Good advice. I never learned to use debt, the last time I financed anything was a GMAC loan on a '57 Chevy during high school, except for my homes and rental units. My last and final home I paid cash. It worked for me and a good book to read is The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

I don't know much about engineering, but I will definitely keep an open mind and look into it! I'm not completely sure what direction I would like to go in, but I love the sciences in general. Research- despite how competitive it can get- fascinates me. I'm applying to some schools with great engineering programs (it just so happens haha) so I'll cross my fingers and hope I can get in to at least one of them. From there I can see about switching majors/programs if I change my mind about physics.

Physics doesn't seem very practical, but it's so interesting to me- especially its strong foundation of mathematics. I hope I can develop a passion for it in the future and, if not, I will find another area of study :) Thank you for your insight!

I'm surprised there are so many physics majors here. It's great haha... Physics interests me because of how it attempts to rationalize fairly abstract ideas. I don't know much about it, so I'm not exactly sure how accurate that statement is... but- well, I hope it's accurate :)

Here is a simple rule for saving $. Every time you get a raise half goes into investments ie savings and half you spend on yourself. Do this and you will retire early with a big nest egg of cash.

Thank you so much for this.

By the way, you don't need to worry about a big wedding from me :)

I teach chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, materials science and engineering, and how to make things. That is my shrug job.

Hopefully your school is not taken over by crazy liberals more interested in reparations and climate change than actual learning. Best thing you could do is teach your students that they can trust technology and their ability to understand it and use it in their own lives. I left MIT years ago with one thing really- the idea that I was capable of understanding anything and solving any problem if I kept at it long enough. I have used that every day since, even though I dont really remember a lot of the practical things they taught.

Now they do climate change and raparations and "looking good" by being politically correct. Too bad.

I have to agree with Commander about the passion part.
I am 65 years old, and I have spent most of my adult life trying to instill in "my kids" a passion for anything that trips their trigger. My main focus has been engineering, namely aerospace, and I have mentored university students literally from coast to coast and worldwide. Google Cansat and USLI @ NASA.
That all said, I see a lot of students who have no clue, thru no fault of their own, but of non exposure, what exactly is their trigger. I have some of "my kids" working for Elon Musk who can't stand their work environment. I have other "kids" who work for NASA as astronauts (Woody Holburg) or Lockheed running sim machines for fighter pilots and are "living their dream". And some "kids" who were brilliant and decided to run their own business. One of them is a rancher. Best looking cattle herd I have ever seen (I am also a rancher, as one of my side jobs).
I joined the army at 18 because I was broke, inexperienced, couldn't afford an education, and had never been anywhere. The army rectified that, sent me to Vietnam moping up that mess, and to Laos to deal with Polpot. And then paid for my education. I wanted to be a historian (one of my favorite quotes was from Pres Truman "The only thing new in this world is the history you do not know". But I figured there was no money in that (I was born dirt poor, no dad, raised by my Grandma in a 3 room stucco house with no electricity, no running water, and an outhouse. Kerosene lamps for lighting. So When I was done with wandering, I went to school to be an accountant. Bored stiff. Used my people skills to become a major hospital personnel director. Bored again. Used my accounting and military background to get a job with the ATF as an explosives and weapons federal agent. Got in a shootout with some dirtbags in Lubbork, Texas and shot a couple of em. Mucho paperwork.Decided to start my own business. 5 branch locations in three states, 100 employees, sold out in 2009 and bought a ranch. In between all this, I was on the propellant team that engineered the motor that sent the first non government privately owned rocket into space (72 miles verticle,) have been on at least 20 shows with Myth busters, Sci Fi, Discovery, etc, on rocketry based episodes. (Google Mini Cooper rocket powered fireld goal on YouTube, I am the guy wearing a white cowboy hat).
But today my dream I am living is working my ranch and installing solar power for people who want to be off grid.
I guess, youngun, why I am telling you all this, is wait a tad if you don't already know your "trigger". If you do, realize it may change. So educate yourself with various sklls as a backup.
Starting a new contract for a weapons mfg tomorrow in my shop. Sifting, in my shop, 3 different micron sizes, of Ammonium Perchlorate, 20000 lbs, to be shipped to China Lake to make Hellfire missile motors.
What, me bored :-) ?

Nice to hear from you!

I've never been interested in making a lot of money, but I'm sure that's what a lot of kids my age say. Or maybe it's supposed to be the other way around... not sure. I will admit, my daydreams are pretty wild. I find myself imagining a revolution/state collapse in North Korea, followed by a period of state reconstruction. However, I also daydream about doing research at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Irrational and unrealistic? Absolutely. That's what daydreams are good for!

I'm not even sure I'm the type of person who could do a walkabout of sorts before formal schooling. I certainly want to have an academic lifestyle, but I don't imagine it as anything luxurious. Actually, I imagine I will be a completely broke student, happily squinting at some lengthy proof. Again, pretty naive haha. We'll see where I end up in a couple years :)

I like this website because, for the most part, everyone remains respectful despite their different opinions. In college and in general, I would prefer to stay out of any political party or stick around with a specific group of people. Self-admittedly, I'll likely (and inevitably) seek out like-minded individuals, but I hope to encounter different perspectives and genuinely challenge my thinking. I think I could learn something from anyone, good or bad. Rather than expect the worst from everyone, I'd prefer to simply prepare for it. I hope that doesn't come across the wrong way (and I hope it doesn't seem as if I'm a very "malleable" individual haha). Thank you; I mean that sincerely. I will stay true to myself and I certainly won't be swayed easily.

Stay away from journalism majors too...I found...