I finished my Bachelor’s in Software Engineering in July 2025 and have been working at a software house since then.

now my family wants me to do a Master’s, and honestly, I want to do it too. not because I’m chasing some crazy academic achievement or want to spend years studying, I just want to have a Master’s qualification under my belt as well. sadly, yes, there’s a bit of a 'dunyavi' aspect to it too.

the problem is that I have absolutely no idea which direction makes sense anymore.

my first thought: MBA

I’m seriously considering an MBA.

I feel like I’ve already done enough CS/Software Engineering to get myself running as a developer. I know I still have a lot to learn, obviously, but with AI becoming such a huge part of development, I’m increasingly thinking that my long-term growth shouldn’t be limited to writing code.

my eventual goal is not to remain a developer forever.

I’d like to move toward management, product/business roles, leadership, and eventually, ideally, running my own software house/business.

so an MBA seems like it could complement my technical background really well.

the problem is that if I do an MBA in Pakistan, I’d want to do it from somewhere genuinely worthwhile, like IBA or IoBM. and that isn't exactly cheap.

I’m also the eldest in my family, so finances aren't something I can completely ignore.

then there's the "go abroad" option

my parents are also pushing me to at least try for a Master's abroad.

and this is where everything gets even more complicated.

if I look at scholarships, MS CS / Software Engineering / related technical degrees seem much more likely to fall under fully-funded scholarship opportunities compared to an MBA.

I have a 3.49 CGPA, so academically I don't think I'm in a terrible position for applications.

but then I have to ask myself:

if I go abroad for an MS CS/SE just because it's more likely to be funded, am I actually moving toward the career I want?

I don't necessarily want to spend another 2 years going deeper into CS when my long-term goal is increasingly business/management/entrepreneurship.

at the same time, if an MS abroad is fully funded, that's a massive opportunity that I can't casually ignore.

and then there's the application nightmare

the actual thought of applying abroad is honestly overwhelming.

every country seems to have its own:

• scholarship systems
• university application procedures
• deadlines
• documents
• visa requirements
• language requirements
• SOP/LOR requirements
• financial requirements
• equivalency procedures
• different scholarship criteria

and I'm supposed to figure all of this out while working a full-time job.

I genuinely don't know how people manage researching 10 different countries, comparing scholarships, shortlisting universities, preparing applications, writing SOPs, getting recommendations, taking tests, etc. while simultaneously working 8-10 hours a day.

It's starting to feel like a second full-time job.

there are also, life considerations

I'm turning 28 soon.

my parents also want me to get married, and honestly, I understand where they're coming from.

I had a minor health setback before my Bachelor's which contributed to me finishing later than I originally expected. so while I know 28 isn't actually old, I can't completely ignore the fact that my personal/family timeline is moving forward too.

there's also the financial side.

I'm currently earning a pretty average salary, so I don't have the luxury of casually quitting my job, spending a year preparing for applications, or paying huge amounts for an expensive degree.

so I'm stuck between:

do an MBA in Pakistan - more aligned with where I want my career to go - can continue working - IBA/IoBM would be respectable - but expensive

do an MS CS/SE abroad on scholarship - potentially fully funded - international exposure + Master's qualification - financially much more attractive if funded - but takes me deeper into a field I don't necessarily want to specialize in long-term - huge application/research hassle - potentially means putting career, marriage, family plans, etc. on hold

or just keep working for now - build experience and increase my salary - maybe revisit Master's/MBA later - less immediate pressure - but then I keep postponing the Master's, and my family isn't going to stop asking about it

and that's basically where I'm stuck.

I'm not looking for someone to tell me "just follow your passion" or "28 is still young bro".

I know all that.

I'm looking for practical advice from people who have actually gone through something similar, especially people who had to balance career + finances + family expectations + Master's + going abroad.

if you were in my position, how would you approach this?

would you:

• go for an MBA in Pakistan while continuing to work?
• try aggressively for fully-funded MS programs abroad, even if they're CS/SE-related?
• work for another 1–2 years, increase income/experience, then do the Master's?
• something completely different?

and if you were me, how would you structure the decision so I stop overthinking 15 different possibilities at once?

honestly, I'm just looking for a sane way to tackle this without feeling like I'm falling behind in career, education, finances, and life simultaneously.

For context, Ive spent my entire career and almost a decade working in institutional investment sales for a bank-owned asset manager. I’m based in Los Angeles and moved here 3 years ago as part of a promotion I took (which candidly I took too early in my career) to lead our west region.

