- #1
spite4life
- 4
- 0
Hi,
I am totally lost right now. I’ve tried to make myself desire a “sure thing” career – something like physical therapy or accounting, but it’s killing me inside. At one point I was interested in getting into astronomy or astrophysics. I really wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do in the field. Who isn’t interested in the Big Bang theory, you know? Lots of questions interest me: Is there other life out there? Just how similar are other earthlike planets to ours (for example, how is the chemical composition of their atmosphere similar and different, how far away are they from their star, etc.), life cycle of stars, solar system formation, etc.
Michio Kaku’s books really interested me. Conceptually, all the stuff about inflation, black holes, M-theory, etc. is pretty interesting, but I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, so I really doubt I could handle a rigorous treatment of these ideas at the graduate level. Shoot, I probably couldn’t even handle the mathematical rigors of quantum mechanics at the undergraduate level… Plus, I’m not a young pup anymore (in my 30’s).
I was an undergrad physics major for a while at the local state college. I got through about half of the upper division requirements. I went part time due to family, financial, and PT job reasons, but truthfully, I probably couldn’t have handled any more than 3 courses per semester even under ideal circumstances (I don’t know how some of the kids can handle 18 units loads consisting primarily of upper division physics and math – gifted, I guess). Anyhow, I took the standard calculus based introductory sequence and upper division courses in modern physics, math physics, mechanics, and astrophysics. My professors gave me pretty good grades, but I suspect a lot of it was based on sympathy or other motives (i.e. the department was pretty small – the professors needed to pass students in order to have students to teach and hence a job). Some of the grades might have been legitimate, but I know some of them weren’t (i.e. like when I got exam scores in the 50-68% range even with generous grading throughout most of the semester but still ended up with a B). Anyhow, I didn’t feel like I was really cutting it plus I had some conflicts with some people, so I dropped out.
Anyhow, my question is, what are some career options for a person like me? My current dead end job makes me have spite for life. I’m just not PhD material plus don't afford the time or money, but I’ve thought about trying to get a master’s degree in astronomy or a related area and working maybe in some sort of assistant or technician capacity or maybe teaching at a junior college – anything that will allow me to focus on the universe even if I’m not actually doing the research/experiments/observations myself. Does any of this seem like a realistic possibility? If not, what other options might work for me? I’m a little concerned because I know I couldn’t handle the rigors of physics at the grad. level, so I’m hoping astronomy is more conceptual – is it? Do I need to finish an undergrad major in physics or astronomy or could I enter a program with my current level of preparation with any old major? I don’t want to teach physics to HS kids – I’ve been around them as a teacher’s aide in the past, no thanks! Maybe I should forget about a grad degree and be satisfied with my cosmology-for-the-general-public books and amateur star gazing? Thanks for your advice in advance.
I am totally lost right now. I’ve tried to make myself desire a “sure thing” career – something like physical therapy or accounting, but it’s killing me inside. At one point I was interested in getting into astronomy or astrophysics. I really wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do in the field. Who isn’t interested in the Big Bang theory, you know? Lots of questions interest me: Is there other life out there? Just how similar are other earthlike planets to ours (for example, how is the chemical composition of their atmosphere similar and different, how far away are they from their star, etc.), life cycle of stars, solar system formation, etc.
Michio Kaku’s books really interested me. Conceptually, all the stuff about inflation, black holes, M-theory, etc. is pretty interesting, but I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, so I really doubt I could handle a rigorous treatment of these ideas at the graduate level. Shoot, I probably couldn’t even handle the mathematical rigors of quantum mechanics at the undergraduate level… Plus, I’m not a young pup anymore (in my 30’s).
I was an undergrad physics major for a while at the local state college. I got through about half of the upper division requirements. I went part time due to family, financial, and PT job reasons, but truthfully, I probably couldn’t have handled any more than 3 courses per semester even under ideal circumstances (I don’t know how some of the kids can handle 18 units loads consisting primarily of upper division physics and math – gifted, I guess). Anyhow, I took the standard calculus based introductory sequence and upper division courses in modern physics, math physics, mechanics, and astrophysics. My professors gave me pretty good grades, but I suspect a lot of it was based on sympathy or other motives (i.e. the department was pretty small – the professors needed to pass students in order to have students to teach and hence a job). Some of the grades might have been legitimate, but I know some of them weren’t (i.e. like when I got exam scores in the 50-68% range even with generous grading throughout most of the semester but still ended up with a B). Anyhow, I didn’t feel like I was really cutting it plus I had some conflicts with some people, so I dropped out.
Anyhow, my question is, what are some career options for a person like me? My current dead end job makes me have spite for life. I’m just not PhD material plus don't afford the time or money, but I’ve thought about trying to get a master’s degree in astronomy or a related area and working maybe in some sort of assistant or technician capacity or maybe teaching at a junior college – anything that will allow me to focus on the universe even if I’m not actually doing the research/experiments/observations myself. Does any of this seem like a realistic possibility? If not, what other options might work for me? I’m a little concerned because I know I couldn’t handle the rigors of physics at the grad. level, so I’m hoping astronomy is more conceptual – is it? Do I need to finish an undergrad major in physics or astronomy or could I enter a program with my current level of preparation with any old major? I don’t want to teach physics to HS kids – I’ve been around them as a teacher’s aide in the past, no thanks! Maybe I should forget about a grad degree and be satisfied with my cosmology-for-the-general-public books and amateur star gazing? Thanks for your advice in advance.