u/DsagD

So for clarity, I am currently 25, a working adult with a car payment, bills, so I can really only attend part time college nearby or an online program. My income is limited, so I have to consider how much student loans/grants will cover a given program.

My analysis paralysis has caused me to practically give up on my search for higher education. I value it greatly & want to improve my life by giving myself something to work with, a degree, certificate, anything to get me out of the retail/sales hell cycle I've been through since 17. My biggest issue is that every career that I am interested in & also aligns with my moral basis of being helpful to humanity/the earth, pays shit wages. I don't think I should have to take a vow of poverty for any career, but even if it pays decently according to the BLS, if something requires a master's degree as the barrier to entry, then it isn't financially lucrative to me.

Here's what I'm interested in, & my exact concern associated with the field. I would love to hear some evidence against my concerns, even if anecdotal. I am grasping at straws trying to find a way to make a living wage without wanting to off myself at work 40 hours a week. I don't have to love every aspect of it, but I just want something I can get behind & don't hate doing.

(PS I am not entirely against AI as a tool despite what this post may read as, I am just anti generative AI because it serves no purpose & currently large companies are being grifted into believing that it can replace the employees that they have, which is why it's a huge point I make for certain career fields.)

•Psychology (barrier to entry is too high for the median wages)

•Teaching, both secondary & postsecondary (same problem as psychology)

•Graphic Design (too many businesses seem to think this is an umbrella term for marketing, or that AI can replace it entirely)

•Occupational/Physical therapy (can't find programs near me in person that I can attend, barrier to entry is very high)

•Writing, Copy writing, editing (same problem design seems to have, the belief that AI can replace this)

•Biological Sciences, Chemistry, or similar (I found a program that I could do, got accepted, couldn't even come close to affording it & had to drop. I am very sad about that)

•Sociology (shit pay, too high of a barrier to entry)

•Environmental Sciences (overall wages seem too low to bother getting an entire degree in this field)

I understand that I am viewing these things from the lense of statistics, and not actually seeing the career for myself can skew my viewpoint. I am just feeling so stuck & I have been recommended so many paths that are just not of interest to me. If it helps, here's the short list of things I will not do, and won't hear people out on:

•Sales, I have been there, done that. I can't stand it & it's not going to be "different" with a different field or product because it's all the same to me

•Retail, I'm so over retail I really never want to do this job again lol

•"Business" (let me clarify, I mean the big business corporate crap. It all feels very fake & self aggrandizing to me. Anything that analyzes people like data points & justifies prioritizing money over anything else. That's what I'm talking about & that's what I don't have any interest in)

•Anything to do with generative AI, I will not hear you out, so don't bother suggesting it. I like to keep an open mind about most things, but that is not one of them. Save yourself the energy of typing.

Thank you if you read this long ass post & I appreciate any feedback y'all will have for me!!