and, wow, was an order of magnitude better (Dartmouth, Cornell, Sarah Laurence) instruction, student engagement, and just everything.  Those schools cost eye blindingly more than my state school, but just hungover crashing a handful of classes, was really impressed, and jealous.


----------



## Myrdin Potter (Apr 18, 2022)

Accounting.

Worked for a Big 8 (now big 4 firm) when I graduated.

Eventually became a CFO of several public companies, so went about as far as normally hoped for with an accounting degree.

I enjoyed college. Went to both English universities in Montreal.


----------



## Tonguez (Apr 18, 2022)

ART! said:


> Does being in the military count?  I worked in and out of the comic book biz (co-writing, penciling, coloring, retail) for about 20 years.



did you work on anything famous? The names certainly appropriate


----------



## briggart (Apr 18, 2022)

I took the equivalent (I think) of master degree in physics, and then went on to get a PhD in physics, cosmology specifically. I definitely enjoyed university, both the subjects and the experience, even though I think it was very different from the US system. I'm still in academia, but I gradually focused more and more on data analysis, so my day job actually has more to do with numerical methods, linear algebra and stats rather than actual physics.

If I had to go back to college, I'd probably focus on origin of life, or human evolution/archeology.


----------



## Willie the Duck (Apr 18, 2022)

Took three tries to get through my undergrad, but that let me get a major in biology along with minors in anthropology, economics, and computer science. Grad school went better and got an MBA and a masters (plus ABD into the PhD program, never to be completed) in Health Services Research. Kinda strange that it landed my in Healthcare information resource governance, but that's careers for you.


----------



## ART! (Apr 18, 2022)

Tonguez said:


> did you work on anything famous? The names certainly appropriate



I can't speak to "famous", but I did a lot of work for Wildstorm and DC, some Marvel, IDW, Archie, BOOM!, and a sprinkling of other things. I stopped coloring due to burn-out; too many all-nighters, just to make enough money to get by. I miss the work, but I don't miss the job - and even with that said, my favorite work I did wasn't even coloring, it was developing pitches with other creators; collaborative creativity is my absolute sweet-spot - which is one of the reasons I love ttrpgs so much.


----------



## Blue Orange (Apr 18, 2022)

FitzTheRuke said:


> Well, right out of highschool I jumped in with both feet into an engineering program. I helped tutor other students in calculus in exchange for their notes from lectures, during which I often worked on my D&D campaigns. After a particularly boring hydraulics class, I started questioning why I wanted to do it.
> 
> I've always been an artist with a gift for math - torn in two directions. Too much of a dreamer to pay attention in class, but good enough at tests to get by. I'm also terrible at doing what I'm told.




I've always had this theory that personalities _intermediate_ between the sciences and arts are drawn to gaming--you get to tell stories and create characters, but also use math and design systems.


----------



## trappedslider (Apr 18, 2022)

billd91 said:


> Undergrad: Political Science (which at my college was called Government) and Mathematics
> Graduate: Political Science (MA), Library and Information Studies (MLS)
> So, of course, I've worked in medical records/claims software for the last 25 years...



Naturally 

__
It wasn't till I got too sick to keep up with schooling that I figured out what I wanted to do. Upon looking into it, it would have ended in massive debt since the program is only offered at a few colleges all back east. But when I did go to college, I started out with general studies with no degree in mind just taking the entry-level classes which in my case due to learning disabilities included what many of you would consider either high school or even middle school math.


----------



## TwoSix (Apr 18, 2022)

Started out in biomedical engineering, took a break for personal/financial reasons, then transferred and got my degree in chemistry.

So naturally, now I work in IT.


----------



## payn (Apr 18, 2022)

I started out wanting to go Philosophy major with intention of being a teacher. Though, my battery was burned out by the time I completed my two year AA.

After about 8 years, I finally went back. I looked at my options and Communication seemed like a real good fit based on my personality and career at that point. Got my B.A. in Org. Comm and my company paid for it.

Couple years ago I went back again and got a masters of science in technical communication. This time I went into technical writing, content management, and info architecture. Interesting to me and useful for my career. Company also paid for this go around.

I am now a project manager in the intelligent buildings field. I am hoping at some point to connect with my old professors and maybe get a part time gig teaching a comm class or two. Despite my career detour, I still have a strong desire to be a teacher. When I retire I think it would be something nice to keep doing in my twilight years and fulfill that desire I have had since I was just a young lad.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Apr 18, 2022)

For Undergrad, I got a Bachelor's in Journalism. I had briefly and misguidedly been a poetry major before that. 

For Graduate, I'm another Master's in Library and Information Science here. I just read a quote in Seanan McGuire's In Absent An Absent Dream that just about sums up why I went in for it when I couldn't make a living as a journalist and found myself in a dead-end data entry job:

"and when she grew up, she was going to be a librarian, because she couldn't imagine knowing there was a job that was all about books and not wanting to do it.”

