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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Sep 8 2014, 10:56pm
Post #1 of 51
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What was your college Major?
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I am just merely curious I swear. A lot of people seem to major in something that deals directly with their job. However I am aware just as many people major in something completely unrelated. So does your major have anything to do with it? Or was it something you picked just because you liked it?
"And so they stood on the walls of the city of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air."
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Elizabeth
Half-elven
Sep 8 2014, 11:03pm
Post #2 of 51
(372 views)
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Initially I took a lot of math and physics classes. But time passed, and I found myself on the opposite coast, with a full time job as a computer programmer, 3 small children, and a husband in graduate school. But I was working on a university campus, and wanted to take courses, so I concluded that I may as well study something I really loved, as it was the only recreation I was likely to get. So I studied medieval history, mostly of Britain, and ended up with a Master's degree.
My profs encouraged me to continue for a doctorate, but I realized that it would take several more years, at the end of which time I'd be qualified in a field with very few job openings and a salary less than I was already making, so I stopped there, and continued in my computer software career for another 30 years.
I still love knowing all that stuff, though.
(This post was edited by Elizabeth on Sep 8 2014, 11:06pm)
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Arannir
Valinor
Sep 8 2014, 11:08pm
Post #3 of 51
(369 views)
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Politics for the Bachelor's Degree, Diplomacy & Security Studies as a Master's Degree.
"I am afraid it is only too likely to be true what you say about the critics and the public. I am dreading the publication for it will be impossible not to mind what is said. I have exposed my heart to be shot at." J.R.R. Tolkien
We all have our hearts and minds one way or another invested in these books and movies. So we all mind and should show the necessary respect.
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Annael
Immortal
Sep 9 2014, 12:47am
Post #4 of 51
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I went to an alternative undergrad school where you didn't have to declare a major
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but I basically did all the pre-med courses, studied History of Science, and in my senior year put together an independent study program in Psychobiology.
Later I got a Master's in Social Work, and recently earned a Master's and PhD in Mythological Studies with a Depth Psychology Emphasis (basically an interdisciplinary degree in Mythology/World Religions, Depth Psychology, and Western Culture Studies).
In other words, I couldn't be confined to one field of study 
I never did go to medical school OR work as a counselor. Instead I sort of backed into being a medical/science writer and editor. The PhD was relevant to the book I've got coming out next March, however.
To be sane we must recognize our beliefs as fictions.
- James Hillman, Healing Fiction
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
(This post was edited by Annael on Sep 9 2014, 12:52am)
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Dame Ioreth
Tol Eressea
Sep 9 2014, 1:43am
Post #5 of 51
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My first degree was a BA in Biochemistry (I missed additional majors in Music, Anthropology and Chemistry by one course each.) I was burned out so I went straight to work in a lab as a research assistant doing cholesterol and then oncology research. Then I got married and decided I wanted to have kids with as few birth defects as possible so I got out of research and away from my messy bench mates (who thought a hot badge was nothing to be worried about) and went back to pharmacy school. I got into the doctoral program but ran out of money so I settled for another Bachelors this time a BS Pharmacy. (There was no such thing as a Masters Degree in Pharmacy.) I've worked in that field for almost 25 years now off and on.
Where there's life there's hope, and need of vittles.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Sep 9 2014, 2:19am
Post #6 of 51
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Today they have something similar called "interdisciplinary studies"
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Some schools offer it where you can essentially create your own unique major based on course material you're interested in.
"And so they stood on the walls of the city of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air."
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Darkstone
Immortal
Sep 9 2014, 2:31am
Post #7 of 51
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With an eye to an environmental career. (There was a girl.)
Astrochemistry in grad school. (Who knew that was a thing?)
Also English Lit somehow. (Yes, that was another girl.)
******************************************
For a while the three companions remained silent, gazing after him. Then Aragorn spoke. "They will look for him from the White Tower," he said, "but he will not return from mountain or from sea." Then slowly he began to sing:
"Boromir is dead
Poor Boromir is dead
All gather round his canoe now and cry
He had a heart of gold
And he wasn't very old
Oh why did such a feller have to die?"
Then Legolas sang:
"Boromir is dead
Poor Boromir is dead
He's lookin' oh so purty and so nice
He looks like he's asleep
It's a shame that he won't keep
But the sun’s out and we're runnin' out a' ice."
Then Aragorn sang again:
"Boromir is dead
Poor Boromir is dead
From Minas Tirith comes a weepin' sound
The East Wind for a spell
Will now blow a different smell
Til Boromir is underneath the ground."
So they ended. Then they turned their boat and drove it with all the speed they could against the stream back to Parth Galen.
