Im about to make the biggest mistake of my life.......can you help me figure it out?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Tons of good advice here, so I'll just add a quick, confirming 2 cents:

The notion that the point of lif is the journey, not the destination, is especially true for college. Take it from a 40-year-old: if you think you have your life sorted, or even know yourself particularly well, at 18 -- you're wrong. Your whole life up until now has probably been framed by fairly confining institutions -- family, compulsory schooling, maybe religion. This is a chance to go out and be yourself by learning who that self is. Don't pass it up, and don't impose limits on yourself because it seems like the right thing to do; you will, most likely, never have a chance to be this free again.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
Tons of good advice here, so I'll just add a quick, confirming 2 cents:

The notion that the point of lif is the journey, not the destination, is especially true for college. Take it from a 40-year-old: if you think you have your life sorted, or even know yourself particularly well, at 18 -- you're wrong. Your whole life up until now has probably been framed by fairly confining institutions -- family, compulsory schooling, maybe religion. This is a chance to go out and be yourself by learning who that self is. Don't pass it up, and don't impose limits on yourself because it seems like the right thing to do; you will, most likely, never have a chance to be this free again.

As another forty year old, I have to say this is right on.

BTW, Rufus, even though I am forty, I like to refer to myself as in the teenage years of my thirties!

[TCO]

I am 37 you old farts.

[JohnT]

37? You codger.

[Sirotnikov]

Vesayen, you have no idea how much your situation is similar to mine.


I'm very much the same type of person as you are - I'm very much into computer science but I'm als a news hound, I read history books for pleasure, I watch the science and history channels etc.

The only difference is that I'm actually rather good at programming, though I find much of the work very tedious and self-repetative which bores me.

I also applied for a CS (actually Software Engineering, then System Engineering and then Computer Sciences as my priorities) degree in the Israeli Technological Institute here in haifa, and also applied to the Haifa univeristy.

I was sure I'm going to do this for my entire life, and my relatives all expect me to do this.

But the work I do in school in computer classes is boring tedious programming. Much of the courses will be the same. I'm afraid much of my future job will be the same.


At the same time, I'm offered a stunning opportunity that appeals to the whole range of my interests from IDF, and I'm 99% sure that I'm going to take it.

The decision was made easier by my school promising to fund my degree after / during military, so even if I for some reason my dislike my IDF post, I will still get a degree for free.

The problem used to be bigger, since my previous plan (CS) involved getting a BSc. funded by IDF, and then working as a software engineer in IDF for 6 years.

However, I'm not sure I want to commit to 4 years of studying and 6 years of working in a profession that I may not be 100% sure of.

Especially not when the army offers me a job including everything I like (history, politics, strategy) being an officer, and an opportunity to enlist and get a paid degree later.

I'm pushing on my parents, and though I haven't told them that I'm 99% sure that I'm going to IDF, I think I will do that.

They thing is that we're very poor, and the IDF paying the bill is a huge help. Now my school offers it, and it's great.

BUt another problem is the advance head start that the BSc at such an age, and the 6 years of programming experience for IDF no less, can offer me. PLus my parents already invested 1000's in my future education (the applying fees, all sorts of tests (SAT etc) and courses for these tests.

[Flubber]

Don't do CS if you know you would not enjoy it. Study the stuff you love and continue to consider your career options.

As or a few you mention . . .

professor of history seems a natural but would likely require you to get a doctorate from a top school-- Professors here rarely seem to have taught school-age kids

lawyer-- not QUITE indentured servitude . . .LOL-- I like that I often get paid to think, figuring out the best way to solve a problem or draft an agreement. But there is a fair amount of tedious detail work involved in the practice as well

[MRT144]

FLubber, cant you retire after like 15 years? (thats if you save your ass off and invest wisely)

[Flubber]

Originally posted by MRT144
FLubber, cant you retire after like 15 years? (thats if you save your ass off and invest wisely)

rarely (in Canada) -- take calgary as representative. A lawyer at a large or midisized firm, salaried, will be pulling in, about 110,000 by year five, with some bonuses as well based on performance ( and most canadian markets pay less than this). Many corporate counsel jobs pay a bit less and have less expectations regarding workload. Those are good salaries but hardly enough to retire in 15 years routinely. As a senior partner in a big firm you can pull in big money (say over half a million) but most lawyers never attain that level and it would be incredibly rare to get there wuith less than 15 years experience.

The only people I know that retired that quickly either

1. had a good situation going in (wealthy parents and no student debt to pay off

2. Struck it big on a few personal injury cases that they had taken on a contingency fee basis OR

3. Rode the market through a major upswing and got out at the right time

[Sirotnikov]

But what possible work does a historian / political science major has in the real world?

[BeBMan]

I answered that on the first page, Siro

[Sirotnikov]

I know I read your post.

But I won't be a teacher, and I don't know if I'll be able to but in the journalist / commentator bussiness, which is quite tight already in Israel.

[BeBMan]

Then you could go for the analyst jobs (if thats fit into your plans), esp. your intelligence services should offer something

[Sirotnikov]

edited - too easy.


BeBro - work on your reading skills re-read my previous post.

[Sirotnikov]

But if for some reason I want to leave, or say I retire at 45, where do I go?

[BeBMan]

Ah, lazy me, didn´t read you whole post

Well, I read in another thread that an army career opens the doors too for a civil career in Israel? Was that you who posted it? (Not sure)

I mean if you retire at 45, you should have enough experience and contacts for the rest of your live - aren´t then some civil jobs where you can use your knowledge?