But of course, now I work in IT and love it, so that's how that turned out. And as a result I have additional ITIL, Microsoft SharePoint, and Lean/Six Sigma certifications.


----------



## nedjer (Apr 18, 2022)

payn said:


> I started out wanting to go Philosophy major with intention of being a teacher. Though, my battery was burned out by the time I completed my two year AA.
> 
> After about 8 years, I finally went back. I looked at my options and Communication seemed like a real good fit based on my personality and career at that point. Got my B.A. in Org. Comm and my company paid for it.
> 
> ...



I've been teaching for a few centuries now. Students are great, classes are fine, marking is hell - but there's always the summer holidays


----------



## Cadence (Apr 18, 2022)

nedjer said:


> I've been teaching for a few centuries now. Students are great, classes are fine, marking is hell - but there's always the summer holidays



I'm grading papers right now :-(


----------



## nedjer (Apr 18, 2022)

Starting to get ever so slightly concerned about the number of librarians in one place at roughly the same time.

_Michael Moore: 'I really didn't realize the librarians were, you know, such a dangerous group. . . . They are subversive. You think they're just sitting there at the desk, all quiet and everything. They're like plotting the revolution, man.'_


----------



## nedjer (Apr 18, 2022)

Cadence said:


> I'm grading papers right now :-(



May your pen never run out of red ink.


----------



## gamerprinter (Apr 18, 2022)

I didn't actually finish college. I was only going for an A.A., so was just taking general education classes, though my interest was graphic design, and the school I went to didn't have much to offer in that field. Of the classes I'd taken, the ones I enjoyed the most were History of Western Civ 1, Art History 1, American Lit, English Lit and Philosophy, and was getting straight A's for the most part. While I enjoyed those classes, I didn't see a future in any of those specific fields, aside from becoming a teacher, which I have no interest in doing.

At everything I've done and accomplished in life, I'm self taught. I ran a graphic design/digital print studio for 22 years serving everyone from individuals to corporate and government. I've had a 15 year professional freelance illustration career, serving some of the biggest publishers, and now a publisher myself. I've done well without a degree, but wouldn't recommend it as a career learning path to pursue - still, I've done alright.

I remember after completing the map commissions I did for Brady Games, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Strategy Guide, and after getting paid, they asked, "oh, by the way, what university did you attend?" I had to laugh at that. Unlike most, clients never look at my resume, rather at my portfolio and publications.


----------



## Arnie_Wan_Kenobi (Apr 18, 2022)

Cadence said:


> I'm grading papers right now :-(



I'm avoiding grading to post this (during a plan period, no less. It's been a long Monday.)
BA in English, Teaching of Secondary Education (What do you do with...?), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2000.
MA in Teaching and Leadership (Without the Leadership endorsement. I was younger and dumber), St. Xavier University, Chicago, 2009.
MA in School Counseling (WITH the Licensed Professional Counselor endorsement. I am now older and less dumber), Lewis University, Romeoville, IL: wrapping up this summer.


----------



## Arnie_Wan_Kenobi (Apr 18, 2022)

nedjer said:


> Starting to get ever so slightly concerned about the number of librarians in one place at roughly the same time.
> 
> _Michael Moore: 'I really didn't realize the librarians were, you know, such a dangerous group. . . . They are subversive. You think they're just sitting there at the desk, all quiet and everything. They're like plotting the revolution, man.'_



I was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you when I realized how many librarian friends I have scattered around the country. They're EVERYWHERE.


----------



## Mad_Jack (Apr 18, 2022)

Tried college twice, never panned out.


   Organized education and I have never really gotten along and, compounded by a bad school experience and my own mental health issues as a teenager, I was completely burnt out on it by the time I graduated high school.

 I was one of those kids they used to label "bright but unmotivated" - I rarely paid attention in class, took few notes, barely did any of the reading, wrote reports the night before they were due and never studied for tests, but my high IQ allowed me to still absorb enough information even in the classes I hated to pass them anyway. I never failed a single class - even senior year I was still getting A's and B's in the classes I liked, and mostly getting C's and D's in the ones I didn't. And because I wasn't failing any classes no one noticed I was having problems developing good study habits... If I'd been one of the remedial kids I might have gotten help, but I slipped through the cracks in the educational system - my small-town school system just really didn't have the resources to deal with a smart kid who was bored out of his mind and having social and mental issues.
Despite my complete lack of study habits throughout my entire school career, I still managed to graduate high school 150th out of a class of 250...

My parents informed me senior year that they had no money to send me to college. 
My grades weren't good enough, and my family not poor enough, to get any scholarship money other than a $50 scholarship for being left-handed. So I didn't bother looking into any colleges, and signed up to join the Army.