-Rodgers and Hammerstein, The Lord of the Rings
(This post was edited by Darkstone on Sep 9 2014, 2:40am)
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Sep 9 2014, 2:42am
Post #8 of 51
(335 views)
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Which, in the early '70s, turned out to be more theoretical than I cared for. I never used most of it.
My first job was doing payroll at a tiny business, then computer data entry for engineers building nuclear subs (I was helping with pipe-stress analysis in the reactor chamber), then for a decade did Basic and Fortran programming for programs that were sent out with those subs.
After time off raising a family, I found myself at my kids' school, learning library science from their librarian and computer maintenance from the IT guys, and finding it all very mathematical/logical in nature, and more enjoyable than the college stuff. Still doing it today in a different school, and still loving it and learning more about it, all hands-on instead of classes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Old Toby
Grey Havens
Sep 9 2014, 3:05am
Post #9 of 51
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It's interesting to see so many here with degrees in the scientific fields
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Somehow I never would have thought so many were technically inclined. Which just goes to show that the realm of fantasy, whether in literature or in film, spans all sorts of interests.
I myself have a bachelor's degree in Philosophy & Religion. Having worked most of my life with horses, and now in a telecommunications company, you can easily see how my major has had profound relevance to my work history! Yes. If I had gone on to get my Masters degree I no doubt would have ended up teaching in some college somewhere. But my love of horses took priority over my love of thinking about my love of horses. And I'm not sorry. Usually.
"Age is always advancing and I'm fairly sure it's up to no good." Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher)
(This post was edited by Old Toby on Sep 9 2014, 3:05am)
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Meneldor
Valinor
Sep 9 2014, 3:35am
Post #10 of 51
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Some of the principles I learned came in handy as an Air Force flight engineer.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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squire
Half-elven
Sep 9 2014, 3:45am
Post #11 of 51
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Europe was my primary area, and East Asia was my secondary (you had to do two as a kind of major/minor within the major, so to speak).
But besides indulging in my lifelong love of history, I liked the History department because it -- with its lecture-only courses, and papers due at the end of the term -- allowed me to indulge my other love of technical theater by working on half a dozen shows during the semester.
That actually led to a career (and later a Masters degree) in set design for theater and film. Not history, exactly, but not not, either: an awful lot of shows are set in the past, so historical knowledge is quite important to a set designer. Art history, social history, design history, and theatrical history are more helpful than the mostly political focus of my college profs, but it's all grist for Clio's mill as far as I'm concerned.
Finally, a few years ago I took another Masters in teaching History in high school. That's what I now do with pleasure, and also with a lot of highly dramatic visual- and art-oriented activities. And so I've come full circle, academically, after 35 years.
squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Footeramas: The 3rd & 4th TORn Reading Room LotR Discussion and NOW the 1st BotR Discussion too! and "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
squiretalk introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary
 = Forum has no new posts. Forum needs no new posts.
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Elizabeth
Half-elven
Sep 9 2014, 4:42am
Post #12 of 51
(326 views)
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I'll bet you're a wonderful teacher!
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You certainly do a spectacular job with Reading Room chapters!
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Lissuin
Valinor
Sep 9 2014, 6:34am
Post #13 of 51
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Subjects I found interesting and I thought would help me travel.
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B.A. in Anthropology/minor in English lit., M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language. I wanted to study anthro after reading Richard Halliburton's travel books for children while I had the chicken pox. Then Margaret Mead and Jane Godall were heroes for field work. Sadly, I did not prove to have the right temperament to be an academic, but the anthro absolutely helped with the teaching of adult immigrants and college students from all over the world - and life in general. I thought I'd learn how to teach ESL so I could travel and not starve, but then I stayed in the US to teach for twenty years before finally moving to Sweden and teaching English and culture studies to business people for twelve years. It proved to be an ideal mix of culture and language and people and diversity for me.
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smtfhw
Lorien
Sep 9 2014, 8:37am
Post #14 of 51
(316 views)
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My Degree (which is what I assume you mean)
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is a BA (Hons) in Modern History. As it's from an Oxford college you'll probably not be surprised to learn that the period covered is 400AD to 1945 which meant I got to play with a lot of early medieval history with particular emphasis on the Carolingians... I think nowadays they stop somewhat closer to the end of the last century, but they may not.
By profession I am a technical author as well as a motor sports journalist. The relevance of my degree is that it taught me to think, and to be able to express those thoughts in written form.
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Kimi
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Sep 9 2014, 8:45am
Post #15 of 51
(310 views)
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Which did not have huge relevance to all those years I spent as a software developer, but perhaps has something to do with the fact that I'm now a writer. :)
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
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BlackFox
Half-elven
Sep 9 2014, 9:18am
Post #17 of 51
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BA in Literature and Cultural Research (with a major in Estonian Literature and a minor in Theatre Studies) and MA in Estonian Literature (I'm currently working on my master's thesis), to be precise.