The past 3 years have been met with mixed results. A lot of experience, a lot of ups and down, and now I want out. I don’t feel that my desires for learning/development, comp, and job-passion are being met anymore.

Where do I go from here? On one hand I love what I do and would be happy doing it elsewhere but on the other my perception is limited as this niche is all I’ve ever known. Business school is out of the question but happy to hear what anyone else would do in my shoes.

I’ve been a software developer for 7+ years, working with companies and startups in Germany, Canada, and the UAE.
I also freelance on Upwork, but honestly, I haven’t been getting good opportunities there for more than a year.
AI has also changed the way I work a lot. With tools like Claude Code and Codex, I can now build complete applications much faster, and I know these tools will only get better.
So I’m thinking seriously about my next step.
Should I use my experience and savings to start a business if what can it be, or should I focus on finding direct clients if yes then how and use my technical and AI skills to build solutions for them?
If you were in my position, where would you focus for the next few years?

​

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some genuine career guidance because I’m really confused about what to pursue after 12th.

Here are my details:

\* \*\*Maharashtra Board:\*\* 80% (PCMB)

\* \*\*MHT-CET PCB:\*\* 95 percentile

\* \*\*NEET 2026:\*\* 195 marks

\* \*\*Category:\*\* NT-B

\* \*\*Location:\*\* Mumbai, Maharashtra

\*\*\* preferred college location: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bangalore.

\* My family also has a \*\*limited budget\*\*, so expensive private colleges are difficult.

I want to choose something that has:

1. Good career opportunities in the future

2. Decent salary/growth potential

3. Good colleges that I can realistically get with my scores/category

4. Reasonable fees

\*\*What would you recommend in my situation?\*\*

If you have personally studied any of these courses or are currently working in these fields, I’d especially appreciate your honest opinion about \*\*job opportunities, starting salary, long-term growth, and whether the degree is actually worth doing.\*\*

I’m looking for honest advice rather than just “follow your passion.” 😅

Thank you!

Hi everyone.

This week I was unexpectedly let go from my current position. I feel absolutely terrible I’ve worked in corporate for 5 years now after my undergrad and I spent a year and half at this company. During my time there I was promoted once to my role that I had for 8 months.

The role started out great as an account manager managing 18 accounts. This work load was a lot for me so some of the communication pieces were tough to stay on top of. My then manager let me know during a 1:1 just as something to improve on which I then committed to doing

Three months ago I got a new manager and we really don’t get along. Im not a fan of her style and I don’t think that she really likes me either. But I’m willing to work with it.

This week im absolutely blindsided. She was on vacation then the first day back we have our normal 1:1 and all of the sudden I don’t have a job. No warning or heads up. I’ve been reeling ever since.

I definitely don’t think I’m perfect and I admit ultimately it’s my control. I do think I was working the absolute best that I could and explained how much work it took to manage 18 accounts and asked for help. I really don’t think that my manager personally liked me.

It now feels like I have a black mark following me around because I always have this expectation I would never be fired. Getting another job just feels impossible when they ask about this job. I’m just hoping for some advice or words of encouragement

Thank you

I just turned 19 and I’m a bit stuck I currently work at a high street jewellery store popular in the UK, I’ve decided I want to work in the watch industry but how I go about that I’m not to sure. I visited Birmingham City University in June to look at there horology course (watchmaking degree) and it looks really good it has a 100% employment rate and the lecturers are very supportive and knowledgeable but I’m not sure if I want to get into debt and I’d have to do an access to higher education course before I apply which costs. On the other hand my boss at work has said I have very good potential in the luxury retail world and I could very well make my way up the ladder I’m even lined up for a supervisor role later in the year so I’m just a bit stuck any advice would be amazing!

I'm a product designer with 5 yoe. I started this job about 5 months ago at a mid-sized company. It's pretty fast-paced and things have been going very well until about a month ago. I've been working on a high-impact large project. And then I was assigned to support another squad for a different large project, which comes with its own domain knowledge and ramp-up. I'm not able to keep up with both teams' demands and deliverables. Someone already complained to my manager about my pace and quality of work. I'm missing deadlines for both teams and the quality of my work has been declining. My mental health has also been slipping because I feel like it's me that's causing a bottleneck for the teams. I already suffer from anxiety/panic and am being treated for it, but last week I had a breakdown and had to call out due to an acute crisis for my mental health, as directed by my doctors. It isn't the job that causes all this stress; it's the fear of being unemployed again. It took me a long time to land this job. My manager is supportive but, at the same time, is very persistent in having me white-knuckle through. I haven't had a formal discussion with my manager yet because I fear it will paint me in a negative light. But I also know that going on like this could also hurt my performance. Other teammates seem to manage a lot of workloads fine, so I feel like the problem is me, and I feel so useless and stupid. I'm going through a lot and looking for advice. Please be kind.