Funny story:

I'd just about aced the ASVAB, aside from a couple questions about engines, and the recruiter was sure I could get into whatever career track I wanted. Psychology had been one of my favorite subjects in high school, and I was looking to go into Psy Ops.
I was about four signatures away from becoming gub'ment property when the recruiter told me he'd call me back in about a week or so after he filed some paperwork. A few days passed after that week, and still no call. I called him a few times but never got any replies to my phone messages.

And that was when _Iraq invaded Kuwait_...  Suddenly my parents somehow had money to send me to college.   

 A high school friend had actually sent in an application for me to UCONN and I'd been accepted. So I spent three semesters at their Avery Point extension campus.
 I majored in Psychology but between still dealing with my mental issues, my poor study habits, and the fact that the campus was located out on the water on the absolutely stunning grounds of an old 18th century manor house, I probably spent more time sitting out on the rocks writing poetry than I did attending classes. Even so, I managed to get into some 200's-level courses before just showing up to class wasn't enough for me to keep up my grades, and I was politely asked to get the hell off campus if I was going to keep wasting their time.

I worked full-time for about two years, and then during a period of unemployment my parents offered to pay for some college classes again. I went to a local community college as a Liberal Arts major. Between the classes my parents paid for and the couple semesters I paid for on my own, I managed to get about three quarters of the way to a Bachelor's degree before the money ran out again.

I'd love to go back and try again, but in the decades since those two tries at college most of the time I've been employed in jobs that don't do much more than pay my bills, and I've had a few stretches of long-term unemployment.
So I'm pretty sure that short of winning the lottery there's little chance of a third try.


----------



## Mad_Jack (Apr 18, 2022)

nedjer said:


> Starting to get ever so slightly concerned about the number of librarians in one place at roughly the same time.
> 
> _Michael Moore: 'I really didn't realize the librarians were, you know, such a dangerous group. . . . _




 Yes, they are...


----------



## Ryujin (Apr 18, 2022)

Mad_Jack said:


> Tried college twice, never panned out.
> 
> 
> Organized education and I have never really gotten along and, compounded by a bad school experience and my own mental health issues as a teenager, I was completely burnt out on it by the time I graduated high school.
> ...



Both the greatest and worst gift I think that I had, as a student, was the ability to write more than just credible 5,000 word essays the night before they were due.


----------



## nedjer (Apr 18, 2022)

Mad_Jack said:


> Tried college twice, never panned out.
> 
> 
> Organized education and I have never really gotten along and, compounded by a bad school experience and my own mental health issues as a teenager, I was completely burnt out on it by the time I graduated high school.
> ...



Not the only post where costs have affected outcomes. A long time ago I received maintenance grants and paid no fees, not least because at the time the costs of delivery concerned the costs of delivery, as compared to more recently when the fees fund property speculation, investments, private 'partnerships', executive administators, . . . and a bit of teaching. Hoping that you win the lottery


----------



## payn (Apr 18, 2022)

Ryujin said:


> Botht he greatest and worst gift I think that I had. as a student, was the ability to write more than just credible 5,000 word essays the night before they were due.



During a general political science course I had to write an eassay. Forgot all about it and was super drunk the night before. I hammered it out and turned it in the next day. Got it back a week later and wow it was full of grammar mistakes it was very embarrassing. Got an A- cause my thoughts were good


----------



## Gradine (Apr 18, 2022)

In undergrad I started as a History major with an emphasis in Social Studies Secondary Education, which I completed enough of to get into student teaching and realizing I in no way wanted to teach at a high school. Ended up with a B.A. in History & Theatre Arts (emphasis in Theatre History & Acting, respectively). Tacked on an M.A. in Theatre Production (emphasis dramatic writing), but it turns out that 2010 was a terrible time to graduate with an Masters in Theatre.

Just finishing up my second M.A. in Sociology, researching mental health crisis intervention. Been working at the nearby university since 2016.


----------



## Ryujin (Apr 18, 2022)

payn said:


> During a general political science course I had to write an eassay. Forgot all about it and was super drunk the night before. I hammered it out and turned it in the next day. Got it back a week later and wow it was full of grammar mistakes it was very embarrassing. Got an A- cause my thoughts were good



The teachers liked my vocabulary. In grade 5 I tested at a grade 9 level. Big words meant big grades


----------



## Richards (Apr 19, 2022)

ART! said:


> I can't speak to "famous", but I did a lot of work for Wildstorm and DC, some Marvel, IDW, Archie, BOOM!, and a sprinkling of other things.



Cool!  I own some of your projects: _The X-Files; Spike: After the Fall; Angel: After the Fall; _and _Astro City: A Visitor's Guide_.  Very nice work.

Johnathan


----------



## South by Southwest (Apr 19, 2022)

Philosophy. I did four years of undergrad in it, then grad school to the PhD, then professorship right up until this past year.


----------



## BookTenTiger (Apr 19, 2022)

South by Southwest said:


> Philosophy. I did four years of undergrad in it, then grad school to the PhD, then professorship right up until this past year.