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Lissuin
Valinor
Sep 9 2014, 10:14am
Post #18 of 51
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... gunk, pots, up trouble and/or hornets' nests? //
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acheron
Gondor
Sep 9 2014, 1:12pm
Post #19 of 51
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For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much -- the wheel, New York, wars, and so on -- while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man, for precisely the same reasons. -- Douglas Adams
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Ham_Sammy
Tol Eressea
Sep 9 2014, 1:46pm
Post #20 of 51
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I was a History major, German and Latin minor for my BA. Primary study was Renaissance and Reformation Europe and classics. My master's degree was Marriage and Family Counseling.
Thank you for your questions, now go sod off and do something useful - Martin Freeman Twitter chat 3/1/13
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Kilidoescartwheels
Valinor
Sep 9 2014, 2:02pm
Post #21 of 51
(276 views)
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Although it's called "Applied Technology," it's really a communications degree. It was designed for people who had an Associates in a Technical field, who wanted a Bachelor's. My Associates degree is Paralegal studies, which is more relevant to my current job (Admin Asst. at a Law School), although the Communications courses are somewhat helpful.
I think I tried to make a career out of being a college student - I changed my major about 1/2 dozen times over a nearly 20-year period before I finally finished SOMETHING! I was a Mass Comm, Computer Programming, Business, Humanities & Accounting major before I finally settled on the Applied Tech degree. I mainly did that to finish a BA before my oldest started college. I often wish I'd done something more important instead, I think I would have been a good teacher. I have considered getting a Master's in something - possibly History because I'm trying to write historical fiction - so that I could teach as a Adjunct, but I'm not sure that would be worth the investment. I work with a lady that has two Master's degrees, one in Education and the other is an MBA. She's currently working as a Carpenter with no real hope of ever paying off her student loans. Working in a Law School I see how much debt you can accumulate, but honestly if I were younger or ever win the lottery I'd definitely go to Law School. Just probably won't happen, oh well.
Why yes, I DO look like Anna Friel!
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Alassëa Eruvande
Valinor
Sep 9 2014, 2:47pm
Post #22 of 51
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BS in Biology with a chemistry minor.
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I had hopes of going to Veterinary school until I found out the inverse ratio of money-spent-on-education to money-actually-earned.
So, I opted to be a veterinary technician. In Texas, there is no special license to be a vet. tech., but the Texas Veterinary Medical Association got together about 25 years ago and put together a designation of "Registered Veterinary Technician", and set up certain qualifications and a test to obtain it. An RVT is someone who can work with little or no direct supervision of a veterinarian, as opposed to someone who does not have the designation and is not supposed to do certain things. However, there is no "legal" status for who can do what. You can be unregistered, but if your veterinarian trusts you to do certain tasks, you can do it. So I'm also a Registered Veterinary Technician. Nowadays, there are college courses available which result in an RVT cerificate. Back then, there weren't.
I worked for 10 years as an RVT, then got married and had kids. So, yes, my biology degree was useful mostly for getting my foot in the door of the vet hospital, but all practical knowledge I gained on the job. And I'm awesome at teaching science to Cub Scouts! 
I am SMAUG! I kill when I wish! I am strong, strong, STRONG!
My armor is like tenfold shields! My teeth like swords! My claws, spears!
The shock of my tail, a thunderbolt! My wings, a hurricane! And my breath, death!
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Annael
Immortal
Sep 9 2014, 4:03pm
Post #23 of 51
(268 views)
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yes, they offered such things back then too
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my college took the idea and ran with it.
In my high school, 50 seniors each year got to opt out of the usual 50-minute, one-subject classes for the morning and instead enroll in what was called the Humanities Block. We met for three hours straight and read literature and philosophy in the original texts, discussed them, and wrote papers. Set me up beautifully for the rest of my education. Obama's mother took "Block" when she attended that high school (she was a year ahead of my older brother).
To be sane we must recognize our beliefs as fictions.
- James Hillman, Healing Fiction
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Sep 9 2014, 5:20pm
Post #24 of 51
(260 views)
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Sounds like you found a really nice school
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Lucky you.
"And so they stood on the walls of the city of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air."
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DanielLB
Immortal
Sep 9 2014, 7:51pm
Post #25 of 51
(265 views)
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Is it equivalent to UK University degrees? I have a BSc Geography, MSc Atmospheric Sciences, PhD (nearly) Climatology.
It's been tough. But well worth it.
I just now need something beginning with J and ending in OB.
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