Nothing is worse than regret.
The stuff we wish we had done always comes back to haunt us. And when we are at a nexus in our lives--college, when we must decide what to study for our future--we're not always mentally equipped to make the best decisions. Enter regret.
SS_Matt asked Reddit:
Here were some of the wistful answers.
New Ideas
MIS/Data Science. It was still a pretty newish thing when I was in college, and that's what I ended up doing as a career anyways.
But what did I actually major in? Russia Studies.....
Simple Solution
If i had a college do-over, I'd major in "actually going to my classes."
Plants Being Plants
Botany.
I didn't take the hint when I did really well in the plant-related units of my introductory biology courses. I did molecular biology instead, and it was interesting but competitive. Botanists are a far more chilled-out bunch.
Money Money Money
Engineering or Building Science.
I'm a high school calculus teacher. I like my job and am really good at it, but i'm 16 years in and my salary is capped at $51k. It'd be nice to be able to make what I think I'm worth....or at LEAST have the option to be rewarded for good work.
Renewable Energy
I studied renewable energy, If I could go back I'd double major in engineering or business. Probably Engineering.
Too Scared
I'd go to veterinary school. I didn't think I could handle dying animals before, but now I realize I'm mentally stronger than I thought and wish I could help them more.
Amazonian Airways
Business, sales, marketing. I did engineering instead, but I am a crap engineer. I now sell things on Amazon. How's that for a swtich.
Rewriting History
I wish I would have majored in Anthropology or History. I was more concerned with job prospects than my passions.
Building A Life
I would finish my architecture degree. My parents demonized education my whole life and any time I brought up an idea of a career they'd just kind of laugh it off. I put myself through community college and did really well, but there was no way I could afford going to a university so now I just have two pretty useless associates degrees and can't get a living wage paying job. I'm lucky to have a husband who is more than happy to take care of me, but it's hard not to be a bit bitter about it all. I always dread that "what do you do?" question in social situations.
Behind
I would major in finance and/or accounting. I really love my job (its my dream job) and I obviously got it with my marketing degree (I'm a business analyst for actuarial data processing) but having the foundation of finance and accounting would help me so very much. Now I feel like I'm two years behind just because I'm learning all these accounting and finance concepts. My MBA is helping me learn more in these areas tho so you could always learn outside of undergrad.
Tired Of Fighting
I would not have studied computer science. I graduated in 2001 and now that I'm pushing 40, I'm aging out of the profession. Being a 40 year old woman who is a programmer, architect, etc., is not a plus point. If I was an accountant or a doctor, my experience would work in my favor.
Right now, if I walk into a room full of people in their early twenties talking about Python (my fav), I am treated like their mother and it's yet another barrier I have to fight. I already fought the woman barrier, now I'm fighting the age barrier. It's exhausting.
Poverty
Computer science, because living off a Counselor salary is impossible.
What is a counselor salary you say? anywhere between 25K to 70K a year depending where you go for work. Those starting out are expected to get 25k to 35k a year :(
What We Love Vs. What We're Good At
History.
Through my entire childhood I was always REALLY good at math and science. I was taking high school level math classes in 6th grade, and spend half my day at the local community college taking math and science classes my senior year of high school. When I was very young, I also had a large interest in outer space. Combining that interest with my skill in math and science, I started college majoring in aerospace engineering. I was quickly disillusioned with the field. It wasn't as interesting as I had expected, and I didn't find that I had very much in common with many of my classmates. As a result, I didn't care about school so much, and started failing some classes. I did so poorly I had to switch majors. At that point, I was just looking for whatever would be easiest for me, so I switched to math, without really caring about the major. This did nothing for my self-motivation, and I eventually dropped out of college (no worries, that was a decade ago, and everything turned out well).
Since leaving college, I have discovered that I am passionately interested in history. I'm almost constantly reading a book on history, listening to history podcasts (or audiobooks), or watching history programs on Youtube. I think if I had discovered this passion before or during college, I could have found a field which was interesting enough to motivate me to do well in school.
Jobs
I would not change: Accounting. I have had a good career in business & management. My advice to young people is when choosing a major be clear & informed about the realistic job expectations in that field. The education is the path, not the destination.
Food Life
Culinary school. I work IT, the pay is nice and the work is always available. But I don't enjoy it at all. It's not for me. I would have gone to culinary school and been a chef.
Debt
First of all, I wouldn't go to a university THEN a community college. I'm in debt up to my eyeballs. Second, I'd major in software engineering/development. I would have loved to be able to work from home one day. I've tried, off and on, to teach myself programming but it seems my brain simply doesn't work like that.
Bad Luck
i think what i decided to major in was a good choice for me, but not working during college and failing to land internships has really set me back. even if i am a college graduate, i'm hardworking, i'm smart, and most co-workers/supervisors like me, i've still ended up in low level labor jobs ever since i graduated college.