Do you have a personal favorite philosophy / philosopher?


----------



## South by Southwest (Apr 19, 2022)

BookTenTiger said:


> Do you have a personal favorite philosophy / philosopher?



Sort of, yeah. It's mostly between Bertrand Russell and Edmund Husserl for me.

You?


----------



## Parmandur (Apr 19, 2022)

South by Southwest said:


> Sort of, yeah. It's mostly between Bertrand Russell and Edmund Husserl for me.
> 
> You?



Husserl is probably the most important philosopher since Heigl. Way more interesting and practical than Heigl, too.

Kind of an odd duck pairing, in a lot of ways, Russell and Husserl.

I'm not a Thomist by a long shot, but Aquinas is probably still one of my favorite philosphers to read to get a full interesting of an issue. Better to read in Latin, and requires some grounding in the Scholastic method of dialectic, but very fruitful even when he's wrong (which is not infrequently).


----------



## payn (Apr 19, 2022)

Ryujin said:


> The teachers liked my vocabulary. In grade 5 I tested at a grade 9 level. Big words meant big grades



I think the prof just liked me. I was pretty engaged, particularly in class discussion. I can only imagine what reading some of those other papers was like lol.


----------



## payn (Apr 19, 2022)

South by Southwest said:


> Sort of, yeah. It's mostly between Bertrand Russell and Edmund Husserl for me.
> 
> You?



Russell is brilliant.


----------



## Jack Daniel (Apr 19, 2022)

Majored in English and physics, minored in anthropology and mathematics. Got my MA in English (focused on Old and Middle English), and I have some grad-level coursework in medical physics (but no degree beyond the BS).


----------



## South by Southwest (Apr 19, 2022)

Parmandur said:


> Husserl is probably the most important philosopher since Heigl. Way more interesting and practical than Heigl, too.



He changed my whole philosophy of math and, with it, my understanding of the metaphysics of logic.


Parmandur said:


> Kind of an odd duck pairing, in a lot of ways, Russell and Husserl.



I suppose so, but think of it this way a moment: Russell borrowed greatly from Frege, right? And Frege and Husserl were not nearly so far from each other. Never mind the hardcore empiricism Russell is (rightly) famous for; just think of the _method_ of philosophical analysis he used. That has Frege written all over it.


Parmandur said:


> I'm not a Thomist by a long shot, but Aquinas is probably still one of my favorite philosphers to read to get a full interesting of an issue. Better to read in Latin, and requires some grounding in the Scholastic method of dialectic, but very fruitful even when he's wrong (which is not infrequently).



Aquinas is one of the great minds of all human history, and I say this as a man who also is not a Thomist. He truly was one of the all-time geniuses in human history. Even where I disagree with him, I cannot help but admire him and love the clarity and comprehensiveness of his mind.


----------



## Mad_Jack (Apr 19, 2022)

Ryujin said:


> The teachers liked my vocabulary. In grade 5 I tested at a grade 9 level. Big words meant big grades




 In grade school, when we got in trouble we had to stay in from recess after lunch and copy pages out of the dictionary.

Between third grade and sixth grade, I'd read and copied Webster's 3rd Ed. Collegiate Dictionary cover-to-cover.


----------



## Ryujin (Apr 19, 2022)

Mad_Jack said:


> In grade school, when we got in trouble we had to stay in from recess after lunch and copy pages out of the dictionary.
> 
> Between third grade and sixth grade, I'd read and copied Webster's 3rd Ed. Collegiate Dictionary cover-to-cover.



My 6th grade teacher would send me off to one of the library resource rooms with page numbers from the dictionary from which I was to define words, using my own terms. It wasn't as punishment; he was allowing me to work beyond the rest of the class. The results made him remark that I was the "most succinct" student he had ever taught which, rather ironically, I had to look up in the dictionary


----------



## reelo (Apr 19, 2022)

South by Southwest said:


> Sort of, yeah. It's mostly between Bertrand Russell and Edmund Husserl for me.
> 
> You?



How relevant is Sartre these days? Ever since reading "La Nausée" in French class, I've subscribed to his brand of Existentialism.


----------



## South by Southwest (Apr 19, 2022)

reelo said:


> How relevant is Sartre these days? Ever since reading "La Nausée" in French class, I've subscribed to his brand of Existentialism.



If you mean, _"How popularly received is he?"_ I'll confess he's not _en vogue_ these days, but there are those of us who still read and appreciate him.


