u/Useful_Treat7869

TLDR; I’m currently doing an associate’s degree in Cybersecurity. I don’t know if I should switch to Accounting, Nursing Technician, or Radiology Assistant. Accounting can either be an associate’s at my current technical college or a diploma. Both Nursing and Radiology have to be started off as a certificate. Then I could go to earning an associate’s…

I restarted technical college this fall. I chose cybersecurity because I always saw myself being and working in the cybercrime, digital forensics or the digital and technical side of the criminal justice system in general. I always told myself that if I ever got into college.. that would be my main choice in reason. Reason why I didn’t start off with criminal justice is because I know that many agencies and other employers want damn near any other degree than Criminal Justice. My problem is that field in general is very competitive and selective.. I’m also nervous of the fact that I know I will probably never get selected within that field. Technology in general has always been my passion and interests.

My main reason for even considering Accounting is the fact that I earned an associate’s degree in Business Management a few years ago. All online. I actually enjoyed the few accounting courses that I did take. Plus I know the accounting field is kinda (not really) easier to get into at entry level.

Now my reasons for considering Nursing Technician and Radiology Assistant are kinda neck and neck. The main reason is because I always have also saw myself working in healthcare in some way or form of fashion. I always seen myself helping patients, taking patients’ vitals, helping direct them to their patient rooms, helping them move around for their various reasons, etc. Another reason is because if I honestly chose one of them now.. my general eds are already completed. I would be done with my certification by the end of the spring semester next year. Last reason is because nursing has always been the “family path” in my family. A lot of folks in my family have taken or currently still in healthcare and nursing in general. Helping others has always been another passion of mine as well. I kinda see Radiology / X-Ray work in general being the middle ground of every passion and interest combined.

I honestly don’t want to choose nursing or radiology just because half of my family members have chosen the nursing path. I’m just scared of making the wrong decision once again. I just don’t want to work dead end jobs for the rest of my life. What would you choose?

For some context.. I restarted technical college this fall. I’m 24 years old. I originally chosen cybersecurity. The main reason why I chose cybersecurity is because I’ve always saw myself working within the cybercrime, digital forensics, or just the digital and technical side of the justice system in general. That has always been my interests and passion since I was a kid. I tried cyber online back in 2023 and it honestly didn’t work out. I should’ve known that from the get go because certain majors it’s just better to be on campus for. Before I chose to restart technical college, I was doing criminal justice online. Burnt out of online courses and started failing them miserably. I also came to the realization that most agencies and employers want damn near any other degree than criminal justice. That’s why I took some time off to think and decided to enroll in technical college this year.

There is really only one or two reasons why I’m considering switching to accounting. For one, after high school in 2020 I ended up earning an associate’s in business management online. I had took a few accounting courses during that time and for whatever reason I actually enjoyed them. I’m also considering accounting for job stability and security reasons.

Nursing on the other hand.. I actually see myself being a nursing assistant and helping take patients’ vitals, helping them direct them to the patient rooms, etc. Helping others has always been a passion of mine as well. My technical college offers a nursing technician certification program. I’m really considering on switching to that. Plus I would only have like five courses to go after looking at the program curriculum since my gen eds are already completed. That program is actually the “way” to get into the associate’s nursing program or any nursing program.. at least in my area and my cc college. Plus my mom is still a nurse and even works in a surgical facility. My grandmother was one as well. Along with many others in my family. I guess you could say nursing is a “family path” in some way or form of fashion. I don’t wanna pick something just because it’s the family path on my mom’s side, even tho I see myself in it. I’m also considering it because of stability and job opportunities as well.

I currently work at a hotel. I really don’t want to work dead end jobs for the rest of my life. What would you do if you were in my shoes?

EDIT: I forgot to include that I was eyeing the radiologic assist certification as well. That’s kinda my middle ground with my love for technology as well.

I apologize if I used the wrong tag and if this posts goes all over the place.

I’m 24 years old. I’m both transmasculine and nonbinary. I’ve been knowing that I was trans in some form since I was honestly 12-13 years old. For years, I’ve been bouncing back and forth between identifying as a trans men or just nonbinary as well as transmasc. The only thing that never changed about me is that I’ve always known I’m not comfortable being the gender my family wants me to be. they’re mostly unsupportive. Not being able to fully transition and express myself fully how I want to has been the main reason I been depressed for MANY years.

