Based on a recent post that went off on a grammatical tangent (see here), I thought I'd ask for the following question:

Who here has the most useless undergraduate major, minor, or other field of study in their personal background?

I'm just your typical history major/gov't (political science) minor, which are probably a dime a dozen in our field. Anything more random out there?

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication followed by formal training as a thermonuclear missile launch officer.

Once I saw how many ICBM launch jobs there are out here in the civilian world, I needed law school to find work.

As I recall, the Air Force said something like "we'll give you great training that will benefit your job search later." (Honestly, the intangibles of discipline and dealing with stress in adverse conditions did help).

mine is sociology with a minor in labor history. I was going to organize strawberry workers in California, but that call came a month after I got accepted into law school (I wanted to go into labor law...labor side, of course). Interesting how radically different your life can turn out!

Major in Philosophy with a minor in Physics. (I started out undergraduate at Tulane as a biomedical engineer.)

I'm not sure what that explains, but I'm certain it covers a great deal.

International Studies, with concentrations in political science and German. Which was fabulous when I planned on doing international law, but not so useful here in state criminal law.

Sounds like few of us intended to become prosecutors.

I was an English major with delusions of practicing constitutional law before the US Supremes until I got to law school and decided I like property law better. Then I graduated and had to earn a living and became a criminal defense lawyer until a benevolent DA saved me.

i was going to be a writer, so i got my degree in creative writing. the more i talked to other writers i started to see a complete disconnect between what "la vie boheme" pretended to accomplish (an end to conflict through the creation of an enlightened audience committed to living a life in love) and what it actually accomplished (annoymous poverty). having volunteered at a women's center answering a crisis hotline, i realized that prosecutors have more of an opportunity to beneficially impact people in their daily lives. "and that has made all the difference."

1. Rent by Jonathan Larson
2. "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

[This message was edited by David Newell on 08-01-06 at .]

My undergrad degree in criminal justice is much more useful than my first major of poly sci. At least I can quote Jeremy Bentham and other noted criminologists when justifying my recs to defense attorneys.

I too wanted to follow the creative writing path during undergrad (hence English major). Still do in my spare time, although I am realistic that I will probably never get published.

Don't give up the gift David.

Let's see -

Undergrad Double Major Anthropology (Archeology focus) and History.

Grad School Medieval English History

Wanted to do medieval archeology but couldn't afford to go to University in Europe. Thought I would get a PHD in Medieval History (Anglo-Norman England was my specialty) when I suddenly discovered what a life of poverty that would be.

Migrated through elementary school teacher to Law School and prosecution.

I love that someone else has studied Jeremy B. I can't remember the group name though? Any idea? As an aside, did you know they drag out his bones for an annual dinner?

Agricultural Economics.

Had to do with eligibility for a scholarship not my burning desire to become a poultry farmer....

Management. Ugh. But during my business courses, I was a teaching assistant for Business Law and interned at the DA's office. So even though I hated business, I got my start in law through it (and my management degree helped me get my first job out of college - an administrator for a solo immigration law practitioner). Got a M.S. in criminal justice, but not till after my J.D.

Creative banjo w/ a minor in making lawyers angry.

Lisa,

Given who we all deal with, I am not so sure your previous education was so useless. Of course, animal husbandry has some profit potential!

What? So no one will admit to a degree in noodling?

A degree in English. Enjoyed the 18th Century Novel course. Went on to serve as a manager in an ice cream store. Served some of the first dollar a scoop ice cream in Houston.

Accepted into a creative writing masters program. Didn't go. Got married. Went to law school. Found out I could prosecute. Oh, baby.

quote:

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Originally posted by John Stride:
Lisa,

Given who we all deal with, I am not so sure your previous education was so useless. Of course, animal husbandry has some profit potential!

What? So no one will admit to a degree in noodling?

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Brumley's degree is not in noodling but he is working as a noodling tutor, which is no mean trick when you live in Amarillo.

The most useless undergrad degree was . . . BBA Finance from the great U of T, circa May 1989, the year they closed one bank per week in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Midland, etc.

As Shannon knows, I can't calculate the lunch check, my checkbook only balances on Quicken, and I spent the following winter as the only English speaking dishwasher in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley . . .

Journalism major (that's print, not broadcast -- I never was pretty, you know). But it's my minor that shows the true value of my undergraduate education: political science, with a specialization in Soviet government. I was going to bury them. Before that, I was an advertising major and a theater arts minor. I'm a pragmatism poster child.

Now, on to the naysayers.

Noodling, Mr. Gilleland, is properly the subject of post-graduate study. It's quite demanding; students are not permitted to take the prerequisite banjo and sherry delivery courses pass/fail.

I majored in History, but couldn't get into law school at first. So I taught 6th grade social studies in Waco (without a teaching certificate)! Then, when I was assaulted by a student I told him I was going to law school so that I could put people like him in jail - thus the prosecutor was born...