Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with choices

Should I stay or should I go?

bolognius maximus — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:35:18 -0800

The best path? PhD and wait to get into a US school, or go off to the Caribbean? I am currently finishing up my master's program and have already been accepted to a PhD program. I want to go to veterinary school. Due to several learning experiences, my application is a little 'iffy'. I started college at 18 and REALLY wasn't ready for it. Quit, came back a few years later, and went at it again. Success initially, but then the loans ran out and I was working 60+ hours a week and trying to go to school full-time. Attempt = almost epic fail. Recovered nicely in grad school. So, 17 years after my first attempt at college, my cumulative GPA is a bit of a hot mess in terms of applying to vet school. It is recovering with each passing semester, but it is not what many of the schools look for, since the application process is not really holistic for most schools.

I did get favorable application reviews last year from 2 U.S. schools. I am tweaking my app to suit these schools. But, admission to vet school is still very competitive, so many people have to apply 2-3 times.

I was accepted to all three of the Caribbean schools. This is more of a logistic difficulty than anything else, although none of the schools are accredited in the U.S., so an additional exam is required for licensing.

I am looking for thoughts, insights, etc. I really like my grad program, which affords me opportunities that I probably won't have again. My advisor has great funding, and essentially will let me design whatever project I want to do. So for my master's I went to Costa Rica.

I would really like to go to a U.S. school, just because it would be easier logistically. I have 6 dogs and 5 cats (that I can't and won't farm out to foster homes), so moving to the Caribbean would be...interesting. But if going to a Caribbean school is the best idea, I am willing to do it.

My advisor wants me to apply to vet school, and will release me from my responsibilities and put it on hold if I get in. If I don't get in this year, I could take more classes and improve my app and apply for a 3rd time. Cost is not an issue.

What does the hive mind think is the best choice? Thanks in advance.

Should he stay or should he go?

Nolechick11 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:22:23 -0800

My boyfriend can't decide what he should do about his job. Should he stick with a job he's not happy with but has great job security and benefits? Or is he better off finding something that will make him much happier? Or somewhere in between? Much, much more after the jump. This question is being asked on behalf of my boyfriend. He can’t decide what to do about his current work situation, so I suggested asking the hive mind’s opinion. I have tried to give as unbiased a summary of the problem as I can (I’ve never been all that thrilled with the way they treat him) and I’ve shown it to him for his approval. I apologize now for the length.

My boyfriend currently works as a computer engineer at a science-oriented government facility. He has been there for approximately 6 years and this is the only job that he’s had after college. The core part of the software system he works on was produced by another developer who left the group about 3 years into the project. This piece of software is used in various places around the facility. His responsibilities include (but are not limited to) maintaining and adding on to the existing program. Over the years, he has learned a fair amount about how the core works although it is very convoluted and difficult to understand. He hasn’t been all that happy with the job for a while and at various times has considered posting his resume, but he just hasn’t done it. He did try to leave about two years ago. He found another job that was offering a more money, but his current job gave him even more money to stay and he did. They gave him a bonus and made him sign an agreement saying that he would remain there for a year.

Recently, however, things have started to get a lot more stressful. There is and has been a lot of turn-over in his group, which was relatively small (6 people). Three people quit within the past 6 months and only recently has one new programmer been hired. Additionally, my boyfriend is now the only one left who understands about 2/3 of the software system used throughout the facility. As a result he is seen as the guy to go to when there is a problem. Often the problems at the instruments have nothing to do with the software. However, whether they do or do not, he is the most likely person to be able to diagnose the problem and fix it. The facility runs 24 hours/day for about 10 months out of the year, so there are often people there late at night and on the weekends. Therefore, he often gets phone calls after he’s left work or on weekends because something broke. If he isn’t already busy, he will often agree to just go back into work because it is not something that can be easily diagnosed/fixed over the phone. He also has the added responsibility to train new employees.