----------



## Bedrockgames (Apr 19, 2022)

I have a BA at a state school where I majored in history and minored in philosophy


----------



## Dannyalcatraz (Apr 20, 2022)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Undergrad: Trinity University (San Antonio)- Majored in Evonomics & Philosophy, with minors in Art/Art History, English, and Religion.  Came up 3 classes short of earning 2 BAs…and I dropped 3 classes in my 4 years.  The double BA would have been nice, but I dropped those classes for VERY good reasons and do not regret doing so.
> 
> Post-Grad: JD from UT Austin School of Law, MBA (Sports & Entertainment Marketing) from University of Dallas, certified in Mediation through UT Arlington.
> 
> …plus assorted other college-level classes I’ve taken just because.  I think I took some kind of class every summer from 3rd grade until I graduated from law school.  Some of that was to fill curriculum requirements, some for self-edification.  And of course, I still have to take continuing education courses to maintain my license.



Forgot: there was a minor in English Literature as well.

That and the Art minor were arguably the most enjoyable classes I had.  I mean, I spent most of my senior year working with pastels, acrylics, found objects, and unusual materials then eating burgers & fries at the campus grill.  (Had a couple pieces up for inclusion in the school’s permanent collecti9n, but my experimental techniques were unstable, and they disintegrated.

But the English Lit classes were taught in a way that went beyond even my HS AP literature courses, and greatly expanded the way I read fiction.  

Bonus: one course in particular- “Biblical Themes in Literature- cemented my über-nerd cred my freshman year.  The course was about detecting and decoding the Biblical themes that western authors repeatedly used in their writing.  One day, Dr. Hoffer read a few paragraphs from a work in which the author was implying that a particular character was evil by describing him in terms associated with notable infernal beings.  He’d read a sentence, and ask which fiend was being alluded to.  I- uncharacteristically- raised my hand and answered the first question correctly, all while looking down and scribbling notes.  I did likewise with the second and third passages.  By the time I did so for the 10th+ consecutive passage, he was calling me by name- I looked up and the entire class was staring at me.

*Thanks, AD&D!*


----------



## BookTenTiger (Apr 20, 2022)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Forgot: there was a minor in English Literature as well.
> 
> That and the Art minor were arguably the most enjoyable classes I had.  I mean, I spent most of my senior year working with pastels, acrylics, found objects, and unusual materials then eating burgers & fries at the campus grill.  (Had a couple pieces up for inclusion in the school’s permanent collecti9n, but my experimental techniques were unstable, and they disintegrated.
> 
> ...



I loved, loved, loved the majority of my Literature classes! Some of the highlights:

*Semiotics & Psychoanalysis* literally changed the way I think about the world. I took it freshman year as my Lit 101 and from then on every single paper I wrote was a semiotic analysis. Anything can mean anything, man!

*Soviet Literature* introduced me to a lot of wonderful, creative writers. It was fun learning about the huge creative efforts that went into the creation of the Soviet Union. Then in our last class the professor outlined the fate of every single writer: mock trial and execution.

*Magic in Post-Alexandrian Middle East* was literally a class about magic during the time the bible was written. The class was held at 8:00 am and the professor took it very seriously. We read spells to summon bears, to trap demons... Cool stuff!

*Muppets*... Wasn't actually a literature class, but I did take a class on the history of the Muppets. I got to meet Gonzo.


----------



## Thomas Shey (Apr 20, 2022)

I had a kind of meandering academic history; I have a BA in English and an AA in Library Science.  But it is to be noted that I also have (and this wasn't really planned, it just worked out as easy to do because of the classes I'd wandered through) minors in Psychology, Anthropology and Communications.


----------



## Smackpixi (Apr 21, 2022)

reelo said:


> How relevant is Sartre these days? Ever since reading "La Nausée" in French class, I've subscribed to his brand of Existentialism.



i’m going to guess Sartre’s relevance tracks roughly equal with The Smiths as it has since the late 80s.


----------



## freyar (Apr 21, 2022)

Undergrad: physics & math double major.
Grad school: physics (string theory) 
8 years postdoc training: also particle physics and cosmology
I'm still doing all three physics subjects at different times, whenever I have enough time for research anyway (somebody mentioned it is grading season).


----------



## trappedslider (Apr 24, 2022)




----------



## LongTimeLurker (Apr 24, 2022)

Drinking and smoking cannabis.


----------



## Tonguez (Apr 24, 2022)

LongTimeLurker said:


> Drinking and smoking cannabis.



One of my uni mates did a PHd in Zymology (Applied Chemistry) and ended up teaching a class in Beer brewing - of course much of the class consisted of tasting and comparing various ‘experiments’

Out of class one of his students would make his own Kahlua and Irish Cream - that was potent


----------



## Ath-kethin (Apr 25, 2022)

My first brief flirtation with college was right out of high school; I went for a theater major since I had no real plan but liked acting. That lasted about a year and a half before I dropped it, and dropped out, and proceeded to set fire to roughly the following decade.

In my late 20s I decided to delve into by love of architecture and the built world and started back up; I earned an AS in Civil Engineering from a local community college (their architecture program was under their Civil Engineering department at the time), and a BDS in Design Theory, History and Criticism/Historic Preservation from the school I transferred to afterward. My plans for proceeding to a Master of Architecture were derailed by the birth of my kid. 

