Henchy Week 4 - Choosing a Major

     Choosing a major is an inherently stressful choice.  It will affect what jobs we have access to, what friends we make, and what lives we live.  Putting this much pressure on a 16 year-old can be overwhelming; this is the situation I find myself in.

    There is a common debate in my household about what I should be going to college for.  Personally, I would love to go to college for a PhD in Physics (solid state and particle) and then try to work in academia as a researcher for NASA, a college, or some other government affiliated organization that gives me access to a particle lab.  Doing this, I would be researching some of the today's modern problems like solutions to optimizing industrial processes to reduce pollution or fabricating nanotechnology to enhance cyber security.

    Seems like the perfect job for someone who could sit and read physics papers all day, right?  However, there is a down side.  Unfortunately, most people who get a Physics degree do not end up doing research.  Instead, they usually get jobs as engineers or in some other side career.  Physics is crowded, and to have a career in research one has to be the best of the best.  If one does get a job in a research position where they can work on developing more efficient fuel cells for Elon Musk's next rocket launch, then yes, life is good, but most end up giving up and accepting other jobs.  Additionally, the pay for most research positions is not strong.  Usually, the pay is in a salary per year of about $100,000, which on the surface seems reasonable.  However, research positions often require close to 60-65 hours per week of work, so most physicists end up getting paid less than minimum wage if it is considered hourly.  Academia is tough.

    My parents, very aware of these statistics, do not really support me going into physics.  They would like me to become a doctor because, quite frankly, I could do it and it would make a lot of money.  However, I do not love chemistry; I find it boring and relatively unimportant.  Same goes for biology, and so here we have a crossroad.  It is very difficult to speak to my parents about this as they have their minds relatively set. 

    Personally, I would rather work for 65 hours a week doing something I love and making much less money than working 65 hours a week doing something I moderately like, but making more money than anyone could ever need (some doctors get paid around $400,000 a year, that is insanity).  I know everyone is different and some people would take the moderate job and money; I do not think there is anything wrong with that.  At the end of the day, we have to make money, but personally I would rather be really excited to go to work every day than come home to a massive house.

I assume several other people are going through the exact same thing, so if anyone has any suggestions or stories about these talks with their parents, let me know!

Current Particle Physics Model