So, he has been seriously considering posting his resume to see what kind of jobs/offers he can get. One potential problem is that after the third person quit, his boss asked him if he was looking for another job. He said that he didn’t really answer the question because he didn’t want to lie. He told his boss that he doesn’t have a resume up but didn’t specifically tell him he wasn’t thinking of looking for another job. His boss also asked him not leave for at least three months because they would be completely screwed. My boyfriend has discussed this with his parents and they are encouraging him to ask his boss for a raise and a change in job title and description (to include the new supervisory duties).

He doesn’t know whether to stay in the job he is basically unhappy with or try to find something new. He also doesn’t know whether or not to talk to his boss about a raise. One extra thing to point out is that he said a raise would be nice but it wouldn’t be long before the unhappiness with the job came back.

Reasons for staying:
1. He has iron clad job security and government benefits. He has some pretty major health issues, so health insurance is a must.
2. His pay is decent. He thinks its at least average for his field (although he’s not certain). He gets regular cost of living increases and can receive raises.
3. According to him, continuing to work there is a “known quantity”. Basically, he’s worked there for so long he knows how things are run and how everything works (and doesn’t see any huge changes in the future).
4. He believes he has built a good reputation within the building, beyond the people he works with all the time.
5. He has some feelings of guilt if he leaves when they are already down three people.

Reasons for leaving:
1. The software which is produced is of low quality. The facility he works at is not willing to spend the resources necessary to improve the software and the project is generally poorly managed. In addition, the facility wants to keep expanding the software to work on all systems without addressing its core problems.
2. The clients of his software (the scientists) do not like the software and he rarely gets positive feedback from them. Even when he does, he knows that it could be made a lot better.
3. The work is not particularly challenging.
4. The job is very stressful, especially right now. He often has difficulty falling asleep (can’t stop thinking, sometimes about work). Occasionally, he will wake in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep because he is stressed out from work.

Hopefully, you’ve stayed with me this far… so do you have any advice for him? Should he stay the three months and then say screw it I’m finding another job? Should he wait it out to see if the economy gets any better? Thanks for any help you can give!

Bonus question: Assume that my boyfriend decides to post his resume. His boss is actively looking for more people to hire. What does my boyfriend say to his boss when he (the boss) eventually finds bf’s resume online?

What's better -- high pay or a good team?

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:30:20 -0800

Should I stick with a secure, high-paying IT career where I'm a solo developer with no possibility of advancement, or switch to a much-lesser paying career where I can be part of a team and a larger company and perhaps even advance in the next few years? Sure, there are many nuances to this question, and it's more of an opinion piece than a question that has a direct answer, but I'm hoping to hear from some people who've had the same choice to make or just want to weigh in.

I have a family and kids, and the job market blows, but my entire department was let go (not financial, just a restructuring) and they're simply not going to need me to do anything but program the one remaining application for the rest of my life. They've specifically told me that I've got a job for as long as I want it, so I have security in these trying times, but the next time I switch jobs I will definitely be taking a major income hit. Should I just do it now and get it out of the way?

What can I do to feel more positive and confident while riding out uncertaintiy in "transitional" phases of my life?

Chrysalis — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:30:31 -0800

What can I do to feel more positive and confident while riding out uncertaintiy in "transitional" phases of my life? I'm in my mid 20s, and after a pretty traumatic breakup, have just moved back to my home town. I haven't lived here for 3 years, and while it's great to be back amongst my old friends and have a chance for a fresh start, it's also quite unsettling that I haven't got a long-established routine or a clear future plan now. I'm trying to use this as a time to reconsider what I want for my life (now that my plans with my partner won't be happening) and get in touch with who I really am etc... but I can't help feeling uneasy about the fact that nothing's really happening right now... I'm about to start studying, I've applied for a job, I'm keeping busy with training for my sport, but right at this moment there's nothing major that I'm passionately working on and towards, that I can pin all my hopes on (I realise this is unhealthy and almost definitely the cause of a lot of my unhappiness).

