Very confused about my future and what I want to do when I grow up

Not only have I known engineers who qualify as stupid, I called one boss for a couple of years. While he had intelligence (book learnin') he was severely lacking in common sense. And that is a dangerous combination. Common sense can be just as important as the book learning in the real world.
If you’re going to be an engineer be a civil engineer.
 
Nothing personal, Boogie, but just stating the obvious. I'm much more mature than you, as I chose to do my "mental freeze" at 16.

(Only because I needed a drivers license. But hey, if you ever need a ride... ).
Thanks buddy. If my chauffeur isn’t available, I’ll give you a buzz...

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Not only have I known engineers who qualify as stupid, I called one boss for a couple of years. While he had intelligence (book learnin') he was severely lacking in common sense. And that is a dangerous combination. Common sense can be just as important as the book learning in the real world.

We've all know that guy, engineer or not. To think otherwise drives this point home.

I think that engineer works with me now. I scratch my head every time we talk and wonder how? But probably not him, I question his intelligence and common sense. Good guy though.
 
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I would love to learn something like CAD or programming for CNC because that's how PRS does their body carves. I was thinking that my plan is to get a real degree first, preferably in programming or computer science and then go to luthiery school

I would do this. It is better to pursue your love/passion of building guitars from a place where you are financially stable to do so. You can always move to guitar building as you progress in that. Thats just my view. You should get all the info and then decide whats best for you. Kudos for putting so much thought into it so early on.
 
I would do this. It is better to pursue your love/passion of building guitars from a place where you are financially stable to do so. You can always move to guitar building as you progress in that. Thats just my view. You should get all the info and then decide whats best for you. Kudos for putting so much thought into it so early on.
Yea because I can get an actual job but also do something I love.
 
It’s a good thing to be thinking about, but your conclusion today probably doesn’t matter. What you think two years from now will matter more, but still doesn’t have to be the final answer.

Whatever you start doing after you graduate from high school doesn’t have to be a life sentence. You can try making or fixing guitars for a while and if doesn’t satisfy you, you can do something else. As noted above, just take care about building up an insurmountable debt trying something that is wrong for you.
Lots of good advice here. You don’t need to figure this out tomorrow so take your time figuring out what you and what will make you happy. Most people want to make a good living so they can live a certain lifestyle and have nice things. There’s a lot of people that do that and still aren’t happy.

I’ll give you my personal experience. I’m in my early 40’s now. When I finished high school, I didn’t go to college. I didn’t like school in general so another 4 years wasn’t going to happen. I started working for about 6 months. Had a car payment and some credit card debt. I figured that I did want to build guitars. I looked into Roberto Venn and the school in Minnesota. RV is not cheap. I applied for some grants but was denied. I still needed to work to pay my bills. I didn’t have the resources that are available today to figure all the financial options. Didn’t even have a computer or internet then. I worked a few more years, built some more debt. At one point, I decided I would sell pretty everything besides my car and my PRS and move to Maryland to work at PRS. I had a plan to travel out in spring, tour the factory and inquire about a job. The winter prior to that, I met a drummer and decided to see where that would lead. Within 3 months, we had a solid demo and were doing national tour support for most shows in our area. I didn’t travel to Maryland that spring. We had an awesome run for a few years, nearly got signed before our singer got weird and things fell apart. I’ve been in couple more bands with the same drummer over the last 18 years. We’ve had the same success in playing great shows with a lot of cool bands at some great venues, some for 3-4000 people. Early on during all that, met someone, started a family and my home is here. I’ve worked at the same company for 24 years. I’ve never liked my job. It’s tolerable and I get paid very well for not having a college education. I have some nice guitars. I have a PS. Have a house, nice vehicle, nice life. I’m not unhappy besides not liking my job. I’ve always felt I was meant to do more. I still wonder “what if” I had gone to work at PRS. It’s the one thing in my life that has been a hard pill to swallow.
 
It's way too early to worry about this. Not saying you shouldn't be curious or talk about it, but really, don't worry. Life will present options when it's time to choose them. That's my experience. Just try your best in school, be the best person you can be, and explore anything and everything that seems interesting to you. That's your job.
 
When I was in high school I assumed I was heading towards engineering because math was my best subject. My teachers encouraged it as an obvious direction. My first semester of college I took an Anthropology course because all the math classes were full when I registered. From that point on I took a hard turn towards the humanities. I would have made a lot more money if I had successfully made it through the engineering program, but I don’t think I would have enjoyed it. Many of my friends were in the program and were always stressed about their differential equations or whatever. I didn’t feel like I was missing out.
My point is (like many have said), have fun and see what happens. Hell, when I entered college nobody had heard of the internet (information super-highway). By the time I graduated I knew html and made a few bucks doing a website for a friend.
 
It's way too early to worry about this. Not saying you shouldn't be curious or talk about it, but really, don't worry. Life will present options when it's time to choose them. That's my experience. Just try your best in school, be the best person you can be, and explore anything and everything that seems interesting to you. That's your job.
I don't have to figure it out tomorrow, I just have to learn more and learn what I want to do!
 
