Ghetto Onion

I'm double majoring in French and Philosophy. Please tell me what I can do with that because I'm pretty sure I don't want to be a professor.

I'm also a junior and I don't know what to do career wise. I think a translating job would be sweet, but only with written works, because I don't have the divided listening and speaking skills for oral translations. It sounds a little too much like a dream job but then again, our existentialist professor did the leading translation to Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zathustra" and it's sold as a Barnes & Noble classic. Bet you he gets a pretty penny for that.

So I dunno. I'm also pretty set on joining the Peace Corps after undergrad and then doing grad school after that. That seems like enough life experience for me. But then I have the issue of what to do when I get to grad school and people ask me if I'm going and I'm like "yessiree" and they ask what for and I'm like "Good question!"

For me- I didn't even pick a major until I absolutely knew what I loved doing. And so that's my approach to things, unless I'm 100% I just don't go with anything. I've seen people change their major so many times and I think it's so ridiculous, as if they chose it on a whim each semester.

All I know is what I enjoy doing, and I haven't quite figured how to incorporate that into a career yet that isn't teaching, sooo sorry, can't offer any advice.

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"The deepest definition of youth is life as yet untouched by tragedy."
-Alfred North Whitehead


"Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world."
-Arthur Schopenhauer

Tia

It's the same for me- I know I want to do grad school, I just don't know what for.

I was thinking about Peace Corps, but the horror stories have kinda scared me off. =\

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Make it an earth-friendly holiday!

Ghetto Onion

I've been researching the Peace Corps program since my senior of high school, your chances of dying during service are the same as when you walk out your front door, the majority of all the deaths have been things like car accidents, some have been complications due to old age because retired people join.

And since it started in 1961 (i think that's the year?), there's only been like 200 or 300 deaths. Tiny percentage compared to the people who volunteer. And they don't send you out to refugee areas, you're not "alone". The death rates have also declined quite a bit over the years as the program advances.

I've heard lots of great stories and I've also heard some bad stories, like a friend of mine whose sister is over there, she just got dysentery for the second time, and then my aunt's friend's daughter lost like 40 lbs but I don't really see this as tragic because she was overweight, and obviously you're not going to have the luxuries of such processed shit that make you fat, so I imagine everyone who goes over there loses some weight. It's really whether you think you're capable, I totally understand people who don't think they could hack it. It's tough. But for me- I can't stand the idea of sitting around when I have skills that could really make a difference somewhere.

__________________
"The deepest definition of youth is life as yet untouched by tragedy."
-Alfred North Whitehead


"Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world."
-Arthur Schopenhauer

Brewtality

Translation is a veeery competative field. Unless you've been in the field for a few years or happen to know a writer who thinks you're upto it, you can kiss literary translation goodbye. When I was at the Venice Film Festival, I was speaking to a guy who translates films into Hebrew for the Israeli audience. And he's the ONLY person who does it. If you want to translate anything of worth then you'd generally be a Harvard graduate with shitloads of experience. Otherwise you end up translating magazine adverts and instruction manuals. You're best bet is to try and find something which hasn't been translated before and get to it before anybody else does. It's a lot of work though with all the theory behind the translation method and everything....

My girlfriend did her MA in Translation and is teaching Translacion Inversa at the University of Salamanca here in Spain which is why is seem to have acquired this knowledge.



As for the Peace Corps thing. DO IT! I wish we had something like that in the UK because that's probably what I'd be doing right now.

__________________
The broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes... Adolf Hitler

Ghetto Onion

Yeah that's why I mentioned it's kind of a dream job, but my professor only graduated from UT-Austin, so if I get into a decent grad school and network- it's possible.

Or I've just been thinking about linguistics of some kind, I'm taking a romance language linguistics class next semester and I'm ridiculously excited. I hope it doesn't disappoint me. And I know someone going to grad school for neurolinguistics, and another friend who's interested in a "philosophy of linguistics". Those all sound good and interesting but not really for me. I haven't found my "niche" of interest yet.

For those of you who went to grad school, how long did it take for you to figure out what you wanted to do? It seems like it took me long enough to figure it out in undergrad, I can't just start going to grad school without figuring it out first.

__________________
"The deepest definition of youth is life as yet untouched by tragedy."
-Alfred North Whitehead


"Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world."
-Arthur Schopenhauer

Brewtality

Do you read Wittgenstein?

__________________
The broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes... Adolf Hitler

True

Ha! This is the boat i am in too! I'm a History major with a Middle East Studies Minor. I have no clue what i want to do for grad school. Yesterday i got an invite to go to a law school informational session. Apparently they are sending me a case to prepare and then i present it and they tell me things.... I have no clue if Law school is for me so i'll go.

I just know that after i graduate i want to move to the Middle East to learn Arabic. I'm struggling finding programs i like though. My best friend suggested me moving to Spain with her (she wants to teach English in Spain) I need more obtainable life goals.