I've felt similarly before, and always just either stayed in an unhappy situation to avoid this happening and tried to "make it work", or jumped into a poor but distracting situation to avoid having to go through this. These situations have been both geographical, career or relationship situations, but my response so far has always been the same.

This time I want to stick it out and not just run away from it. I feel like this is my chance to become more authentically "me" and comfortable with that, and make better choices from that position, and hopefully end up being comfortable and reasonably happy day to day without it being pinned on some future awesomeness, but I keep being tempted to either run away (distract myself with things I don't really want or literally move overseas again) or hide in my room forever cos it's just too hard.

What can I do to face this time in a positive, constructive manner?

An optimistic novel for an indoctrinated nihilist?

zaebiz — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:46:18 -0800

What is a classic, perhaps philosophical, novel about individual freedom to choose? So that no matter how desperate the situation you find yourself in, you always have choices about what to do, how to feel and how to think about your situation. The book is for a Russian lady who grew up mostly in the Soviet era but finds herself in Western civilisation somewhat isolated. When things get very difficult, she tends to react in a nihilistic fashion, rather than a hopeful optimistic fashion. I was thinking some thing in the Jean-Paul Satre mold, but then my knowledge of novels is very limited so very open to suggestions. Ideally it would be so widely available that its pretty likely I could find it written in Russian.

OK, you've got my life, but I won't get fat, damnit!

pazazygeek — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:40:58 -0800

I need some suggestions for nutritious foods to eat while I'm trapped in crunch mode at work. I'm currently working approximately 70 hours a week, and have to eat dinner at work every night. I am gaining weight, and it is making me crazy. This amount of work is going to continue (and will likely get worse) until May.

I try to get out to the gym for an hour or so during the day (I haven't been great about this but am determined to do better), and have managed to mostly curb my snacking.

The company that I work for has a lot of folks working late hours, so snacks and dinner are provided. The problem is that all of this food is very fattening and I am gaining weight, which is making me even more tired and depressed.

I tried cooking a bunch of nutritious meals for myself that I then froze for the week, but this is not going to work for me long-term. I am working so much that finding the time or energy to cook for three hours on the weekend is nigh impossible, and then I have a ton of dishes to do on top of it. Do not want!

I'm not a big fan of frozen lean cuisine type meals, even though they are usually low calorie, they're not very satisfying and they are loaded with sodium.

My big plan is to take a lunch break tomorrow and go to a grocery store and stock up on good for me things. Fruits, veggies, etc for snacking, and some frozen foods for meals. We have plenty of room in our fridges in the kitchen at the office. What do you extremely smart people suggest? Trader Joes and Whole Foods are nearby options.

Adding a bit of complexity in: This is another period of long extended hours that I've been dropped into after working on a different high pressure extended hours project for a year and a half. I am fighting depression as best I can, but it is getting the better of me. This desperately affects my food choice judgement, so any suggestions you have to arm myself against that particular problem would also be greatly appreciated. I have little to no time for myself, and often a nice, carby snack (like a bagel with cream cheese, oh, sweet bagels with cream cheese) is a wildly tempting treat.

I went to the doctor recently because I'd been feeling bloated, fatigued and icky (no other real symptoms) and she mentioned off hand that it could be mild IBS, so bonus points for foods that help with that. I have some toasted flax seeds that I keep in my fridge at home and will bring them to work to stir into whatever I do eat. I have been mixing them into yogurt in the morning (when I wake up in time to eat something before I get to work).

And also, just because I know someone will say this, of course I have considered changing jobs, as I'm aware this kind of work stress is very bad for me, but for obvious reasons this isn't really an option at this time, and I need to survive this with my sanity in tact.

I eat badly and I need to stop.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:37:36 -0800

Help me make better choices, food-wise. I eat very, very badly. I know this. Yet, for some reason, I cannot stop eating badly. Portion size, food type, everything - I cannot be counted on to make good food choices, and I can't figure out why. It's starting to affect my health (I've gained some weight, and I have a family history of high cholesterol, which is getting higher).