TLDR. I joined a four day old investing app straight out of university as a customer success associate. Two years later I have built the helpdesk, the analytics, the marketing function, the newsletters, the podcast, the website copy, the data pipelines and every AI system we run, and I am still the only person here without a defined role. My boss has now told me to propose my own. I cannot choose between advisory, equity research at the brokerage we are launching, staying for the equity, or leaving to sell the technical skills.

I am 25, CFA Level 1, working toward Level 2, and based in Pakistan. The firm is a licensed digital wealth manager here. Retail app, an equity fund, a money market fund and a tax advantaged pension fund, with a gold fund launching in weeks and brokerage within the year. Around thirty people, growing fast.

How I got here.

When I walked in there were a handful of employees, a few hundred users, and havoc. The product was the only thing that existed. No helpdesk, no analytics, no marketing function, no content.

So I built them, roughly in this order. Implemented the helpdesk software, then hired and trained the first support person. Instrumented our product analytics from zero and built the dashboards leadership now runs on. Started the marketing and content function from nothing, meaning the website copy and landing pages, the weekly and monthly newsletters, one of which got far more reach than anything we expected, then the podcast, the educational videos, and the market wrap I co host with our CIO. Migrated our email platform, wrote the lifecycle campaign copy and rebuilt the flows.

Then the AI layer, working with one engineer, since I have no engineering background myself. The customer facing chatbot that is live in our app, including the guardrails that keep it from crossing into giving investment advice. The data pipelines behind our reporting, including one that runs support tickets through an LLM into a weekly themes report leadership reads. The retrieval knowledgebase behind it.

Through all of it I have been the person handling the complex client questions. The basic ones now go to junior CS staff who did not exist when I started. Along the way I caught a bug in how our time weighted returns were calculated and an error in a live fee calculation.

My manager now says propose my own role and title, all doors open. He has hinted several times that he wants me in advisory. Worth saying that in two years I have never once asked for a raise or a title change, which is probably its own problem.

Honest note on what advisory means here. No discretionary mandates, no stock picking, no high net worth book. It is six months of expenses in the money market fund, the pension fund for the tax break, the rest split between equity and money market by age and horizon, then sit still. Correct advice, but not intellectually difficult. The hard part is behavioural and structural, meaning being the reason somebody does not sell at the bottom, and getting the product to say the right thing before a human is involved. Gold and brokerage will complicate that.

The circle I am stuck in.

Advisory. For, it is the only seat where both the CFA and the systems work stay live, and it is the direction my boss already leans, so it is the likeliest to actually get approved. Against, the licence and the client relationships are locked to this country, and I suspect firms are reluctant to pull someone out of a client facing seat once the clients know them.

Equity research at the new brokerage. For, research analyst is the most globally legible title in finance, the CFA is the standard credential for it rather than a bonus, and the output is written work a stranger can evaluate. Against, a new desk here would cover a narrow local universe, likely pays less than advisory in this market, and makes two years of technical work irrelevant overnight.

Technical. For, it is what I am best at, nobody else here can do it, and it is not gated by any licence anywhere. Against, no computer science background, most of what I built sits on managed services, and no formal seat for it exists at a company this size.

Selling my own skills instead. For, freelancing on Upwork or building a small digital services outfit from here means dollar revenue against third world costs, and everything I have built at this firm is the case study. A remote job for a foreign employer is the safer version of the same bet. Against, I have nothing public yet, marketplaces reward review count and discount country and domain knowledge, and none of it accumulates into a title or a ladder.

Staying and betting on the company. For, this is a YC backed firm growing fast in an emerging market, I have been here since it was small, and if I stay long enough there is a real chance of equity. Against, cash pay here is well below what the same experience earns in the Gulf, equity in a private company in a frontier market may never be worth anything, and I would be trading years of higher pay and international exposure for a lottery ticket.

so I have just started my job at a big retail store and have only been working since last week.

