How did you know?

[Princess123]

In this economy it seems you must go to school for something that when you graduate you can find a job.

 

I’ll keep this short as possible.

 

If I could do anything? Ballerina on stage doing performances.

 

Reality?

 

I’m set to register for classes next month for being a science teacher, with the hopes after 2 years of teaching, I can be a school counselor. (You need 2 years of teaching experience to be ELIGIBLE to go to school for this) I just don’t know if I’m doing this for the wrong reasons. I like the idea of weekends, holidays, spring breaks, snow days, and summers off. I know the reality isn’t that. I know there is grading papers and lesson preps and summer school for some. In general sounds nice.

 

Scared of the job opportunities even if they say science teachers are in demand. Scared how teachers are being let go everywhere. A friend said they were being let go at her husband’s university and even a department got dropped! School counselor jobs? HA, I really doubt there are any.

 

I once had a thought of Adoption Social Worker. But I have ZERO interest in being a social worker. This seems like a hard job to find. The fact that I wouldn’t ever want to be a social worker makes me want to cross this out. I just like the idea of doing home studies and finding homes for babies or helping place a family with a child. But being on call 24/7? I don’t know about that.

 

Wildlife biology. Kind of if you don’t have a masters, preferably a PhD you won’t make anything (from what I read). This was something that kept drawing me in for some reason. But the only school to teach it is almost 2 hours away.

 

Thing is I just started my FIRST science class EVER. I’m not even sure if I’m going to be okay in this.

 

I had a marine biology thought once. But I moved somewhere that the nearest beach is 6 hours away. I used to live 10 minutes to the beach, I wouldn’t hear the end of this.

 

I don’t know what I’m suppose to do in life but I feel like I must figure it out quick. I’m done with basics, I need to register for the major classes next month.

 

Something where I could help people, or work with baby animals (wild animals) sounds like fun to me. I don’t see how people are able to figure out what they want to do in life!

 

If anyone does any of these for a living, some insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Seraphim]

My sister-in-law is a teacher and she makes a pretty good living for just herself . I am not sure of the pay rates where you are though. I am also not sure if there is a need for more teachers where you are.

[Princess123]

Supposedly the school has some fact sheets and I also talked to a retire school administrator that I had met (outside of school). School fact sheets placed starting salary at $50,000 and the recently retired school administrator basically said the same. She said $50,000 for science and math but every other subject starts at $32,000. I forget but she did tell me they were always needing science teachers, she did just retire last year. I will also be graduating in about 2 years. $50,000 is more than enough to me and the housing in this area is very reasonable.

 

I think I may just really be terrified if this is a science I'm going to enjoy and be good at teaching year after year! Scares me if I'm actually able to do it.

[RedDress]

This is going to sound funny, but in many ways, I don't know how much you pick your career and how much your career picks you.

 

Many of your choices seem to revolve around science (science teacher, wildlife biology, marine biology - have you thought about zoology?). I'd go with that. What you are likely to find is that you will take a few courses and one or two will fascinate you! Have one of these goals in mind (wildlife biology, for example) and be open to tweaking it a little as you get in there.

 

It's important to be mindful of the job market - but I think that with the general direction you are headed, you should be ok.

[Princess123]

I got a lot to think about.

 

Thanks for your input.

[ApocalypseDreams]

Do you live in the US?

 

I'm a natural sciences graduate currently working at a university in Australia.

[peanutbutterandjelly]

there was a teaching position at one of our local schools and my mom heard that there were 180 applicants...

[Princess123]

That's what scares me milk! What was the position for, English teacher? I see a lot of English, history, and government majors trying to become teachers.

 

Yes I'm in the states. (US)

 

With the school thing I'd have to press on as a science teacher and see if I like it or not. IF I don't then its moving to the far away remote town to go to that school. Then I would have to find something there I wanted to do. The plus of that school is its $3000/semester. The one near by is $5,500+their little fees so I'm assuming somewhere between $6,300-$6, 800/semester.

 

The close one only has the science teaching program. The one far away has the wildlife, marine ecology, and if worse comes to worse adoption social worker lol. But there are no zoology programs available.

[peanutbutterandjelly]

im not sure what that specific position was, but i know my friend who graduated to be a science teacher over a year ago has not been able to find a job... he was delivering chinese food last time i talked to him.

[Princess123]

I think Florida had the most job opportunities supposedly. But depending on which science there are probably a lot better paying jobs than delivering chinese food! Sigh, now I'm more terrified!

[peanutbutterandjelly]

yeah it definitely depends on where you live. you could always move.

[Princess123]

I have a profound interest on moving. So it's not all bad, I'm just worried if I'm picking the right career. This is something I'll have to be happy with for the rest of my life, essentially!

[ApocalypseDreams]

America seems like a pretty tough place to be in. Doesn't seem like there are many jobs anywhere, in anything.

 

If you do choose to do something within the natural sciences (zoology, marine biology etc) make sure you do as much volunteering as possible, in a variety of things. It really helps build up connections, don't be one of these people who graduates and doesn't have any work experience at all. Start as soon as possible too. If you are going to a college that has post grad students ask around to see if you can help any of them with their research or field work. Stress your interest with lecturers that you want to volunteer and they will have connections within the industry and hook you up with placements.

 

I can't stress how important the above is, if you choose to go that route. A masters degree might help in America, it isn't as important here due to the big resources boom.

[Princess123]

That was the other thing. If I do move to the remote location there is essentially 0 volunteer opportunities unless I'm willing to drive about 2 1/2 hours 2-4 times a month. As much as I was starting to consider the degree in the remote location probably not good because I wouldn't have any volunteer networking connections.