When faced with the choice of, say, fast food or a reasonably healthy turkey sandwich, I will almost always choose the fast food - and if I do choose the healthier option, I eat that healthier option in a portion size that all but defeats the health benefit that I would have gained had I eaten a "normal" amount.

I understand, intellectually, the correlation between eating right and health - yet I cannot, for some reason, bring myself to do it. I exercise - I bike to work every day (13 miles round-trip), I go to the gym a couple times a week - but it doesn't seem to help because I can't overcome my food stupidity.

I'm not particularly depressed - I have a wonderful wife, a nice house, and a reasonably steady job, so there's no stress there. I just can't seem to make myself make good eating decisions, so I guess that in itself is really starting to depress me.

Anyway. Does anybody have any ideas on how I can help myself make better food choices? Understanding the consequences of making bad decisions isn't enough - I understand them fully, and yet I still make these bad decisions. I need something...more. I don't want this to become a major health issue, but I fear that if I continue down this road it will.

I'm posting this anonymously because family and friends read askme regularly and I want to start down this road myself, without worrying them. I've also got a throwaway email address (helpmyhealth@gmail.com) if you have any tips/advice you'd rather email.

The Baha'i Religion - Am I missing anything?

unixrat — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:22:25 -0800

I have spent the past two years doing on-again, off-again research into the Baha'i religion. I really like what I see - I'm on the verge of conversion. There is one problem - something that's nagging at the corners of my mind: Why isn't this religion more popular? Is there something that I'm missing that everyone else is seeing? This is a bit of the Wisdom of Crowds mentality, but I have this mental image of a fork in the road with a heavily traveled path on one side and a deer path on the other.

I'm not afraid of going my own way, I'm just looking for a little reassurance that I'm not blind to some obvious problem.

The people I've spoken to have been very nice, the books that I have read have seemed pretty thorough, and I've read all the criticism that I can get my hands on. Yet, the sheer anonymity of it leaves me a bit bewildered.

Help?

DIY Decide It Yourself

Xurando — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:47:45 -0800

Help me create a template for determining when I should DIY or not. In general, I always vacillate when trying to decide whether or not to do something myself or hire someone to do the task. I've decided it would be helpful to have a decision making template. Here are some othe areas I have been struggling with.
1. Bathroom
2. My tax person just made $4,000 mistake that I wouldn't have made myself. I could do both my business and personal taxes with turbo tax but thought a professional would be simpler.
3. I recently switched my retirement money to a broker who has put it all into mutual funds with high expense ratios as well as his own fee. I tell myself I don't have time to follow the market but I could save money doing it myself.
4. I tore the door baffle/rubber ring on my front loading washer. I have the replacement part. I'll save $200 by doing it myself but frustration/aggravation costs may be high.

Is there a simple formula for making these decisions in terms of time/cost/frustration?

How can I best involve myself in the Social/Political cause against Water Privatization?

albernathy0 — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:05:30 -0800

How can I best involve myself in the Social/Political cause against Water Privatization? I am 20 years old, a junior at the University of California San Diego. I am an International Studies Sociology major, but over the last couple of months I've been thinking about important issues that I want to work in and the world's water crisis has been at the top of my list. I was thinking originally about finishing my sociology degree while taking math/science/bio courses so that I could be eligible for a Hydrology graduate program. As I was looking into Hydrology programs, to see if this would cut it, it seems that they generally prefer pure science majors, such as Geology/Bio/Chem/Engineering. I am not particularly math/science oriented, I am much more of a humanities sort of person, so I am very confused about what I ought to do.

Another question I'm facing is if getting a Hydrology Degree is the best way I can address this problem. I want to be apart of the solution, but I want to be able to be apply my particular strengths to the cause, which I feel are not mathematical or scientific.

If I were to finish my sociology degree are their career possibilities involved in this?

Please help.
As I am supposed to pick my classes at the University of Chile soon...tomorrow. But I will have a month to alter my schedule.