Art Isn't Easy
Graphic design. I love art and it should have been my first choice but was convinced into going into a medical career. I hate people so I chose vet technology and not have a 30000 degree I don't use.
Contract Chemist
Chemistry. I love chemistry, I just love biochemistry more. But there aren't a whole lot of jobs for me out in the real world. It's pretty niche, usually seen as "less knowledgeable chemist" or "less knowledgeable biologist" in the context of positions people need filled
My Job
Information Systems. Because it's my job and I like it.
I had to work my way up to where I am at, I think a degree would have saved me a decade of working to where I am now. On the other hand, because of my English degree, I can analyze the hell out of literature.
I can't definitively say I've come face to face with the spirits. But I have had some unsettling feelings in the dark. Shadows are just shadows sometimes, but who can be sure.
I hear it...
Nbc Wings GIF by HULUGiphy"I was helping my dad clean my grandma's house after she passed and I went in and was trying to find a song in my phone and before I could I heard a cough plain as day come from down the hallway where her room was. She died of lung and throat cancer it was pretty crazy."
Running Past...
"When I was 5 I remember getting home from my grandpa's birthday party. For context my mom was pregnant with my brother at the time, so my parents had already bought his crib. I woke up in the middle of the night to find a women in a white dress and long black hair standing over my brother's crib. I managed to wake up my dad so he could take me to the bathroom. When I got back it was still there. It was only until morning when it disappeared. Every now and then I see a glance of what I assume is that thing running past the backyard."
The Cat
"My best friend and his wife had moved to a new apartment. I came over to visit a few times, and each time I'd see the motion of a cat in my peripheral vision. Not the image of a cat, but a sense of how a cat moves. Anyway, one day I finally cracked some joke about the ghost cat in the place and his wife was instantly saying "See! See! I told you we had a ghost cat!"
"excuse me"
"I worked graveyard shift in a dementia ward for 4 years and it was anything but quiet. I was working with a nurse one night when we both heard a resident say "excuse me." We looked around and no-one was there. I checked on the resident in question and she was fast asleep in her own room. Many of us also experienced someone whistling in the ward late at night and one nurse even managed to catch a video of it happening. It was unnerving to say the least."
Clueless
Skeleton GIFGiphy"I once saw someone short walk by me in my house. They walked into the laundry room which only has one way in. I walked into it behind them and they where gone. I thought it was my little brother but I went to his room and he was asleep. I still have no clue what that was."
- ImBolio
Now was everyone here positive they were sober? Just asking. Those are certainly spooky moments. I'd like some video footage please. Continue...
Reflections
ghost library GIFGiphy"I was up at 3am when I was maybe 7 or 8. I looked out the window and saw a woman in a white dress run across my yard. I could see through her. She was transparent like the reflections on the window."
"you alright?"
"So, my work place is haunted. I was having a really crap day, and as a cleaner, it's normal that me and my co worker will be the only ones left at night. So I was standing on the second floor, leaning on the banister for the stair case, when I heard this male voice say in my ear "you alright?" Clear as day. I turned around so fast and nobody was there and it scared the hell out of me."
- Rex-the-
Watching Me
"I remember as a young kid I usually use to sit in my bed and watch tv with my room door open while the adjacent guest bedroom next to mine would always have the door shut. I always remember seeing that door fully open and close by itself multiple times a day very slowly and gently. Never really bothered me much now that I think about it… but there were other creepier experiences I had in the same house that made me feel uncomfortable like I was being watched."
Betsy
"I went to the Betsy Ross House as a really little kid in the early 90s. Normal house but I was confused why the tour guide never talked about the woman on the chair crying at the edge of the bed in Betsy Ross's bedroom. So I asked about it. No one else saw the woman at the edge of the bed. I figured it was just a wax museum since there was a wax statue of a man in uniform rolling bullets in the basement."
"Years later, I was looking at haunted Philadelphia tours to go on with a friend and the Betsy Ross House was on it. I was like "woah! I was there!" and looked into it some more. Turns out there is a woman at the end of the bed crying and a uniformed man in the basement that people have reported seeing. There is no way that 8 year old me would have known about either of these things."
hello kitty...
hello kitty lol GIF by Animation Domination High-DefGiphy"I had this hello kitty Balloon In my bed room, it had a string and weight on it. So it was late, I had the lights on just Sitting on my bed. The Balloon turns, faces my door, slowly floats into my hallway and turns and floats into my sister's room. To this day I am scared of balloons."
They are among us and they like Hello Kitty. I'm probably rattling the paranormal cages and they'll come for me next, but I'm ready. I feel like this thread has prepared me.
Boo!
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