Okay, so, my current situation is this:

I've taken a year of general university courses, basically just to get an idea of what it's like and how things work. Unfortunately, I was stupid and I did no real work on any of my courses, and pulled out 3 Cs and an F. A big waste of money, as far as my parents are concerned. This was mostly due to my not paying attention in classes, not caring for the courses that I took, not thinking of withdrawing from them and getting the money back, and my depression kicking back in because of our fairly recent move out to the country. Let me just explain that last bit: I've lived my entire life in one city, and didn't really adjust too easily to the move, especially since I've lost everything because of it. Friends, life, pretty much everything. But, I know it's my fault for my educational performance and I can admit that.

My parents will no longer let me use my education fund until I have a definite plan and career path set. This wouldn't affect me that much, because at most, it'll pay for about 1 year at a university out of our province, but would make things a bit easier, and give me more time to get a job to help pay for everything. I've narrowed my choices down to 2 areas that interest me a lot, but have been debating over them for the past year and still haven't come to a decision. The first is becoming a game programmer, something that I've pretty much wanted to do since I started high school. The second is crime scene investigation, something that I didn't really consider until fairly recently (and yes, it's because of the show CSI.)

So, the problem I face is, both career paths are equally interesting, but I don't know which one would be better in the long run. I also don't fully know what being a CSI entails. From the stuff I've read, it seems for the most part that you need education in one of the focuses of forensic science and some training/experience as a Police Officer, but other than that I don't know. I also don't know what the job is like, but it seems like you can't find out that kind of thing until you've actually done it.

Both careers take pretty much the same amount of time education-wise, but both are pretty much completely different. Both are scientific and both are very routine. Unfortunately, I'm also suited very well to both. I'm just trying to decide if I'd rather go with a career where I help make games, or a career where I get to unravel mysteries, find facts and the like.

So, post some advice for me, or just stories about how you chose your career!

[This message has been edited by spud (edited May 25, 2004).]

Unfortunately in real life you don't have some funky techno beat in the background as you examine the evidence.

I haven't really decided what I want to do yet.. there's so many different things I'd want to try, but I only get to chose one. :/

Since I'm undecided I'm headed towards psychology/biology, mainly because it's the most secure and highest paying field among my choices.

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