What made you decide to follow your own particular career path?

Well I'm still young but I've always known that I want to be a recording artist (singer), so now I'm studying contemporary music at university and recording some stuff for my demo CD. I perform at different small venues to try and get some exposure and I'm starting a YouTube channel, Facebook page and Myspace page soon.

I hate it when people look down on me because music is not a "serious" career choice but making millions once I'm famous sounds pretty darn serious to me! But in all seriousness, it's not about the money, I just love writing music and singing and I know I'm good at it (hello, Ego). The dream is to be able to live off of my music. It doesn't take thaaaaat much money for me to survive.

That's Plan A and Plan B is non-existent because Plan A WILL work. Mark my words

 

I forgot about this.

Thanks. There's nothing about what I do at the present moment to trump up. LOL. It is what it is.

But I won't be doing this until I retire. I flat out REFUSE. :smt081

I'll get there. I just have to find the way.

 

Get a Plan B kid. Litersally millions have sang the same song. Everyone thinks they're gonna be the one to make it.

 

I do actually have a Plan B but I like to pretend that I don't.

There are a lot of career possibilities with a degree in music. Teacher, engineer, producer, manager, etc. etc.

 

Good luck!!!

 

Thanks

 

Now that's a good plan B

 

what !!!???!! there is a path ?????!!!!!!

 

I am a graphic artist and painter. I developed a new form of art 3 years ago and sought to market it. What a slow start for a great idea. So I decided to enroll in college and get a degree in business admin, specializing in marketing. It was the best decision I could have ever made. Backup plan? Myself is my backup. I am determined to work for myself because I don't want the backup plan to be mcdonald's.

 

I had a phenominal teacher in 5th grade. She appreciated my culture and opened my world to some many new things. She changed my life. I wanted to make the same difference in at least one other person's life so I became a teacher.

 

My career path was based on my always having so many different interests. I was that nerd reading science books and playing with chemistry sets and making crystal radios when kids were reading comic books.

High school was easy for me and I was bored most of the time. Unfortunately, back in the day they didn't have a lot of the advanced programs they offer students now. I remember my geometry teacher putting me and another student in the back of the room to study "advanced math" because I had picked up geometry even though I hadn't taken the course.

I had a full scholarship to the University of Chicago and I was a pre-med major. However, after a part time job in the morgue I decided that I didn't want to be a doctor. So, I left the University for a couple of years. I returned to school and earned undergrad degrees in Electrical Engineering and Bio-Chemistry. I thought that I might still go to med school but saw engineering as my plan B.

I decided to join Chrysler Corp. as an engineer. I remember that the janitor and I were the only two black people in the building. So, you can imagine the scene, lots of racial jokes, even called the N-word by a co-worker. I reported it and the guy who used the language was told that, "he should realize that people have sensitivities, just like some women who don't like profanity". That's the honest truth, one of the largest corporations in the world, Human Resource policies in place against harassment and discrimination, and that was the answer. In any case I decided to always be in control of my career. I did well, earned a lot of money but saw it as "golden handcuffs". I knew that I was smarter than most of my bosses and yet they were determining whether I should be promoted.

So, I left, went back to school, earned an MBA and J.D. (Juris Doctorate) and returned to the automotive industry as an plant manager, then later as a Chief Operating Officer for another company. I left that job and stared working with private equity funds. I helped them to analyze companies to purchase, and when they purchased a company I would go in as part of the executive staff. I became an Executive Vice President and later President of one of their companies. I eventually left them as the result of a deal they chose to renege on.

I went on to do private consulting and attempted to buy a couple of companies. I actually put together the financing on both companies, the last one being a very large plant with more than 500 employees. Unfortunately, the seller decided that I did such a good job pre-purchase of turning the company around, the corporation reversed it's board of directors decision to close the company and continued to operate the company.

Got married and divorced along the way to a lady from Europe, Spain to be exact. I returned to the states a year ago and now I'm trying to decide the next challenge for me.

 

I saw an advertisement online for a bunch of video game related jobs. There were a ton of them open in this company. The thing is, it was in Shanghai. I thought to myself, "Damn, that'd be pretty cool.", The contract lengths looked reasonable, the pay looked fantastic, and the jobs sounded cool.

I want to travel so much it drives me crazy sometimes. I can't afford to do recreational travel, but if I land a job that ships me off somewhere for a year or two that sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

So now I'm about 4 months out from graduation. I'm hoping the future at least finds me in California, if not in a completely different country.

 

Wow, so many amazing stories. No wonder I like the people on this forum so much. You're all awesome.

I don't have a story. I'm a trainee Veterinary Nurse now. Although I'm not getting paid, I am working at a local vet clinic. All my life I wanted to work with animals and now I am. I never thought I'd get to this point, but wish I'd gotten there years sooner. Sometimes I feel like I'm too old and it's too late, but hey...who cares? I'm livin' it now, so that's all that matters.
My goal is to work with vets, over in Africa, in a breeding facility or conservation/rehabilitation place. Something along those lines anyway. Gotta do more research on what's possible first. But I'm enjoying it so far.

 

Paths....

I always wanted to be an actress.Spent much of my growing up learning ballet and dance,singing and guitar,as well as speech and drama.Even in my teens wrote and directed plays at school.However I came from stern European roots and drama was not seen as a "real " career so I was talked into university first.This despite my mother having been a prima ballerina in Germany herself.
Anyway,was standing in the queue to enrol for law like the good daughter I was and suddenly just switched to the arts queue- drama and English major.By the time I finished though I had made the rash decision to marry and needed money so went teaching intending to follow the old dream later.
I did teach drama and dance but always wished I had followed through myself ,or at least given it my best shot before life and children got in the way.
I hosted overseas students learning English for years and years in my house so eventually got into teaching English as a second language to refugees and migrants.Was going to go overseas this year to teach English but again duty got in the way.But it has been rewarding and you feel like you are indeed making a difference to many lives.

 

How old are you again? geez all of this takes quite a bit of time.

This is pretty close to what I would want to end up being expect instead of electrical put in computer engineer and skip all the other bad stuff.



also sensitivity
what a joke!
This incident must have happen during the 80's.