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In school, I was really good at math and science and figured I should be an engineer because that seemed like a steady job to have. I landed my first internship in college at a medical device company, and decided I really liked working on things that help people, so I looked for that in a company after graduation and that was really important to me when I switched industries recently (medical to safety).

It was half wanting to provide for myself without too much worry, half wanting to be able to take pride in where I worked.

I fell into engineering because shit got crazy my senior year and I was a good candidate for materials engineering with a chemistry background. I was pre med, though. Now I'm looking to get back to it

My current company and all my jobs here have been really flexible and family friendly, so it's a bit daunting to change. I just find it so terribly boring and isolating. The subjects are interesting-the reality of the work is not

I loved school and learning, and found myself in a lot of teaching/tutoring-type situations. People often told me, even in middle school, that I had a gift for teaching/explaining. I've wanted to be a teacher since I was in 3rd grade. So, I majored in social studies education at the secondary level (grades 7-12), joined Teach For America, and ended up teaching 5th grade language arts and SS.

I've now been teaching in a Title 1 school for 5 years, and I've LOVED it, but I am so.burned.out. I am hanging on for at least two more years for lots of reasons (one being that I am changing my grade level and going back to JUST SS and hope that helps), but I don't know if I can do this for the long-term. I don't know how to get out or move, either, since I also have my M.Ed. already. I was single-minded about my career until this year.

My DH & I are also now facing infertility issues on both sides, and it sometimes looks like the only route for us to have children would be foster-care adoption... which would require one of us to quit our jobs until the baby is at least a year old, and even then we might not get to adopt the baby / babies. Soooo.... yeah. Who knows.

I was always a huge, huge bookworm growing up. Picture the girl in your school who got in trouble for reading a book during math class, or who walked in the halls while reading a book. Saying I read voraciously is an understatement.

So it was a no brainer to me that my major had to be English lit with a minor in linguistics. I thought originally I would go into publishing, but my senior year in college, I started looking online for jobs in publishing and saw starting salaries at $28,000/yr in NYC. I knew one girl that had gone into publishing and her parents were helping to pay her rent in Manhattan and she had like, 4 roommates. I paid my own way though college and I knew my parents weren't going to bankroll anything in my life. So I spent the summer after I graduated getting an alternative certification for teaching, and I busted my ass sending out resumes....

I ended up teaching English for a year in a super low-income school, then that summer I went back to school and added credits to become a Gifted and Talented teacher, which I did in the same school for the next 4 years.

At some point in there--I'd like to think my true career picked me! The school librarian befriended me and told me I needed to be a librarian. I had honestly never considered it, but as soon as the put the idea in my head, I knew she was right. I went back to school again, got my MLS, and became a school librarian...still doing it 7 years later.

For me, it's the best possible job. I mean, if I have to work, this is the only job for me. It really is the job that fits my personality best, I love what I do, it doesn't stress me out as much as teaching in a low income school did, and I can see myself doing it forever.

Also, considering I work 9 months a year, I make pretty good money, especially in my new state. When I retire, I'll be making 100k a year, still working 9 months a year and doing what I love.

I feel super lucky for falling into this career.

I was always really good at (and enjoyed!) math and science so engineering was a natural fit. But I was definitely pulled more towards the science side which was why I chose Biomedical Engineering. I did a ton of research while I was in school (all 4 years) and determined that that was really what I preferred in terms of the real world application of my engineering degree.

Haha... honestly, I grew up in a very small town that I was desperate to get out of. I had near perfect grades and got into every prestigious university I applied to but my parents encouraged me to stay home and commute to the nearest slightly bigger town to go to community college. So I picked my desired major based solely on the options that weren't available at community college, so I'd HAVE to move away for school. It worked out well though. I have a pretty good job in my field (Criminology/Psychology) that I actually really like.

Similar to previous posters, I enjoyed math and science, so my mom encouraged an Engineering major. I briefly considered medical school, but when I graduated, I got a job in IT consulting. After a couple years I realized I may have been too hasty dismissing medical school and becoming a doctor. Took a couple years to get my stuff in order and get accepted but now I'm in medical school!

I started out as a bioengineering major in school because like many other pp's, I was good at math and science. Plus my entire family are engineers. But i didnt like it and my mom suggested i go to the business school at my university. I chose finance because it was more math based.

I decided when I was in college, based on what kind of summer jobs I could find. There's no romantic story behind it.

My dad picked my major and I landed in my career by default. I did an internship at the recommendation of my cousin just to get out of the house and away from my parents for the summer. Said internship offered me a full time job upon completion and here I am 8 years later...

I wanted to be a doctor (pediatrician), but my parents didn't approve.

I always loved science, nature and the outdoors. For all of high school I thought I wanted to go into a medical field. However, my university environment was really competitive in those areas--everyone competing to get into medical school, to the point where they would shield their NOTES from you in order to do better than you on a test. This was SO not for me, and I switched my major to environmental science and took AMAZING classes in things like herpetology, ecology, resource management, forestry, environmental economics, etc. I LOVED it. Still do.

After graduation, I worked abroad for several years in natural resource management, then attended graduate school in public policy, with a focus on environmental policy & natural resource management (classes in law, finance, economics, etc). The two degrees complemented each other really well.

Of course now I'm working in academic health sciences on the research side. It's not a dream job, but it has been a really great learning experience. I will probably stay here another 2-3 years, and then look for something closer to my own heart. Luckily I work at a large, state university, so there are many opportunities to do this sort of thing.

I wouldn't say that I've found my dream career yet, but every step I've taken has nudged me a little bit closer!!

I am a science nerd... But I spent many years trying to do anything but medicine (what my parents wanted me to do). Finally at 28 I went to med school. (It's never too late-- there was a 45 year old with grown kids in my class).

Love my career. It's got endless possibilities.

@Alivoo01: I'm not Asian and my mom said "now you'll never get married" when I told her I got in to med school. (Even though she was the one who wanted me to go). I think she thought I was too old.

@Alivoo01: I think my parents said the same thing!

My dad got me an internship at his company (a large international bank) the summer I graduated college, and after floating around a bit I ended up in IT, and after a couple of years I ended up actually building and maintaining servers. So at my very non-technical college I looked into majoring in Computer Science, but all you could learn was software development and I didn't want to do that. So I majored in Communications and and took all the Digital Media classes my school offered (3), TAed in them after I ran out... and ended up in digital media marketing. I contemplated a career change many times, but I keep ending up here and now I'm really enjoying growing my career.

I choose my major b/c it was broad and I truly had no idea what I actually wanted to be so I took business administration/marketing. I ended up in my job by happenstance and I've stayed with the same company for 15 years, switching dept's. I don't love my job and ultimately I'd like to get into HR or training but not sure i'll be able to.

I dropped out of college because of a hurricane and never went back. I worked retail jobs for a most of my 20s, then when I decided to go back to work after E I took the civil service exam and was placed in my current job (I process applications for a county assistance office). A few more years here and I can be a caseworker, which wouldn't have been my first choice, but I think I'll be good at it.

@Anagram: I think if I hadn't gone the route I had gone, I might have gotten my MLS. I libraries! We have a similar educational background (although my major was linguistics), but I ended up in publishing (but within a large accounting firm, not stand-alone).

I have had a love of writing since I was a child. I went to college with a declared major of journalism and added PR to my major while in school. I feel like it was a calling I have honed over the years.