13 years of college damn u are living the dream...

i would like to get a phd at somewhere a little more respectable than university of phx. hmm...i have a lot to research.

 

It's just an example there are plenty of opportunities out there. Pick your area and just start digging. Try to find past graduates of programs and learn from their experiences.

 

You won't have enough $$ to enjoy your free time by going on trips to Europe if you didn't realize that small speed bump yet. Becoming a college professor is still a fairly terrible cost vs benefit situation. To be a college professor at a respectable university [aka actually get paid decent] you will need to have a PhD at the minimum. Plan on being absolutely broke until you are about 30. On the other side, with that much schooling you could become a doctor, lawyer, or a business man with work experience AND an MBA. Being a professor has great benefits but if making $ for your schooling inputs is much of a priority it's not a great choice. Job stability is solid though and your work load once you start working is fairly low and not nearly as stressful as a lawyer, doctor, businessman, etc. I think that is extremely valuable.

 

The good parts of being a teacher is having all the time off and short workdays. Best part is when you see a kid "get it" and the light bulb goes off and they shine brightly. Crappy part of being a teacher is dealing with parents and administrators who never taught or were lousy teachers tell you how to be a great teacher. Three best reasons for teaching... June, July, and August. (haha)