I am now an apprentice electrician working on security system design and installation, with a minor part-time gig as a TTRPG publisher.  It's been rough to start over so many times, but I'm doing OK all around.


----------



## Mezuka (Apr 25, 2022)

Electronics but I hated it after one year. All my friends went into computer programing. Changed to the Communication program as I wanted to make movies. Actually did pretty good as a cameraman, my handheld technic was very stable and creative, without a Steady-Cam.

Ultimately, when I sat down in front of a MacIntosh in 1987 and fired up QuarkXpress it changed my life. I became a self-taught graphic designer, for life.


----------



## Argyle King (Apr 29, 2022)

My listed majors were "Communications/PR" and "Mediation." I took a lot of unrelated electives though.

I went to college later in life (in my 30s). I had the life experience and job proficiency already, but needed some piece of paper to be hired for much in the US. I enjoyed college, but I honestly don't believe that I learned much about my major during it. (In some cases, my opinion was that what was officially taught was wrong, but it's what I needed to know to pass exams).

Prior to college, I was in the military. I did multiple combat your tours. While that's not college, it was certainly educational.

Where those two things overlap is that I elected to take a lot of classes on warfare and strategy while in college. It was interesting to pair my practical experiences with some academic knowledge.

Edit: Other than that, I read a lot. I'm of the belief that education can (and often does) take place outside of the classroom.


----------



## Musing Mage (Apr 29, 2022)

I minored in a 90 minute bus ride to a 7:30 am class, where I majored in sleeping though said class, with extra credit in being groggy through other classes... until I had a 90+ minute bus ride to work at a Video Game retail store where I practiced the art of trying to get some homework done when there were no customers in the store. Usually getting home around 10 and thunking down to rinse and repeat.

The end result was a Journalism degree... The process I followed again a few years later to gain a certificate in Comedic Writing and Performance.

I regret all of it. Should have doubled down on my love of D&D and gotten into game design!


----------



## Bohandas (May 6, 2022)

I studied biology as my major. 

I also took a bunch of courses about comedy as electives.


----------



## Nikosandros (May 6, 2022)

I have a degree in Physics. I'm currently on a leave from my work as a teacher to pursue a PhD in Material Science.


----------



## DrunkonDuty (May 10, 2022)

I did half a business degree majoring in public administration. Then I went to a degree where I majored film production and English lit. My final film project was on a local Shakespearean theatre troupe. (self-lol) 

I worked in TV for about 15 years in Australia and the UK but it was mostly in technical roles rather than creative which was never my goal.

Nowadays I work at an archive migrating old media (VHS, etc) to computer.


----------



## Ulfgeir (May 10, 2022)

I have a batchelor's degree in Informatics  (Computer science). Only thing I am missing for being able to have taken out a Master's degree is a 10 credit thesis (1 credit per week of stydying at the time). The course-program also included some mathematics, and a total of 40 credits of Economics. We used to have 20 credits per semester for full course load (40 for a year).. Used to be that you needed 160 credits for a Masters'd sdegree. I have passed courses worth 325 credits... 

I have also studied project managment, business law + little bit of EU law, design, rethorics, and English.


----------



## Gradine (May 10, 2022)

Gradine said:


> Just finishing up my second M.A. in Sociology, researching mental health crisis intervention. Been working at the nearby university since 2016.



Thesis defended and submitted! Graduate (again) on Saturday :-D


----------



## Digdude@1970 (Sep 6, 2022)

BA in classics, MA in archaeology. Currently a professional archaeologist in the private sector for 17 years now.


----------



## trappedslider (Sep 6, 2022)

Digdude@1970 said:


> BA in classics, MA in archaeology. Currently a professional archaeologist in the private sector for 17 years now.


----------



## BookTenTiger (Sep 25, 2022)

JoshuaHarris said:


> I'm a four-year history student, so I can say that I'm almost ( I hope I won't fail exams ) a Bachelor's in History
> But I also have a literature course, and I love it. And before taking it, I had no idea that I could love literature.
> And it's cool that you had Soviet Literature; it sounds very interesting. I don't have it in my educational program



I loved, loved, loved studying Literature. When I got my Multiple Subject Teaching Credential (elementary school teaching), I got a call that I was also qualified to teach "Literature" because of my BA. There aren't really opportunities to do so in my field, but I have a dream of one day living internationally and giving lectures on American Literature. If I can ever convince my wife to work for the WHO, we could live on the coast of Lake Geneva, take the train to the city, and give lectures.


----------



## Blue Orange (Sep 25, 2022)

Probably a lot of overlap between DMing and literature--you're telling a story in both cases.


----------



## BookTenTiger (Sep 25, 2022)

Blue Orange said:


> Probably a lot of overlap between DMing and literature--you're telling a story in both cases.