University of California Davis has an undergraduate hydrology program, and I was thinking of possibly transferring. But that obviously is a step ahead.

Thank you all for the helpful comments. I would especially love to hear from actual hydrologists.

Better is work experience where love is, than a fulltime job and hatred therewith.

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:57:23 -0800

How do I tell if I really liked the job or the people? I have been doing work experience with a large company, and now have been offered a job with them. I'm thinking I will take it, because I have really enjoyed my work experience with them - I enjoyed my work, and was happy to turn up to work every day. However, I can't tell how much of my positive feeling about the job comes from the work I did, and how much was the individuals I've been working with. My coworkers have all been awesome people, some of whom I became friends with out of work. That's great, but were I to take the job, it is likely I would be working in a completely separate department with completely different people (still doing the same work). People I've met from other departments have also been very friendly, but I guess I feel that I am unlikely to find the same environment, and I don't know how much the idea of that environment is influencing me. It doesn't help that I have no experience at any other real job to compare with. I would just take it and see how it goes, but the job is in a different city so it seems like a big decision.

Given that you probably don't actually know what I'm thinking, I guess I'd like to know how to understand my own motivations and influences when making the decision.

(Anon because I'm shy and there are almost definitely coworkers on mefi. Follow up at not.that.weird@gmail.com)

scared of the big leap

divabat — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 19:40:29 -0800

I'm on the brink of possibly changing my life. However, logistical and emotional issues are in the way. What on Earth should I do? (warning: More Inside is looooooong) I'm currently in my second year of university (arts management and creative writing) in Australia as an international student and I'm hating it. Australia is a fine country, and my uni isn't too terrible, but the experience of university is killing me. I hate academic writing, or rather writing on command - I love research, but I'd rather be doing it on my own basis rather than on subjects I'm not so sure about. For some reason half the subjects for my arts management submajor are performance/theatre related, and due to my lack of theatre background I'm feeling very lost and disconnected. (They aren't even Theatre 101 subjects, but more advanced material.) I took creative writing classes because I had a passion for writing, but having my work cut down for lack of publishability (even if it was a fine work on its own) is demotivating. Or maybe I just detest homework, I don't know.

Granted, I am going through depression (have been diagnosed & under some form of treatment over the past 5 years) so that may be clouding my opinion of university to an extent. There are also a couple of classes that I've found highly fascinating - but 2 classes out of 12 just aren't enough, and it feels like university is the major contributor of the depression. Overall I find the university experience to be too much pontificating about what Academic A or Academic B has to say about "liminal space" or whatever, and less about what's happening in the real world and how to make that work for our projects (the two classes that I found fascinating were far more grounded and real-world and I wished my whole degree were subjects like those!). I'm good with project proposals, or actual projects, and while I can actually write good academic papers I find the process stifling and boring.

I have a very experiential way of learning, so academic styles don't really work for me. I also work best with personal individualized guidance, which I'm not really getting. I find more happiness and fulfillment in the different volunteer work and events I do outside uni, than on anything I'm doing as a uni assignment. Indeed, this semester I've spent more time in conferences (which are fun and great learning experiences) than in actual class time, though I am getting my work in on time.

It's gotten to the point that I really NEED a change. I mainly went to university in the first place to fulfil expectations of getting a degree. My previous university screwed me (and many others) over, so I left and went on a life-changing educational tour, followed by a few months of working while I applied and waited for jobs for the company that did the tour. I didn't get the job I hoped for, so I went to uni instead. It was a HUGE adjustment, having come from overseas, and I thought I'd slog through it hoping for things to get better, but one and a half years on, I'm just feeling so DEAD and so DEPRESSED and DEMOTIVATED. I've spent many nights the past few weeks crying because I didn't know what to do.

