How did you discover what to do with your life?

Perhaps if I relate my personal narrative, you may be able to find some points worth pondering.I was primarily interested in philosophy and history in HS and hoped to teach history in HS or higher as a career. However it was the mid 70s and jobs were scarce. Even my teachers said that in order to become a HS history teacher, I would have to be a coach, something I had no interest in. So when it came time to go to college I decided to take that history back a step and major in geology, as the job market in that field at the time was pretty good.To help with expenses, I worked odd jobs as a construction laborer, mostly with or as a house painter. I also wound up being self-employed part time as a contract janitor entirely by accident. My friend's dad was performing this service for lawyers, accountants, and real estate companies. When he got another job, he left this sideline for his son, who asked me to work with him. Well after six weeks, he split and suddenly, I was my own boss.When it came time to move on from junior college to the university, I moved from California to New Mexico as I wanted to attend a 'school of mines,' and NMT was cheaper than Colorado and warmer than Montana. Having always had an interest in astronomy, I soon changed my major to astrophysics, but my lack of ability in math sent me back to geology. Yet I still had that physics bug so I switched to geophysics the next semester. Unfortunately this kid was so cocky he thought he could compete with senior level geophysics students while simultaneously taking calc 3 so things were a bit grim on the wrong side of the normal curve.My sister was at the same school and in the same major but a friend of hers implanted the idea of majoring in metallurgical engineering so she switched majors. Upon seeing the textbooks she was using in engineering I thought why geophysics? this stuff is easier and pays better so I switched my major to geological engineering.I graduated in time for the 1982 recession so no jobs. Tried doing hydrology in grad school, but between the lack of jobs and a rather disastrous encounter with Laplace equations in a midterm test in the theory class, I lost heart. Toyed with civil engineering for a semester at UNM while awaiting acceptance to Officer Candidate School in the Army.The army finally came through. Unfortunately they soon figured out I was a spy for the Grateful Dead so I got the boot. The contract said three years so they finally figured out what to do with this spy, stick them in intelligence. Saved money for college during my three years in hades (under Reagan, so thankfully, no major wars).Went back to college subsidized by veteran status, and after another mistake (computer science), settled on technical communications. Toyed with getting a math degree as it was my worst subject and actually came within four classes but the main proof class gave me a bit of pause. Also came within one class and student teaching of HS teacher certification, but quit when my main reason for such a pursuit, my wife, stated she hated the town we lived in contrary to my former understanding.Guess what, I graduated in technical communication just in time for the 1991 recession so job market cratered. Since I had worked in their computer lab and the public information office, I wound up being a local newspaper reporter. Eventually, the combination of low pay and the editor's tantrums led to another career change. There was a job posting for public information officer/librarian with the Environmental Evaluation Group (state agency overseeing the Waste Isolation Pilot Project) so I applied. There was also an opening for the night circulation supervisor/assistant Gov. Docs. library worker at the university. Well, even it paid better than newspaper reporting, so I applied for that one as well.Got the library job, the public services librarian got the EEG job.Since I was working in the library already, when the opportunity came up to get a Master's in library science going to weekend classes came up, went ahead and piled on even more college units. Got the degree, moved to Texas for the money.Now I'm a college administrator, my highfalutin' title is 'Dean of Libraries.'My professional career was completely unplanned and took 20 years to figure out.So the point of all this is lessons learned:1. Do what you enjoy most, don't worry about current employment conditions because they unexpectedly change. There is always room at the top.2. Try to make a decision early if possible. My sister stuck with engineering and now she's makin' the bucks at Los Alamos.3. It's difficult to double major in physical science and partying unless you really have a knack for one or the other.4. If you choose an academic career, get that PhD, the quicker the better.5. Get the job, then get the degree. (at least in my case, I had it backwards)6. If you keep changing majors and running into economic obstacles, you may not have much retirement savings but you will make one hell of a reference librarian.{ABE} I thought NJ had some pretty good advice in the previous post. Best not pass up this rare chance to agree with him for a change .Best wishes for your future Edited by anglagard, : Add #4 under lessons learned.Edited by anglagard, : No reason given.Edited by anglagard, : forgot another lesson

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Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider - Francis BaconThe more we understand particular things, the more we understand God - Spinoza

I was looking for a career rather than a job and kept trying different things until I found one, or more accurately, it found me. I had no idea I was supposed to be a librarian, but I seem to be a lot better at this line of work than any other. To answer your question more directly, yes, the more general academic knowledge one has, or even more varied experiences one has, the much better prepared one is to perform even the most challenging reference work.The narrative shows a few things that were true for me but may not be universal, such as the element of chance and the failure of even the best laid plans. Just figured you should know it can happen, unexpected flexibility is a necessity in some cases.I just hope it doesn't take you as long to find a suitable career as it did in my case.