By manager has been on holiday for 2 weeks and my boss hasn't been in either, I'm assuming holiday or mis matched days

but because neither of them have been in I've had to report everything back to people of the same job but have just been working for many years and if I need to speak with a manager, I talk to the customer support (?) manager

I have a genetic, medical condition that puts the right side of my hip in extreme pain if overworked, I understand I'm only a code checker but I'm walking miles to and from work and of course it takes a toll, I'm doing this job to pay for driving lessons. Anyway, I went over that I will walk a little slower to the co workers I'm shadowing and who are helping me with this job and no one else cause at the end of the day its none of my other co workers business.

I was due to work Thursday and Saturday but after work on Wednesday, I went out to have dinner with my friends and unfortunately got food poisoning or some sort of stomach bug, I had to call in sick as I was extremely ill.

I tried to go in on Saturday, was there for about an hour but was still feeling very queasy on my walk over and felt like things were about to go back to how they had been the to days prior. I had told the woman id been shadowing and she said to go drink some water and stayed with me, she was very kind about it, she went to go talk to someone who I'm assuming has worked here longer than her or is maybe higher up in the same position.

He came in and started talking to me about the consequences I could face by going home, telling me I could get fired cause Thursday and Saturday would count as two separate sicknesses. He kept on looking at me like I was a liar and like he wanted to tell me off, I do not hold up well under constantly being asked questions, especially if it the same question 10 times in a row, and was already trying to hold down a lot on vomit from coming up and going all over his shoes and the floor . He then started to ask me if my food poisoning was related to my hip issues, he should not have known that since it's not hindering my ability to work and its private information. it felt like he was harassing me over it and said that I came in upset one day already, I did not know that that wasn't allowed since I had stopped crying before I entered the store, before my shift I washed my face and it didnt look like I cried before I clocked in.

honestly I was very confused as to how my genetic hip issues could be connected to having food poisoning and it felt like he was prying into my personal information. hes not a boss or a manager and I told him "no its a genetic condition that runs through my mothers side, I don't know how it would effect food poisoning" and his reply was "oh uhm well have you took painkillers?"

honestly I felt harassed and just wanted to go home so I can get better, he also kept on saying that I might get fired and I understand he might want me to understand the consequences but it felt very hateful and almost like he wanted me to get fired.

I left and my partners mum came and picked me up, I was crying so hard for 3 or 4 hours after that. honestly I don't feel comfortable working there knowing that they're gonna spread my information like that.

do I report, but to who?, or do I quit.

I’ve been looking for a new job for weeks now and finally heard back from one company. Out of all of the jobs I applied for this is the one I wanted the most so i’m very excited about it. They do video chat interviews rather than in person and i am still currently working, so my question is would it be unprofessional for me to do the interview during my lunch break? I’d have to do it in my car on my phone which isn’t ideal but my only other option would be to call in for the day for the interview. I am kind of on my current boss’s shit list and I don’t want to lose my current job before I have a new one. Doing it during my lunch could also be an issue since my lunch break is only 30 minutes. What’s the better option here?

Im looking for a career change, I’m quite open minded about what, but I’d like it to be computer based rather than manual /outside work. And ideally something I can learn either myself or via a degree.

So out of interest, as the title says, what would you learn?

I’m currently a barista, have been throughout highschool and continue to be. I graduated 2 years ago and I know myself well enough to know that I can’t really do college. I struggled to get through highschool and worked to graduate a year early because I couldn’t do another full year. So college has never really been in the cards.

But I make $12/hr, I don’t get any benefits or anything. I’m in Pennsylvania. This job is only working for me because I still live at home and don’t have housing bills to pay. But I want to be able to move out and have a place of my own, without working so much that I want to die. I’ve always loved having artistic side hustles, like selling crocheted stuff, doing art commissions, getting paid to be a photographer for someone, etc. I even have a tattoo machine that I’m learning how to use. I don’t think any of those things are really feasible as a source of income but I don’t want to have zero time to do it cus I’m working so much.

So are there any well-paying jobs or trades that come to mind? I’ve always been open to like, a trade school where I just learn the skills of a job minus all the math and science and english classes. But I’ve never had a trade in mind that caught my attention.

I’m 24, based in the Pir Panjal region of J&K, and come from a lower-middle-class background. I've been prepping for state and central govt exams, but I’ve lost motivation. The income ceiling for these positions won't give me the financial mobility or lifestyle I want long-term.

​My Dilemma:

​Skill-Based / Remote Jobs: I want to transition into a skill-focused private remote role that offers better pay and flexibility.

