A little lost..

[timeuntotime]

Hi,

I'm a 26 year old mom and I'm going back to school since my children are now at school age. I know that I would like to go into science and am enrolling in online courses. Biology and Physics are the two I'm most interested in.. It's a boon to be able to attend classes online, but obviously it has it's drawbacks. I'm uncertain what courses I should take and interested in any other insight you might want to offer. Thanks!

[iNow]

If you're looking for recommendations, there are wonderful people here with experience and kindness willing to offer them. You may, however, first need to articulate your objective in taking classes as that will help inform the responses. Is this just for personal edification? Is it to change careers? Is it to build a time machine in your garage? You get the idea... What path you should take depends largely on your goals and why you're going back to school in the first place.

[timeuntotime]

I would like to build a career and be able to work in my chosen field, a desire born of both a desire for personal pride and accomplishment and a love of learning. I believe I would lean toward a research oriented goal, but having little understanding and experience, I'm not sure.

It might be worth mentioning that I was recently diagnosed with AS which undoubtedly plays a role in my decision to go back to school.

Edited November 9, 2017 by timeuntotime

[Phi for All]

Is there a local company that might provide an interesting match? You could ask them what skills and education you need to work there.

[iNow]

I don’t know what AS refers to in this context. Also, am I correct to interpret that you don’t yet have a “chosen field?” Or, if you do, it might help to specify that clearly here. 

[timeuntotime]

Phi for All I'm uncertain what you're referring to by local company. I am almost certain the answer will be no though, I live in an extremely rural area.

iNow It refers to Asperger's Syndrome. I was hoping that someone might have some insight into how to narrow down my subject interest, thereby finding a chosen field.

Edited November 9, 2017 by timeuntotime

[Phi for All]

Sometimes a particular employer can be an inspiring driver in these decisions. "Extremely rural" sounds like code for "bring your own economy, no local jobs".

How do you see yourself working after you finish your courses? Would you be commuting to the city where the science-based jobs are more likely to be? Are you looking to stay rural but work on projects from a remote office? How does being a bit Aspy-flavored affect your decisions about the way you work? Do you think it places any restrictions on you?

[iNow]

Thanks for clarifying!

One idea to keep in mind is that not all learning comes from classes. Some employers (like mine) have dedicated programs to hire autism spectrum individuals who in many cases are incredible at specific tasks we need (like QA of enterprise software and debugging). Another benefit is that most of us work remotely so it doesn’t matter if you’re rural.

I suspect others here can be more helpful and science / research oriented in their feedback, though. 

[timeuntotime]

Thank you both, those are some very insightful questions that I can't answer, yet.

[dimreepr]

19 hours ago, timeuntotime said:

iNow It refers to Asperger's Syndrome. I was hoping that someone might have some insight into how to narrow down my subject interest, thereby finding a chosen field.

1

Perhaps your diagnosis can also give you a direction, who better to help your fellows than someone who actually understands them?

[Phi for All]

20 hours ago, timeuntotime said:

I was hoping that someone might have some insight into how to narrow down my subject interest, thereby finding a chosen field.

How do you feel about the healthcare industry? Someday soon (I hope), the US is going to realize that fighting prescription medicine abuse starts with creating a national database doctors can access. Whether privately funded or publicly (most likely a goofy mixture of both), there will be lots of work for those who know what they're doing and the best way to do it. Medical research is growing, and the technology almost guarantees knowledgeable people will have rewarding work.

Infrastructure projects will be important inevitably. Engineers, drafters, architects will be needed in the coming decades. 

The energy industry is changing and moving in some challenging directions. Opportunities in both public and private sector careers are out there. As we move from fossil fuels to alternatives, we need more physicists than geologists.

[Dubbelosix]

23 hours ago, timeuntotime said:

Hi,

I'm a 26 year old mom and I'm going back to school since my children are now at school age. I know that I would like to go into science and am enrolling in online courses. Biology and Physics are the two I'm most interested in.. It's a boon to be able to attend classes online, but obviously it has it's drawbacks. I'm uncertain what courses I should take and interested in any other insight you might want to offer. Thanks!

 

 

can you get any home tutoring?