Why That Subject?

[nightshade]

For those that went to university what made you choose the subject/subjects you did?

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

Well I ♥ history/archaeology. So that's what I'm taking. Goal is to be history professor er...

Spoiler:

😉

 

[ILLYRIAN]

I did Landscape Gardening at Edith Cowan University in Churchlands Perth, Edith Cowan University in Mt. Lawley Perth. Technically I specialised at building stone walls at the Mt. Lawley campus.
I suppose I should clarify by saying I worked as a landscape Gardener.
I did do a course for Landscape Design at the W.A. University near the Perth Central Business District.

 

[Mrs Gordo]

I figured since my whole family needed a therapist I would study psychology. I got my BA in Psych. Then in senior year in college, I sat down and realized for the first time that I was going to have to sit and listen to people talk about their problems at length for long periods of time. I don't think I had ever stopped to think this through. I'm incredibly impatient! The alternative was research and the prospect of doing only research felt boring at the time (it sounds more appealing now, less stressful). Then I decided that my calling was probably always being a litigator so I went into law school.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

I started my career through higher education by taking a year-unit in Psychology. I may have been trying to piece my mind together after the year I spent in the army. After two years, I had not managed to pass all the courses, so I moved to English, but after the first year, I had not attended a single exam.

After that, I fell upon teaching. I can't remember why, but I took an instant liking to it. I finished a year-unit in Religion, Norwegian and took a bachelor's degree in pedagogy. After that I needed another subject, so I went back to English. This time I aced all of my exams, except for a B in linguistics. My Professors took a liking to me and started grooming me for a career as an academic. I did a bachelor's degree in English and now I am in grad school.

There are very few things in this world I feel as if I understand, but I seem to have some talent for teaching and for literary analysis. At least, I have a passion and that is more than half of it.

 

[November]

I started in Environmental Science, which I did enjoy. I chose it because I aced Biology, had a mind for science and loved field work.

The lectures were overfull and we weren't allowed to sit down on the floor when all the real chairs were taken cos it was a fire risk. I had 26 contact hours a week vs my law/accounting/business friends 11. My days at uni started early, first year meant first in the labs, and a tight squeeze to get to tutes and lectures. It was very hard to take notes while standing, especially as we did not have smartphones or access to laptops and home internet at this time. I think I would have coped much better had I been permitted to live on campus with my friends, so close to the library, but due to my parents location I was not permitted to. I rented in a share house with two men and really struggled with what I now know as starvation. I went to student services for assistance but they were so full, they referred me to an off campus bulk billing GP. I had an adverse reaction to Lexapro at 18 and was locked in a mental institution for 3 months after the first 6 months of university.

About 10 years later I went back to study Cognitive Neuroscience, I wanted to know more about how why my brain was wired the way it was. Why did I have to be medicated for life? Why was I broken? How could I help other people to avoid such suffering? Plus a job sitting in an air conditioned office appealed to me at the time. I discovered very fast that the medication was the cause for many of the issues I was experiencing. That blew my little mind and it was the catalyst which started my rage and anger for the following few years.

One part of the course was basic psych, and I was surrounded by high school leavers. They had some really cool tardis shirts! The first assignment was so easy I could not believe it was university level. I had trouble getting around campus and still did not have reliable internet at home. I asked the uni for assistance due to physical disability. That did not work. The assistant knew less about the campus than I did and I really, really struggled getting around. I did have access to chairs that time! Barely 8 weeks in, I realised it was a crop of bull after the lecturer told us the information would be outdated by the time we graduated. This also meant we could not buy things like second hand books as they were outdated for our study. I was working 2 jobs at the time, but the cost of living was still too high and I dropped it.

It was such a contrast to Environmental Science, and I did not find the content challenging or interesting at all. It was more like "this is how we want you to think about those with emotional problems, but that will be proven wrong next year - so get ready to study accredited content for your entire career or accept the guilt of damaging your patients"

My mode of study now is observation of energy 😀 Its WAY more fun than classrooms. I doubt I will ever return to uni.
 

thrasherpix: At least your classes on cognitive neuroscience gave you insight. Many take psyche classes to understand themselves but instead project their issues onto others when they're professionals which contributes to negative experiences people have with them.

Good point!

 

[Taake]

I chose political science and religious studies (with a focus on biblical exegesis and ancient languages)... then I got at a BA in religious studies and started towards a master and it just struck me that... I didn't want to read the Bible or Bible adjacent literature anymore, lol. Studying stopped being fun. I can't to 100% say why I picked those subjects, I was just interested in them and figured I would give it a try, once I was on the course I just kind of kept going. For a while I toyed with the idea of philology but never committed to it.

