So I have two BAs (achieved simultaneously; no time lost on getting that extra one) and I have an MA. None of these degrees are very employable, if ya know what I mean. I'm going to be 28 in 4 months. I make no money because I work a job that, while gratifying and enjoyable, is in non-profit social services. While it's not all about money, I'm starting to think I should probably, ya know, see a point in time when I might be able to having savings and feel secure.

In the past year, I have considered: law school, becoming a counselor, continuing on for my PhD in linguistics (what I have an MA in already), dreaming up a brilliant business of my own, and becoming a nurse. I have yet to resort to marrying a dying oil tycoon.

DON'T GO TO LAW SCHOOL. HAVE I TAUGHT YOU NOTHING?

But you could always send Brian down to Texas to drill for oil. I'm sure there's some dirty pun in there somewhere, but I'm too zonked to make it.

I'd say nurse. Follow the cash and the flexible geographic options.

Nursing is the most projected growth, I think.

Of course, a brilliant business of your own might be the best money wise..

I suspect though, that going back to school would be good for you. :)

@Heraldic: Yeah, law school is out. Brian suggested it but I really only considered it briefly. I would hate being a lawyer.

@Zab: That's what I'm thinking. The boy is a professor, which translates to, "Go wherever you can get the best job." And nursing allows for that flexibility.

But I feel kinda old to be starting yet ANOTHER degree.

@Tive: you're not old. I was attending classes with ppl in their 40s,50s, and one guy was 72.

hmm, i dunno.

i think you could get a job in our field for the same reason that i think i can: 'cuz we're the best?

although sometimes i wonder: compared to whom, exactly? how competitive are we compared to people who got a different education?

yknow, out of our entire MA crop, i might be the only one who's going on to a PhD, at least at the moment. and of the 2nd years (the 1st years, to us) I think only one of them (alaina) graduated on schedule.

btw, i think my neck of the woods a reasonable venue for some the-clique-hits-the-beach annual summer action next year. will anyone else be living by the shore?

granted, it won't be a blazingly HOT beach, but still quite seasonably warm, i gather.

Before you look into the nursey thing, what are your two BA's in? There are "fast-track" nursing programs for people that already have a BA in the sciences...they shorten nursing school from about 2.5 years to 18 months.

Because of the nursing shortage, there's lots of money out there for you to go to school, especially if you're willing to commit to work for a particular hospital/company after you graduate.

The downside to this is that its kinda hard to get into nursing school because there is a general lack of instructors, so even though programs want to expand, they can't because they can't hire enough masters-educated instructors (PhD's are even more far and few between).

This problem is further complicated by the fact that unlike our brothers in the libby arts, once you have a nursing degree, you're actually employable. Therefore Universities have to pay an nurse to teach at least the same amount as they'd make at a hospital.

As the baby-boomers continue to age, there's going to be an ever-growing shortage of nurses in the US. I'm not sure what's going to happen 35 years from now after the last baby boomer dies off, though.

I would say get your phd - but - I'm crazy and applying to phd programs in the fall. As far as joint hires go - if you want to be a professor in linguistics - as long as your spouse is in a different area - it's way more likely you could get a job at the same school - since many do have the option for spousal hires [as long as they're not in the same field - then it gets super tricky and impossible].

Sharon: The possibility of spousal hires is actually much slimmer than most people think, and it's much more likely when you work in a place where no one wants to live (like, say, Oklahoma, where I am now). Many of the folks in my field have been having long-distance marriages for several years, and I'm talking, these are GOOD people in the field. So that's very off-putting. I would love to teach linguistics, but I do not want to destroy my personal life for it. The research end of things really gets me annoyed, too, but I won't get into that now. In any case, the boy is in English; I'm in Linguistics. Often the same department; just as often not. Either way, very similar.

(For the record, folks, I was accepted to continue onto the PhD; I took a leave of absence to think about it, and I'm probably not going back.)

@Jas: I thought you were a history grad student? When did that change, mister?

@Two-headed Boy: Um, all the Maryland people are by the shore, right? Not a totally awesome shore, but a shore nonetheless. I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE it if we could all convene for a vacation!!

@beccah: You're right--I'm not old. I'm just like, "Seriously, another Bachelor's at my age?"

(@Two-headed Boy: Mendoza-Denton was living two states away from her husband for something like 3 years until Arizona picked her up, too. Yeah, I could only dream of being like her.)

@Sharon: I forgot to mention--Good luck next year, madam! You have my total support and empathy and everything else. May grad school treat you kindly, even when you don't sleep for 3 days. :D

what school?

oh yeah that place i never went to GD it.

i must get a life real soon.

Is pointing you in the direction of my bedroom meaningful?

@DrCthulhu: You don't have a life? I think you do.

@MUPaully: I'm sorry, I...just...don't...understand. Whah?

Tivo - It was just a horrible attempt at sexual innuendo. I fail.

@ Tive - I WAS in history grad school and finished back in Dec. 2005. Since then I have gone back for more degrees. I'm about a year out from finishing a nursing BSN.

@Jas: OH! For some reason, I thought you were finishing, like, a year ago. So you must be about my age, yeah? If you finished grad school in 2005... anyway, the point is, what's it been like being totally broke as a mid-to-late 20 something?

@MUPaully: I know. I tried to play it off by acting oblivious. I was trying to smoothly divert attention from your lack of skillz. I care for you that much.

Oh, and Jas--my BAs are in Spanish and Linguistics. :/

@ Tive - oh...well then a fast-track program is most likely not for you. You'd have to go to "regular" nursing school, and probably have to do a fair number of pre-req's just to apply if you want to do a Bachelor's program. You might want to explore Community College/Associates degree options. I know that sounds like eating a turd on a stick for someone who's got the option to pursue a PhD, but its actually not as bad as it sounds.

You'd probably shave a year off your training since it probably wouldn't take you as long to burn through the pre-req's, and once you actually start nursing school, your degree plan won't be as long. You'll still get the same amount of clinical training as the kids getting the bachelors, but you won't have to take as many bullshit courses that the BSNs take. And by bullshit, I mean BULLSHIT: "Reasearch for Nurses" and "Nursing Leadership."

If you go to Com College you'll be working side-by-side with the BSN's and likely be getting paid JUST as much due to the nursing shortage. The only problem is that down the line there won't be as many opportunities for you down the line for promotions into upper management since you don't have a bacahelor's in nursing.

@ Tive: let see what did i do this week....oh yeah i woke up went to work and then went to sleep and then went to work.....woo hoo..

@ Jas: Hmmm. I wonder why my degrees I already have wouldn't wipe out half the gen-ed pre-reqs? And "Nursing Leadership" does sound like a load of bullshit.

@ DrCthulhu: Work...boo.

@ Tive - Your other degrees probably would wipe out half the general pre-reqs, but off the top of my head, here are the ones you probably don't have: Psychology, Nutrition, Anatomy & Physiology (I & II), Statistics, Biology, Chemistry.

Yeah, Nursing Leadership is a big ol' turd of a class. The way medicine is run now in this country, the RN with a college degree is supposed to be an assistant manager of sorts, coordinating the orchestra of care between the doc and all the other aids, techs, therapists and other people running around on the hospital floor. So Nursing leadership is this bullshit mini-business school class my school makes me take.

i hope I'm not discouraging you from looking more closely into the nursing gig. Demographically, it's one of the few fields out there in this country that is actually expanding, it pays well, and you can get a high degree of self satisfaction if you find desk work boring.