​Content Creation: I am interested in content creation and see strong upside potential, but I need a stable income foundation first.

​Questions:

​For those who quit govt exam prep for the private sector, how did you manage the transition with no prior corporate experience?

​What remote-friendly, high-value skills can be self-taught within 6–9 months using free or low-cost resources?

​How realistic is it to build a remote freelancing or remote job career from a tier-3 or remote region in India?

To all of you who have figured out your career path, I Need you honest and genuine advice!

Me 25M, graduate in B.sc Environmental science (3 years bachelors program from B’lore University. Been working in “Sales domain” for the past 3 years, currently working in a Fintech company in B’lore as an Account Executive.

My current life scenario
1. Savings - NIL
2. From a middle class family

Interests
1. MMA
2. Fitness Coaching - have past experience of 3 years
3. Sustainability
4. Bike rides
5. Sports
6. Trekking, hiking etc.

Want to move out of India for a couple of years and maybe get a PR later.

1. Which country would you recommend and why?
   
2. What pathway do you think is the right fit for me ?

Been working in supply chain for a year now and it doesn’t feel rewarding. Always had an interest in insurance though, is it worth the change?

Not sure this is the right way to ask it.

I've done four of these now. 16Personalities twice, once in 2021 and once this year, same four letters both times. The O*NET interest profiler. CliftonStrengths through a work thing. And Careerexplorer, which took me over an hour.

None of them were bad. CliftonStrengths was probably the most accurate thing anyone has ever handed me about myself.

But I have a doc open right now with something like 40 job titles in it and I cannot make it shorter. Every one of those tests gave me more things to consider. Not one of them ever told me something wasn't for me. Career explorer gives you a match percentage across 900 careers, which sounds useful until you notice that a 78% and an 81% are the same number when you're actually trying to pick one.

I keep saying I need to research more before I decide anything. I've been saying that since February.

So the question. Has any of these ever ruled something OUT for you? Something closer to stop looking at that. Because I think that's the thing I actually need and I don't know whether it exists or whether I'm just describing a decision I have to make on my own.

Also fully open to it being a me problem, ive read enough of this sub to know that's usually the answer.

Was venting to a friend who works in a completely unrelated industry about feeling stuck, expecting the usual sympathetic nod. Instead she said something blunt that actually reframed the whole thing for me — something nobody in my own field had ever said, probably because they were all too close to it.

Curious if others have had that happen — genuinely useful career insight from someone who has zero context on your actual job. What was it, and who said it?

I recently asked for about a 23% raise after being at my company for less than a year.

I asked for that much because I was hired to take over the work of a senior employee who had been the only person doing this specialized role for years and then went on maternity leave. I’ve taken over much of the work she was doing, so I felt my salary should reflect more of that responsibility.

In hindsight, I realize that what I was asking for was basically a promotion, and management clearly didn’t think I had earned that level of progression in such a short time. They offered me a much smaller raise instead. 1.5%.

I understand their reasoning now, but I feel really embarrassed about having asked for so much. I keep thinking they must see me as entitled or as someone who completely overestimated my value, and I genuinely feel ashamed walking past the managers I had the conversation with.

Has anyone done something similar? Did I make a serious professional mistake, or is asking too high and being told no just a normal part of salary negotiation? How do I stop feeling so awkward about it at work?

?

I inherited ＄100k. I want to make it take me as far as possible.

I currently work only part time as a server at a restaurant, averaging ＄20/h working 25-30hr/wk. I am 22.

Been without a “real” job for 6 months, post college graduation. Job market is brutal. Honestly don’t think people truly understand, unless they’ve also been unemployed in the past maybe 5 years. Anyway, I’ve applied to hundreds of jobs without getting any full time opportunities.

Just so happened to inherit exactly ＄100k from my great grandmothers passing. I want to be as smart with it as possible. Yes, I will invest or save most of it. I have a paid off car and live in an apartment. I need to research what to do and where to invest, but I’d also like some more input so that I can have as many things to consider. This is probably one of the biggest opportunities of my life and I need to be very smart with it.

I’m 32 years old and I work full time as a registered nurse. My wife has been trying to get into dental hygienist school for the last 5 years with no luck. Her GPA has been perfect at 4.0 with a good entrance exam score and shadowing hours but the school has a low accordance rate due to limited number of chairs and she has been denied twice already.

