Need advice- should I go back to college?

[wombat86]

Here's my dilemma:

I am 23 and I graduated from college 1 year ago with my bachelors & masters degree in Information Science & Technology. I have been working in the tech field for almost a year now, and I hate it. The more time I spend in the office, and around other techies, I realize that this is not my passion. I have a well-paying, stable, low stress job, with a great boss and coworkers. I just feel like something is missing, but I can't define what it is.

I have been very stressed and unhappy lately because I have lots of built up energy that is not being directed at an activity that I am passionate about. I want to find something I love to do and work really hard at it.

I have been doing a lot of soul searching lately to help myself realize what my passion is, and I think I may have found it, but I'm not sure. I think I might want to be a botanist/plant biologist. I love gardening, nature, and biology, so it seems like it would be a good fit for me. However, I also thought for a long time what the tech industry would be a good fit for me, and I didn't learn that it wasn't until I had already contributed a lot of time and money towards it (for college).

I regret not slowing down along the way and making sure I was on the right path, and I do not want to make the same mistake again. I am willing and able to return to college for a Biology degree at this point in my life, I just want to make sure that this is the right path for me.

I would appreciate any advice or suggestions that anyone may have...
Thanks!

[mysticmadness]

Personally I feel that freshers never like their first job. They have dreams of making big and most of time first job is always a dissappointment- Why? because this is their first reality check.
Try anything you like with a job or by taking a month leave from the job. If it works for you go ahead. If not you already have the job and so no worries.
In case you are dead confident about yourself and your thoughts than also go ahead.

Personally I thought I would be great in sales but I failed. I left good jobs in finance for sales. Finally I made big in finance which was my core. I started to judge because finance was my first job and sales was my dream. I had a very painful reality check.

[pauldickinson]

Why don't you try starting a side business involving botany, or a second job (don't want to replace the good paying one at the moment) in botany. Then you can get a feel for the kind of industry you're working in, and decide whether going to college will be a good idea or not. To be honest, I think you could probably learn about botany etc without going to college, and it will be much cheaper too!

[wombat86]

Thanks for the input!

@♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Good point about nobody liking their first job. I have thought that might also be the case with me and I should just find a different job in IT, but I am afraid that it's the whole industry that's not for me, not just this job. I don't like working in an office starting at a computer screen all day, or the whole corporate rat race, or the idea that all I do is work with data that has no real purpose. Just typing characters into the computer. How does that accomplish anything- it's all "virtual"?? It's not even real.
I am drawn to natural science because it is more tangible, studying living things.

@pauldickinson

I have looked for a second job on a farm or at a garden center, but have not been able to find anything. I do gardening as a hobby, but I am not qualified to start a side business with it, and I don't have the space. I would need a biology bachelors degree and possibly a masters degree to be a researcher or get a similar job in botany.

[tc33]

Wombat, Great job on getting your master's by 23! Do you have any economic constraints that prevent you from going back to school? Since you learned your lesson with the IT field, what are you going to do different next time to ensure you don't end up hating your next life as a potential biology lab rat? As they say, the grass is always greener...

As a former programmer for a large corporation, I eventually felt the same way you did -- lack of a higher purpose in my work, boredom with sitting in a cubicle all day, etc. Once I realigned myself with my higher purpose, I was able to use what I had worked so hard for (my degree) but change career paths. I ended up joining the military. You may not have to make such a drastic lifestyle change, but my point is that there may be a way to utilize your extensive education and bit of experience towards something that you may find more fulfilling than what you're currently doing. Alternatively, you could look at your job as "just a paycheck" and use the money to find fulfillment off the job. If you haven't yet read it, the book "Your Money or Your Life" may be of interest to you.

Best wishes,

Tom

[Inthon]

Get a degree so it will open doors, but make sure you WORK so you can immediately start adding value to an enterprise and built contacts, etc.

http://www.lowestcostcolleges.com/ - make sure you get your degree cheaply!

[mysticmadness]

wombat seems you have done good introspection and have evaluated all associated risk. If the money part if fine with you, I think you should go ahead. Whenever you take risk its always better to have couple of options open and have a backup too. Just be aware of that and go ahead with your plans.