Ok, so here's the deal. I'm at a major cross roads right now. I just turned 20 a few weeks ago and I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I know that at this point in life if I make a choice, it's hard to change and go back (especially with schooling).

I'm majoring in Communications and minoring in Publishing and Business. I have no idea what I can do with my degree or what I should do with it.

There's a lot of things that I want to do : Open my own retail business, be a news anchor, journalist, work at a magazine, etc.

I think my head is going to explode.

I also know that I need experience in these fields to be able to do anything in the area in the future, but I'm not sure exactly where to go or where to look.

Can anyone give me some advice to make me feel better

 

I think there is good $ in Porn.

A lot less thinking.

 

Ok...seriously..... to open a retail business you need a fair amount of $ upfront.... ...... Rent in the worlds crappiest location is $3k per month for a shoe store sized space...plus they usually want a % of your sales in addition to the rent.

My uncle used to own "the accessory depot" stores in Salt Lake City...they sold Women's purses, ear rings, rings, etc...... I think he did ok, but he used to be the president of some big retail stores (weinstocks, gimbles and one other one)...... So, I think he had enough $ saved that he could afford to take the gamble with the accessory stores..... The markup was huge, but when you are selling $10 rings, you need to sell a hell of a lot of them to make the rent. Plus employee theft, regular theft, etc.... was a huge problem as well.

If you do the math of the rent, employees, utilities, etc.... you will find out that you need to sell something like $500+ of stuff per day (and that is assuming you make pretty good margins on the stuff you are selling).to make $50k net for yourself...

I know nothing about the other choices..... I have a bunch of rental houses that work pretty well for me.

 

Look on the bright side, babygrass - you have made SOME decisions at least - so all that thinking was good for something!

Ask yourself what you really want from either of these. Is it the money? or other factors such as enjoyment and personal satisfaction?

Is it just that you are half way through your degree and finding that you are not really enjoying your study very much? Or perhaps you are now concerned more about what you may do once you get the degree?

Find out what you are capable of, the type of stress you can handle and what you really want to be doing first before deciding on anything. There are different ways of finding this, and personally I think opening up a business and losing sleep over it, working 20 hours a week just to get the thing moving, is the best lesson a young person could ever have - whether it goes well or not the first time around.

Of course if you do decide on opening a business, there are heaps of things you need to deal with, but I am sure that's another story.

 

Don't go into Computer Technologies...

I work at a hospital and Nurses are hard to come by. You can get a 2 year degree and be making 50's USDD when you graduate. Then you can get that S.

 

nice dog

 

My advice is to stop thinking too long term--you're too young to know what you want to do in life. When I was your age, I was majoring in engineering. Then I changed majors to Business and Marketing and got work in sales after college. Then, a few years later, I'm working in IT consulting. Then all of a sudden, I decide I would like to work for myself doing.... Well, you get the idea.

Take it one day at a time. Do what you think is right for the near term, see if it interests you and works out. If so, great. If not, you have plenty of time to change your career direction by getting new training, going back to school or just pursue different interests. Do NOT think you need to have it all figured out now. Good luck!

 

Scot >> I would most likely buy out a place. My dad does real estate too so he said he would sell a house to help me get started and I wouldn't have to pay him back. If I can't buy it (ie in a mall), then I would just use the money to pay the rent at first.

realthing>> I do enjoy my degree a lot, but I'm worried I guess because I'm not learning a skill or a trade. It's mostly theory and I think I need experience. I don't think that I could ever work for someone because my personality is just that I don't take orders well.

I can take a fair amount of stress and I do like running a business. I'm a powerseller on ebay, so I think I do have a knack for those kind of things, although I'm definitely not going to be doing that for a living.

 

Well, I'm basically your age, and am in the same situation. I'm not too stressed about it though, just follow your heart, and think what will truly make you happy. You will probably change your mind a million times over the next few years anyway until you find your niche in something. As to owning your own retail business, the harsh realities of being in college/university or just coming out of it, is that you will most likely have to start from the bottom and work your way to the top. Nobody can just get a high position in a company without having prior experience, credentials, etc.. so being an entrepreneur from the get go will be difficult unless you are already financially supported.. but even then, you need business savvy and experience to run a successful company...

 

when i was 20, i thought i was going to graduate college w/ an EE degree in 2 more years.

I quit school at 20.5, moved to california and i'm a well paid programmer with no degree in a world full of unemployed programmers and engineers. I never thought I'd be in california, let alone having a good career as a programmer NOR driving a sweet roadster on racetracks for fun. My worldview changed drastically in a period of 6 months. Now I hardly plan more than 24 hours in advance, you never know what may come up to change your mind.