I talked to my psychologist about it, and about my fear of offending my family. I've felt that the degree was more for them than for me (I've found through experience that I could pretty much survive without one, as the things I'm interested in don't really need a degree) and whenever I've tried to bring it up before, it turned into a fight. After a few weeks of thinking, I wrote an email to everyone and waited in trepidation. To my surprise, my family said that I should do whatever makes me happy - as long as I fund it myself. I don't HAVE to get a degree for them, but they all said the same thing: I'm here in Australia to get a better passport.

I have a Bangladesh passport. It sucks. I need visas for EVERYWHERE and can't go many places as a young tourist. I have Malaysian PR, but even though we applied for citizenship (and even though I was born in the country and spent most of my life there) I am no closer to getting citizenship there. The theory was that by getting a degree in Australia, I would be far closer in getting an Australian PR (and eventually passport) than I would anywhere else. However, with all sorts of rules and legislation changes, my degree doesn't really get me anywhere. It doesn't lead to a "skilled job" with enough points, it's not a high-demand occupation, and I don't live in a regional area. I'm generally cynical about immigration anyway; I figure at this rate I'm permanently stateless. So my decisions to do things don't hinge on whether I can get a passport there or not.

I have one year of university left, and I was hoping to use the first semester of that year to go on exchange - the change of scenery would do me good, and when I come back I only have one semester left so it wouldn't be too hard. About 20 minutes ago, though, I just got notified that (due to issues on their end) my exchange isn't successful, so there goes that idea - and the only thing really tying me to this university. I'm not entirely sure what to do.

I have a few options in mind:

a) Continue on the volunteer/youth conference curcuit for a while. It's what I enjoy doing, but I won't really earn any money, and I have limited funds.

b) Go on a study-abroad trip with a private company. I've been accepted for one, but it's so expensive and all my money would be gone.

c) Get a job in Australia. They're there, and I have plenty of experience and drive to qualify, but visas become a hassle.

d) Go back to Malaysia. I'm not fond of that country though so I don't know what I'll do there.

e) Go back to Malaysia and implement some projects I have in mind. Slightly better choice, but I have no idea how to do so! And I still have so many things I want to experience.

f) Move to another country and do something else. Visas, again. And I'd miss my boyfriend (he's pretty supportive of me though)

g) Transfer to a university that has more of what i'm after. Most of them are in the US (the Colleges That Change Lives type unis) but I don't know if I can handle the whole rigamarole of visas and applications and academic writing and such.

h) Change my degree to Social Work, Community Development, or Human Services. I've found that this is closer to my passion than my current one (which are passions too but not as strong as these ones) but again, lots of logistical hassle, and I don't want university to kill my love for those two areas.

I'm stuck. I feel immobile. All this ideas but also all these blocks. I've been emailing people for ideas, but I have no idea where to go.

Should I stay on my degree and slog it out for another year?

Should I drop out, do the degree by distance, change degrees, change universities?

Should I travel, find work elsewhere?

Is there an International Passport for "Stateless" people like me?

What shall I do? This is the scariest thing I'ver ever considered and I don't know where to begin.

Eenie Meenie Miney Mo, pick a love and make a go.

hot little pancake — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 10:28:09 -0800

Which love option should I choose? [Much, much Option 1: The one that is smart, aloof, intelligent, handsome, cool and artistic. You were swept off your feet by this one and you knew within a year of meeting that this was the one you wanted to spend your life with. This one challenges you to be a more creative person and would be an excellent parent, challenging the children in the same way. This one is your dream on paper but in reality things are more complicated. The sex is infrequent and always has been. And then there was the breakup, detailed below, which you still aren’t recovered from. You’ve been together a very long time and you think that they’ve pretty much pegged you as the marriage and parent of their children type and not the type that is exciting to be young with and have fun. And you are young.

Option 2: The one that is uncultured, uneducated but street smart, calm and comfortable, constantly makes you laugh, adores you and wants to spend time with you always. You have amazing chemistry with this one and time together flies by. The sex is amazing and exciting. You feel super confident when you are with this one. But you can’t help but bump against the ceiling. In the back of your mind you constantly wish they were taller, better educated, less traditional. You suspect that long term you won’t be capable of settling for the conventional life that this one requires and that this one will get frustrated with you not fitting into their conventions. You’ve been good friends with this one for a few years but only romantically involved for a few months.