[MissIndigo]

Keeping those networking connections and making new ones is of such paramount importance these days. After I was laid off from a university fellowship I was able to stay in the same city and keep volunteering, which led me to a job offer that I'm seriously considering taking. If I had jumped ship and moved away quickly after I lost my job, it would have been many times harder to find something.

 

Also since you have a lot of your own stuff already you won't have to incur the expense of setting up a place to live. I was grateful for that myself.

 

I think you said you were interested in working with wild animals? Ever thought about volunteering at a wildlife rehab? That sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

[FathomFear]

I have a few friends who went down the teaching path. The general vibe I get from them is "It's rewarding personally but not economically". ie, they get satisfaction from helping students succeed but the money just isn't very good. Job availability and pay will of course vary by region, so just make sure you do your research before diving into anything.

[thejigsup]

I was a Special Ed teacher. They say they need those, too. But a lot of us were let go. Budget cuts. Went back to school to finish my Psych Doctorate. I can open my own business and not have to rely on anyone hiring me. Also, with my teaching experience I will be on the fast track to being a counselor or psychologist. In today's world, you have be educated and flexible.

[Princess123]

Fathom, I DO NOT understand this! So many people say teaching doesn't pay anything. I think those people are the ones who want to live above their means. I do understand that it's different when housing costs a lot more somewhere but still I think they get paid okay. The one thing I didn't like about teaching is that they are basically glorified baby sitters.

 

My dad told me to do what ever is easier and interests me. Nice.

 

The ONLY reason I was doing teaching was because you need to be one for 2 years before you can even go to school for a masters in school counseling. I didn't mind all those off days too.

 

I don't think I'm up for all these science classes anymore though.

 

Wildlife biology degree seems a bit more interesting to me and not the same sort of thing year after year.

 

MissIndigo: thank you. I looked it up, I never thought of this! They had a wildlife rehab but now its in transition to be moved an hour from the city of where this school is. Sigh. There might be another one though in the area. But from what I read the school I'm going to do uses them for internships. So hm.

 

Thanks everyone.

[FathomFear]

Fathom, I DO NOT understand this! So many people say teaching doesn't pay anything. I think those people are the ones who want to live above their means. I do understand that it's different when housing costs a lot more somewhere but still I think they get paid okay. The one thing I didn't like about teaching is that they are basically glorified baby sitters.

 

It really depends on where you live and what your aspirations are. Making 50k/yr might sound like lots of money to someone who's going through school, but once you do the match it starts to look like a lot less. If you make 50k net (which would be on the very high end where I'm from) you probably only take home around 30k after income tax. Then from that you subtract food/necessities/rent or mortgage/possible children/etc--you are left with basically nothing. It's one of the primary reasons why I never pursed it. The amount of money you get for how much time you invest is very skewed.

[Princess123]

Oh I never thought about the after taxes aspect of it. I may just go for wildlife biology although I think they make as much or less for just starting out. Science courses do scare me though.

[MissIndigo]

What in particular scares you about the science courses? Do you feel this way about all of them or is there one particular science you're worried about more than the others?

[abitbroken]

There is a shortage of science, math and sometimes computer science teachers in some areas. I read about a program where if you are a professional in one of those fields or have a science or math degree, there is a group that will pay for your masters if you agree to teach or assistant teach at a school of great need for three years. Most of them are in rural areas or urban settings, some inner city.

[Princess123]

Everyone says chemistry is hard and everyone says science is hard in general. Being I'm only a couple weeks into it, I have no idea how I feel. So far I feel its just a bunch of memorizing and if you can't memorize your screwed.

 

I heard of the shortage and that is why they have this special program for science and math teachers. But says they are at $52,000 in this area. Although after taxes like what was said on here that amounts to $30,000? With tuition costs? Oh no good.

 

I was looking more at the classes for wildlife management and they seem to be a lot funner and interesting. Even the second science course I need sounds funner at that school then at the community college where I'll take it next semester. So that kinda sucks.

 

What scares me is I'd have to take EVERY science class. Chemistry, Physics, Geology. Okay rocks isn't hard but still its a lot. I don't think I would be doing this and liking it.

 

My other thought? I know someone who was a chemistry major. She just got a teaching certificate while waiting for a research opportunity. She graduated with chemistry and just took this course to get teacher certification. (I do know that Chemistry and Physics would probably be the most in demand) So even if I did do wildlife management its biology and I could probably get a teaching certificate if I later changed my mind. With teaching science degree kind of stuck there.

[MissIndigo]

In my home state, you can start as what's called "lateral entry". Science teachers were so in demand they would take most anyone who showed up and said they wanted to do it--the person just had to take certain education courses at the nearby university to get their appropriate certifications. Unfortunately, this doesn't pay well...I had a family member do this who went from a six-figure medical practitioner to basic science classes with the most unruly kids, making less than 30K. The family member was semi-retired at the time and retired fully this past year.

 

If one of your goals is to work more directly in your field or have that shot after graduating you'd likely want to stick with a basic science track now, then investigate a teaching certificate. Hard to say though--if you took a science ed track but could show you had the "chops" to be a researcher/field biologist, it may not matter. I would think you'd have less time for research if you took the education track since it would be filled with teaching practica.

[Princess123]

I'm confused. Stick with a basic science track as in? Then investigate a teaching certificate? So you mean basically what I said? That I could major in wildlife biology management then later if I decide to teach get a teaching certificate?