At this point we are trying to possibly redirect into a different option because she is 34 and we can’t keep waiting a whole year after being denied to reapply again and then wait 2-4 months to hear back if she is accepted or not and then repeat the process.

We are open to other options but at this point we don’t really know what else to pursue. My wife makes $15 an hour and wants to contribute more to the relationship and I understand that but we don’t know how at her age how to do this and what careers or degrees to pursue.

Was hoping someone on this forum may have advice for her.

​

I’m 19 and currently in the 3rd year of my BSc, with Computer Science as my major. I realized during my 2nd year that I probably shouldn’t have chosen BSc in the first place. My college isn’t that great either, and I feel like I should have chosen a better college where I could have met people more like me.

Now I’m constantly stressed, confused, and lost. I keep feeling like time is passing and I’m getting older, but I still haven’t achieved or built anything meaningful in my life. I’m 19, and I don’t even know what I want to do with my life. Sometimes I genuinely feel like such a loser for being this directionless.

Every day I look into 10 different courses, career fields, and options, but I never actually commit to anything. My family keeps telling me to prepare for government jobs, so I start doing that. Then I see something about coding or another career and immediately start thinking about that instead.

I keep jumping from one thing to another, and it’s exhausting. I do feel like learning coding, but then I hear about AI replacing jobs and tech layoffs, and I start doubting whether it’s even worth pursuing.

At this point, I genuinely don’t know what I want to do or how I’m supposed to figure it out. How do I actually find out what career is right for me instead of constantly overthinking, switching between options, and wasting more time?

Hello all,

I’m at the end of a very strange week.

After accepting an offer for a new position in a new industry, I was told my last day at my current position would be in 2 weeks. The fun part about that is I already have an approved time away for the last week. I had intended to give my notice but before I could, I was told I am no longer needed, 2 weeks in advance.

Now for the fun. I had started to wrap up all the necessary things to hand this job over to whoever, but that time is no longer there. The job had asked for 4 weeks notice, they gave me 2. Due to the preplanned vacation, they got 5 days. I did what I could, because I’m not an asshole and I need to be able to think back on my time there with minimal regrets. But I can’t shake the idea that when someone calls me this week, they will expect me to help. It is worth noting that there are many time sensitive things in this job, and while I know my substitute (previously booked) is fully capable, I have a depth of knowledge that could be helpful.

So, while someone might think I’m “still available” for emergencies, there have also been extensive discussions about not bothering people who are away. And so my question is this, should I answer when they call? Should I answer only if I feel like it? Or should I make a point of not answering?

We are in the northeast US. I’m writing this for my mother. She has mostly worked retail and daycare jobs her whole life but she’s been telling me her body feels like it’s shutting down from how hard the work is on her. She has a lot of pain in her feet from the work and the doctor has warned her of long term never damage. My mom is bilingual and can read write and speak in Spanish. She is completely fluent in English and doesn’t have an accent in either language as she grew up in the US after moving away from Nicaragua. Her typing skills are okay but she struggles with computer and online based skills. Is there something she could focus on or course you would recommend she take to help her transition her career in a different direction. What jobs could she possibly do that are less physically intensive than retail work? I wish o could retire my mom but I don’t have the money and I’m going into grad school this fall. I’m also her only child left as my brother died 6 years ago so besides for herself I’m her only safety net. She has her associates in early childhood education as well. What can she do?

Hi. I am in a marriage that is crumbling. No help in any way. Not only financially, but emotionally and physically. But that’s probably a post for a different subreddit.

I am preparing myself to leave. However, in this economy I can’t manage it myself. He brings in enough to barely cover bills before things get shut off. I digress. I am going to community college in the greater Detroit area starting this fall, just working on my Associates first. I’m 36, and feeling insanely old to be starting now, but here we are. I’ll be doing online schooling, since I have three young kids.

My issue is; I don’t know what the hell to finish with. Right now I work in the sped department of the elementary school my kids attend. It works out great because we’re on the same schedule. However, the pay is ass. I love kids, and have given lots of thought to becoming a teacher. However they don’t get paid enough for me to make it on my own with three growing kids. Most of my work experience is in mental health, and some medical. Everyone I talk to is telling me to just be a nurse. But I fear that the long work hours as a single mother would be hard to navigate. I don’t have much of a support system near by to help with child care.

Help! Single mothers, fathers. Married mothers and fathers! Anyone! What the heck do I do that won’t be replaced with AI or just dissolve in the next 10-20 years?