I agree, though I think a lot of it has to do with purposeful communication. When I read a book, I like to think about what the author is trying to communicate- not just the plot, but with word choice, format, the length of chapters, grammar, punctuation, etc. A lot of running an RPG is intentional communication: how can I get the players to interact in a way that would be most fun, or intense, or humorous, etc?

One piece of advice I read about writing short stories was "start as close to the ending as possible." I think about that a lot with adventure and campaign design. If the goal of this adventure is to get the magic sword, I should start with designing the encounter in which the characters get the magic sword, not with the nearby town. If my campaign is built around freeing the kingdom from the dragon tyrant, I should start by brainstorming different ways the dragon could be defeated, then lay down seeds and adventure paths that could lead to that ending.

I  still think Literature is a pretty frivolous area of study, but I do love it!


----------



## Blue Orange (Sep 25, 2022)

BookTenTiger said:


> I  still think Literature is a pretty frivolous area of study, but I do love it!



Less frivolous than you think. The stories people tell affect all kinds of other things and leave subconscious impressions (this is at the heart of many of the arguments about representation, for example), and usually show a culture's values. It could be, though, that literature is less important than movies these days. Of course, successful books get turned into movies quite often--books don't have to worry about a special effects budget. And while I wouldn't consider Twitter or blogs literature, they do fall under the heading of 'printed word', and are also quite influential.

I think 'high literature' (Booker Prize, etc.) isn't as culturally influential as it used to be, but even (perhaps especially) things that aren't considered 'respectable' often have huge influences-- _Fifty Shades of Grey_, for example, probably had more effect on people's sex lives than any approved manual (and I'm sure led to lots of injuries and even a few deaths). Nobody remembers _Peyton Place_, but it kicked off the whole 'dark side of suburbia' trope that would persist for decades later.


----------



## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 27, 2022)

Blue Orange said:


> I think 'high literature' (Booker Prize, etc.) isn't as culturally influential as it used to be, but even (perhaps especially) things that aren't considered 'respectable' often have huge influences-- _Fifty Shades of Grey_, for example, probably had more effect on people's sex lives than any approved manual (and I'm sure led to lots of injuries and even a few deaths). Nobody remembers _Peyton Place_, but it kicked off the whole 'dark side of suburbia' trope that would persist for decades later.



Just look at genre fiction.  Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror works cast long shadows in culture.

Much like fables and parables, many transmit life lessons in forms people are receptive to.  How many people out there know Stan Lee’s “With great power comes great responsibility.” as an ethical statement?

_Star Trek, Farrenheit 451, 1984, _and_ The Handmaid’sTale _all warn us of a variety of human failings.

I can’t tell you how many variations on memes comparing people’s actions during the pandemic to those who hide zombie bites.

And I can count on the fingers on my hands the number of courses I’ve seen where such fiction gets taken seriously.  Chop off a hand and that would be the number of literary reviews that were likewise.


----------



## DrunkonDuty (Sep 27, 2022)

Man, tell me about it. My wife thinks I should read more edifying literature. On her recommendation I read Booker Prize winner _The God of Small Things._ It was so dull. I don't need to read about dysfunctional families, I grew up in one. Also, please give me a protagonist who protags, not someone who just sits there and sighs.

Give me a re-read of_ The Lord of the Rings_ any day. Or if I really want to get away from sighing protagonists (soz, Frodo my boy, but you do spend a lot of time sighing) I can read some bloody Conan.


----------



## Evaniel (Sep 27, 2022)

I shuffled around my undergrad majors and minors quite a lot. After getting a double major in English and history, I came back for a teaching certificate. During that time I think I was...2 credits shy of a philosophy minor, two classes shy of a political science major, and two classes shy of a French minor. 

I got my MA in English studies pedagogy and PhD in rhetoric and writing studies. I just got promoted to Full this summer. I publish mostly on writing centers, but occasionally I sneak out a pub in comics studies or game studies.


----------



## Thomas Shey (Sep 28, 2022)

Evaniel said:


> I shuffled around my undergrad majors and minors quite a lot. After getting a double major in English and history, I came back for a teaching certificate. During that time I think I was...2 credits shy of a philosophy minor, two classes shy of a political science major, and two classes shy of a French minor.




This, by the way, is part of how I ended up with four minors in addition to my major; I had spent a lot of time digging my way out of a really awful first year of college in terms of having a functional GPA, and as a consequence I took a lot of random electives I wouldn't have had I been doing a beeline toward my degree.


----------



## Evaniel (Sep 28, 2022)

I feel like students often try (for good reason) to pursue their first major to the exclusion of all else. I think GenEd/Liberal Arts programs are invaluable for exposing folks to stuff they weren't even aware of. I have to argue this with members of my family. A lot. 

(Edit, I'm trying to reply to Thomas Shey, but failing at the quote system, lol.)