When I was in high school I assumed I was heading towards engineering because math was my best subject. My teachers encouraged it as an obvious direction. My first semester of college I took an Anthropology course because all the math classes were full when I registered. From that point on I took a hard turn towards the humanities. I would have made a lot more money if I had successfully made it through the engineering program, but I don’t think I would have enjoyed it. Many of my friends were in the program and were always stressed about their differential equations or whatever. I didn’t feel like I was missing out.
My point is (like many have said), have fun and see what happens. Hell, when I entered college nobody had heard of the internet (information super-highway). By the time I graduated I knew html and made a few bucks doing a website for a friend.
One of my sisters thought she wanted to do architecture for her major, turns out it was much harder than she thought it was. She was spending 30-40 hours per drawing. She switched to engineering and is doing well now! I go to a classical education school, which is where we learn from the Greeks and all the classics, classic literature, the Odessey, Illiad and we learn about socrates and philosophers. I'm taking Euclidean geometry this semester and it is crazy hard. But I'm getting through it!
 
Hi everyone, I am posting about my future and what I want to do and what is put on the table for me.

To start off, I am presented with currently 4 options for me at the moment as a sophomore in High school.

  1. Religious life
  2. Music school
  3. Engineering/computer Science
  4. building guitars, becoming a tech or working at PRS.
As you can see, I am very confused. I have been giving thought to contacting Paul personally asking for advice about my future. You see, I really want to work at PRS and build guitars, but I want to also do a lot of other things, and those things could fetch me a very good salary.

I am currently 15 years old and I am mainly focusing on school. But what do I do after? I like guitars and I want to build them. I could go to music school and get a music degree and possibly teach. I could go to a luthiery school and work from there at PRS or just become and engineer.

Now Paul is my biggest inspiration. He started something so great and I would love to carry his legacy on. I've been told to contact him for advice, but I am confused on what to contact him about? Like I want to build guitars, but there are so many different things I love doing.

What would seem like a good path for me? And would it be worth contacting Paul asking for advice?[/QUOTE

I would go number 3. That will open the door for many things. Maybe even give you the knowledge to build guitars after you are educated. I took piano lessons from an awesome concert trained piano teacher. He teaches at an awesome college in town, has his doctorate in music, and runs the piano study program at the college as a professor. He also went to Julliard music school, and went to Curtis school of music. Two of the top music conservatory's in the world. He earned degrees and had scholarships with some of finest concert players in the world. One being Leon Flesher. Everyone in his family was super smart, as is he, but took other paths. They are good musicians as well, but didn't do it as a profession like he did. He said if he had to do it over again, he would have done the same to make more of a living. That music is so hard to make it at for the work people put into it. Unless you are the one in a 100 thousand with a gift, and that still doesn't guarantee an illustrious career. And unless you absolutely love it so much and don't care about possible struggles for the work you put into it. Do what you have to do!
 
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Go to trade school and make sure there is a job you can stand doing for the 30 years at the end of the rainbow that pays well enough to make the effort worth it. Don't simply go to a degree factory that will give you a useless degree and send you out into the world 200K in debt and only slightly better off than a HS grad. And yes I have a BS and 2 MS degrees so I know from experience (I just avoided any debt). At best a MS translates to two years experience if the basic qualifications are a BS, so the juice may not be worth the squeeze.
 
Go to trade school and make sure there is a job you can stand doing for the 30 years at the end of the rainbow that pays well enough to make the effort worth it. Don't simply go to a degree factory that will give you a useless degree and send you out into the world 200K in debt and only slightly better off than a HS grad. And yes I have a BS and 2 MS degrees so I know from experience (I just avoided any debt). At best a MS translates to two years experience if the basic qualifications are a BS, so the juice may not be worth the squeeze.

Thats exactly what I did. I was farming with the family, then wanted to do something on my own. I was working 2 jobs and went and got my associates degree in applied science at a community college for utility line technician. Basically a 2 year degree. I got my foot in the door at a local utility part time, doing dirty jobs, etc, then they hired me full time. Did 4 more years of apprenticeship and made journeyman lineman. It was damn good money and the benefits were stellar. Good wages, overtime and double time, 401K match, cheap insurance, pension etc. Not bragging at all. But the trades shouldn't be overlooked.
 
Thats exactly what I did. I was farming with the family, then wanted to do something on my own. I was working 2 jobs and went and got my associates degree in applied science at a community college for utility line technician. Basically a 2 year degree. I got my foot in the door at a local utility part time, doing dirty jobs, etc, then they hired me full time. Did 4 more years of apprenticeship and made journeyman lineman. It was damn good money and the benefits were stellar. Good wages, overtime and double time, 401K match, cheap insurance, pension etc. Not bragging at all. But the trades shouldn't be overlooked.
The job gap in America is rooted in the superior (yet false) marketing of the 4 year degree over the trades. Nothing wrong with a 4 year degree but folks tend to study what they are interested in rather than seeing, 1) does the degree make you highly qualified for an associated job 2) does the job pay enough for you to live comfortably and pay off the degree before you are 30 3) are jobs highly available in the area you want live?
 
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