Background: I had been dating #1 for nearly a decade. #1 is my first serious relationship. Due to an early mid-life crisis type thing #1 dumped me and disappeared. After about 9 months, right about the time I was regaining feeling in my fingers and toes and considering leaving my house again I told the whole story to my friend, #2. #2 took the opportunity to confess hidden love for me and we fell into dating. After a few months of happiness with #2, #1 came back like a tornado and said he wanted me back, claiming that the breakup was just to get us out of our rut and never meant as permanent. So then I had to choose.

Now I find myself endlessly plaguing myself with questions over it, flip-flopping and driving myself bonkers. When I’m with #2 I wish for the stimulation of #1. When I’m with #1 I wish for the comfortable feeling I have with #2.

Are either of these choices suited for the long term? Which would be the better situation to raise children in: a home filled with cold creativity or a home filled with run-of-the-mill passion? Can you find happiness with someone who doesn’t understand you intellectually? What about someone who doesn’t understand you sexually? Neither option is closed to me at this point and I’d love to hear opinions, especially from those who chose someone like one or the other.

Life is a Shambles

kenko — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 12:15:19 -0800

Life is a shambles–Filter. Dunno what I want to do. Anyone who can tell me about how to get into & the experience of lawyering, programming, librarianing, information-architecting, and possibly more doings if I think of them while writing the more inside, will be rewarded with a steaming pile of gratitude. More than you could realistically pretend to care about is inside. So, as I said, I don't know what I want to do, career-wise, and so I turn to you, citizens of Ask. In September or thereabouts I posted a question here regarding grad school–like experiences, and based on the responses I have applied to graduate school in philosophy and law schools. I have even been admitted to two law schools already–good ones, too. However, I am all overcome shaking as with an ague & uncertainty. Law school and grad schools are both heavy time investments, with no guarantee of a reward for the latter, and a JD/PhD is even heavier time-wise. My motivation for applying to law school was my thinking that, JD in hand, I could work for EFF or the ACLU or some such like-minded organization dedicated to the pretense that the nation is salvageable. I am not certain how much I would actually like the practice of law—the stereotypical hours especially don't appeal to me, as I likes me some free time—I just thought it had potential to be a truly worthwhile pursuit.

So I think to myself: if not that, what? I had a summer job programming which I enjoyed a lot, but I have a rather paltry selection of languages in which I'm competent (Python and shell, very minor C & C++); this hasn't sufficed so far to find employment. I don't know what kinds of training there might be for learning more with an eye to employment--is a master's program appropriate here? My fear is that I wouldn't know enough to get into a decent program in the first place.

As for information architecture & librarianship, I basically know very little about them, except that the librarians here seem a satisfied bunch, and when IA stuff gets discussed on the front page, or in the taxonomical issues that have arisen when talking about AskMe, or when I (rather occasionally) read v-2.org, it all seems very stimulating. Plus I like design. I know more or less how one becomes a librarian (though I don't know from the quality of the various places one can get a degree), but I have no clue how you get on the IA boat. I think my interest in the latter might be more conceptual/academic than practical, though, and "interest in design" may actually cash out as "interest in criticizing designs".

So, are there intellectually stimulating lawyering jobs that allow one to work sane hours? Am I screwed on the CS angle without further formal education, & where to get it? Any information on the study and practice of librarianship, information science, and the like would also be appreciated (you see, I don't even have a sufficient conceptual basis to frame the request in a detailed manner).

Probably relevant: I'm 22, currently working as a legal assistant. In a perfect world I would get paid to listen to music, read, and build a coffee table.

Best College Course Ever

apathy0o0 — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 23:28:54 -0800

It's time for us collegians to sign up for classes again. I am always faced at this time with a dizzying array of choices when looking in the course directory. What was the best college course you ever took and why?