Which career can I get the most out of science?

[AnthoPhysx]

Long story short... I have been in community college for quite a while now and I just recently switched my major to Electrical Engineering from Business Administration. I personally just found that career path so boring and so I started hanging out with the science nerds at my community college. I have been going with them and visiting them in the labs and I can say they have got me really really interested. It took me a while to change majors because I feel they lacked two things... confidence and communication skills. Even their professor seemed to really like me a lot. He was impressed about my knowledge in physics and all that cool stuff. That is because for about a year now, I've been doing nothing but reading books by Stephen Hawking, Brian Greene, Michio Kaku, and many related books. (Have not taken any related classes). I do have good leadership skills and that is what business has taught me but my confusion lies in my career path. I have a deep fascination for science but I feel that the physics field does not really provide a wide range of jobs besides teaching and research... At the end of the day, we all want extra money in our pocket. (don't lie to yourself). I picked Electrical Engineering because it covers many areas of sciences and also has a pretty good pay in careers... It covers Physics, and for physics you need math, and for electrical engineering, you might need some hands on experience with computer programming... THAT IS JUST SIMPLY AWESOME! All fields basically in one Major. But as I did more research... The sciences tend to branch off at some point and that saddens me because who wouldn't want to keep learning. with Math you can solve physics problems, and using computers helps with further analysis, and with all that power and potential... you must BUILD something... (AND I HAVE NEVER BUILT ANYTHING besides the Death Star Lego set I got for Christmas once.) Problem is: I AM NOT ETERNAL... So I must choose something. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is the program at UC Berkeley I am currently aiming for... honestly the idea of being around computer hackers and science engineers excites me. Almost like a movie. But I would also love to get more involved in Physics just to see where I want to go with it but I also know that most Physics majors double-major in Mathematics because you need a high knowledge of math to understand and do physics. I don't know what to do guys... If you really took the time to hear me out, some tips and advice are more than welcome. Professors, STEM students, entrepreneurs... I'd especially appreciate your advice.

 

[jedishrfu]

Welcome to PF!

Reading your post, I get the feeling you like STEM and can't decide which letter to follow. Every field now uses computer technology to some degree and so programming is becoming more like a basic skill akin to touch typing.

You could take your interest in EE and begin playing with a Raspberry PI where programming meets electronics and see how you like it. Alternatively, there's the Little Bits kits where you can snap together a circuit which could be used to control a home application (Smart Home Kit) although you wouldn't really get a thorough understanding of EE. One other option is the IOIO card which can control electronic circuits via programming on an Android tablet or phone. (see sparkfun.com or adafruit.com) IOIO card)

With an interest in Physics, you could consider being an applied physicist where you'd be using and constructing electronic equipment to carry out an experiment tieing together knowledge of EE, programming and Physics into a single bundle.

I think your best bet though is to talk with your professors in these fields and see what advice they can give you and to play with some DIY stuff like the Raspberry-PI, Python and controlling electronic devices which could lead to experimental physics work or to some commercial applications.