----------



## Ryujin (Sep 28, 2022)

Evaniel said:


> I shuffled around my undergrad majors and minors quite a lot. After getting a double major in English and history, I came back for a teaching certificate. During that time I think I was...2 credits shy of a philosophy minor, two classes shy of a political science major, and two classes shy of a French minor.
> 
> I got my MA in English studies pedagogy and PhD in rhetoric and writing studies. I just got promoted to Full this summer. I publish mostly on writing centers, but occasionally I sneak out a pub in comics studies or game studies.



An friend, so many years ago, had a trust fund and became a professional student for a decade or so. IIRC he qualified for maybe 5 degrees (paleontology, archiology, some language studies thing, and a couple of other I can't remember), but they told him he had to select one. Seemed like absolute crap to me, because he legitimately earned them all.


----------



## Cadence (Sep 28, 2022)

Ryujin said:


> An friend, so many years ago, had a trust fund and became a professional student for a decade or so. IIRC he qualified for maybe 5 degrees (paleontology, archiology, some language studies thing, and a couple of other I can't remember), but they told him he had to select one. Seemed like absolute crap to me, because he legitimately earned them all.



That does seem lame.  My school certainly lets people double major/double degree -- and with all the AP credits some folks have we've been seeing it more and more.


----------



## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 28, 2022)

Cadence said:


> That does seem lame.  My school certainly lets people double major/double degree -- and with all the AP credits some folks have we've been seeing it more and more.



Ditto that.  I graduated with a double major in 4 years.  And I was 9 hours (3 classes) from graduating with a double BA...because I dropped 3 classes.

FWIW, my Mom graduated with a BS in Music in 4 years.  The program she was in was a 5 year program.  They still talked about her many years after she was gone.


----------



## TheSword (Sep 28, 2022)

I graduated in Law (UK), and half way through an Open University History degree (work allowing)

Law isn’t something that comes up in specifics very often but it helps in lots of other ways. I don’t regret it, but I do wish I’d done the history degree as an undergrad.


----------



## Blue Orange (Sep 28, 2022)

Ryujin said:


> An friend, so many years ago, had a trust fund and became a professional student for a decade or so. IIRC he qualified for maybe 5 degrees (paleontology, archiology, some language studies thing, and a couple of other I can't remember), but they told him he had to select one. Seemed like absolute crap to me, because he legitimately earned them all.



My favorite story was Isaac Bonewits, the famous (in older pagan circles) Neo-Druid, who got UC-Berkeley to give him a degree in Magic. (They had an individual-study program, and specifically excluded that afterward due to the bad publicity--this was in 1970.)


----------



## Ryujin (Sep 28, 2022)

Blue Orange said:


> My favorite story was Isaac Bonewits, the famous (in older pagan circles) Neo-Druid, who got UC-Berkeley to give him a degree in Magic. (They had an individual-study program, and specifically excluded that afterward due to the bad publicity--this was in 1970.)



Back when I was in college this particular degree, from Lakehead University, was quite the running joke. (No, I didn't go there.)









						Outdoor Recreation, Parks & Tourism
					

Lakehead University is your place to live and learn. Dynamic, modern, and highly learner-centred, we acknowledge all of our students as valued leaders of tomorrow, whose education and success are most paramount to our institution.



					www.lakeheadu.ca


----------



## Blue Orange (Sep 28, 2022)

Ryujin said:


> Back when I was in college this particular degree, from Lakehead University, was quite the running joke. (No, I didn't go there.)
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Seems like they tried to hype up a major that tells you how to run a park or outdoor recreation facility. Which isn't a totally nutty career path, though I imagine, like fashion and journalism, you probably have a lot more people wanting to do it than there are jobs.


----------



## Ryujin (Sep 28, 2022)

Blue Orange said:


> Seems like they tried to hype up a major that tells you how to run a park or outdoor recreation facility. Which isn't a totally nutty career path, though I imagine, like fashion and journalism, you probably have a lot more people wanting to do it than there are jobs.



Can't say what the course of study is like now, but back then there were classes in hiking, white water rafting, and windsurfing


----------



## Thomas Shey (Sep 28, 2022)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Ditto that.  I graduated with a double major in 4 years.  And I was 9 hours (3 classes) from graduating with a double BA...because I dropped 3 classes.
> 
> FWIW, my Mom graduated with a BS in Music in 4 years.  The program she was in was a 5 year program.  They still talked about her many years after she was gone.




You can get some very ironic results out of educational history.  As I mentioned, I pretty much tanked my freshman year of college, to the point it took six more years to graduate, and there were a lot of pretty mediocre grades in the time leading up to my transferring back to a four year college to finish up.

Then, in what were effectively a delayed junior and senior years, if you only counted the classes in those, I had a GPA of 3.7 while taking a slightly heavier-than-normal load.

No, I don't understand it either.


----------