Sooo, now I'm starting over and I'm reading philosophy and literary criticism instead. It is really way more my groove and I'm loving pretty much every second of it. It is a bit frustrating to start over of course, but it's better than plodding along in a field you're not truly interested in anymore. Besides, there is a lot of overlap so my previous studies have been useful 🙂

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

It is so hard to do exegesis when your teacher is a theologian and doesn't wanna listen to your radical interpretations.

 

[Taake]

It is so hard to do exegesis when your teacher is a theologian and doesn't wanna listen to your radical interpretations.

My theologian teachers were very encouraging of my radical interpretations... mostly. They drew a line at dialogism and eugenics, but honestly, I just think they didn't get/like Bakhtin. So like Willow, I was all "bored now".

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

My theologian teachers were very encouraging of my radical interpretations... mostly. They drew a line at dialogism and eugenics, but honestly, I just think they didn't get/like Bakhtin. So like Willow, I was all "bored now".

Of course not, because they want to demonstrate that the Bible is a unified work teaching a single doctrine. What did you write about eugenics?
 
@Taake So the Day of Judgement would separate the wheat from the chaff and bring forth a new master race? I got so curious 😛 v

 

[AnthonyCordova]

I went to school a long time ago for Philosophy and Comparative Literature. I used to read my father's philosophy collection when I was younger. I regret my choice a little now, since my interest in some of it has waned and I also had an early interest in molecular biology and the human genome, and now I feel it is a little late in the game to change now.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

For those that went to university what made you choose the subject/subjects you did?

I chose to study literature and theatre because it was my passion. Hasn't proven to be too lucrative, but it is what it is.

By the way, I love your banner.

 

[TriBel]

I had three children in 15 months then decided I wasn't cut out to be a parent. I (figuratively) abandoned the kids* and escaped to university. I did a Humanities degree in Literature and literary theory (for no other reason than because I could and because I wanted to). On the strength of my achievements in that, I was offered what would now be called a Graduate Teacher post (paid teaching plus a postgraduate scholarship). My PhD was a single author study focusing on love, desire and subjectivity - ostensibly in relation to national identity but really in relation to - well, just about everything (eutopic/utopic textuality, theories of authorship, the psycho-social imaginary) and drawing on the pantheon of post-structuralism (including Bakhtin - though Julia Kristeva was probably the biggest influence). It was all very abstract - if a word didn't exist to explain a concept, you invented one. 20+ years later and I'm still at the same university (tenured) teaching in the Lit/Film department. That's it - no planning or forethought: shit just happened.

*They survived - although one is slightly feral.

 

[brinkster130]

I chose based on interest alone, which was a bit silly. I should have thought more about career and practicality.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

a single author study

Which author?

 

[The Bronze]

I chose Maths. I was always good at it at school and just figured I'd keep going. Didn't know what I wanted to do with myself, didn't want to get a job and figured maths might be helpful for a job at some stage in the future.

Anyway I lost whatever interest I had in the subject pretty early and half assed about 2.5 years. Got a low grade degree and it's not really been much use. Moral of the story is do something you're interested in.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Electrical engineering here. I was always fascinated by radio and the reception of small signals down into the femtowatts (1E-15 watts). I began collecting radios as a hobby back when I was in Grade 11 in high school. I have a huge and bulky collection now and I also collect the test equipment used to test them. I specialized in small-signal electronics but get dragged into digital electronics as time went on. I was part of the military-industrial complex and spent a few years working on spacecraft as well. From 1980, I was involved with cockpit displays and digital processing but there were a couple of years spent on X-ray sensors for breast cancer research.

Then I went into program management. This is a different world. If you get 99% on an exam, you are doing well. But if you have 99% of the parts you need to build something, that is the worst situation - you are paying interest on inventory already purchased but since you can't complete the build, there is nothing to sell and no revenue. It is a completely different way of life.

Now I am retired which many of you may have guessed by the timing of posts and the amount of time I am on here. But I still like writing so who knows? I have been paid for two articles I wrote some time ago and I may try my hand at getting my novel off my C drive and into the world.

 

[Fool for Buffy]

I always wanted to be a writer; when I was little I wrote sports articles summarizing every St Louis Cardinals game. Writing and English have always been my two strongest subjects in school, and my parents both are very good as well. I still do a little on my own when I have time; I'm currently trying to get going on a short story. Though sports writing would be my dream, I think it's too risky, so I'm split between a journalism degree and going into PR or getting a teaching degree to teach English and Literature.