I still live at home with my mother. We live in the southern part of Georgia. More conservative. My family is unsupportive. When I told my mom a few months ago that I was going to start my transition she said she’d have my back but it hasn’t felt that way at all. Any little step I take towards my transition, it just ends in us arguing. For example, at the beginning of the year I had signed up for Plume. I had gotten prescribed to start Testosterone back in January. Literally the day of going to CVS to pick up my T, we had gotten into an argument. At the end of the argument she said, “Since you want to be a man so bad I’ll go stay with your brother and leave you here to pay the bills.” I’m honestly not even financially stable enough to do that all by myself. I literally only make $12 an hour in this shitty town. Even though she never left, hearing that makes me scared to even start testosterone. I literally just have it sitting in my lockbox. My relationship with my mother is somewhat good but strained because me wanting to transition but outside of that everything is alright.

Now I’m thinking about moving forward again. Maybe this time with gel instead of injections. The problem isn’t with my income as much. It’s honestly the fact that I’m scared of what my mom’s reaction is gonna be. I know I’m 24 years old and shouldn’t care.. but I honestly do. Another thing I’m worried about is also my work environment. I’m not out there even tho some people can probably tell because of my mustache. One of my co-workers is a trans woman and anytime some shit goes down they call her a man and other slurs behind her back. So I’ve seen firsthand how they treat trans folks like us around here at work.

At the same time though, I’ll occasionally get a guest who refers to me as sir and uses other masculine pronouns without even realizing it. Those are the little moments that make me happy and give me gender euphoria. They give me a sense of peace I don’t really get anywhere else. Then later I go home and sometimes end up crying because I’m losing faith that I’ll never be able to transition nor fully be myself.

I honestly don’t know if the city is also another contributing issue. Sometimes, I feel like if we were still living in Atlanta this would be easier.

I’ve known who I am for a long time. I’m tired of having to put myself last just to please others and make them happy. If anyone has had to delay their transition because of family, work, safety, finances or even due to not accepting themselves, how did you even get to a place where you were finally able to be yourself? I don’t even know where to start. If you started testosterone while still living at home, what helped you make that decision? I fear that I’ll never be financially stable or mentally stable enough to be on my own but I genuinely can’t keep living like this.

The amount of issues that drunken guests have given us this month alone is insane. I kinda wish we had stricter policies regarding them.

This is only one issue that happened this past weekend. It was barely even the start of my check in-shift. Three mothers (Well I know one of them was a mother because I had checked her in the previous night) had rushed into the lobby saying there was a drunk or possibly mental guest with no kids being creepy around the pool area. I had already went ahead and called the cops because there’s just certain shit and things you don’t do. Sober or not. The man was literally taking videos of children around the pool area and even went up to them asking questions. So the cops came a few minutes later and kicked the man out the hotel. His reservation was originally supposed to be for two weeks. He checked in about two nights before this all went down. It literally took him over three hours to leave because he was taking his sweet precious time to pack all his items, saying he was “exhausted” and left. He was also upset that at first he wasn’t getting his money back for the nights he didn’t stay so that started another argument. Eventually one of the managers refunded him for the other nights he didn’t stay after he was long gone. I kinda wish they didn’t do that due to the amount of bottles, cans, animals and other mess he had in his room now the room has to be put down for at least the next week and a half.

Next thing I know, he left a bad review on me and the rest of the hotel staff. He claimed that we kicked him out because of how he was doing drugs and had too many animals. He also tried to do a chargeback for the nights that he did stay. What I find hilarious is the fact he actually left the review claiming it was about drugs and animals. He wasn’t even placed in handcuffs or arrested, which honestly doesn’t surprise me. Even though they literally talked to some of the kids around that pool, or could’ve easily did a simple phone check. Then again. Welcome to the South.

What is your hotel’s policy regarding situations like this or drunk guests in general?

I’m 24 for context.

I’m currently studying Criminal Justice online with a concentration in cyber crime. I feel like I’m failing completely. I completely failed fall semester. Barely made it out of spring semester and almost withdrew I can’t keep up with the online structure of courses these days plus I’m currently on academic probation. I was trying to get into my local four year university for in-person courses but that failed because of my recent gpa downfall, despite my overall gpa still being a 2.3. I was doing well back during the covid era with online courses. Idk what happened. It feels like I don’t really have connections with other online students these days. It’s harder trying to get help with professors. I honestly don’t know. When I was earning my associate’s in business straight out of high school, those days were easier. I just want the in-person structure back.

This is why trying to get into one of my local technical colleges and start from the bottom. My current options are Forensic Lab Tech at one tech college *I’m honestly leaning towards that* or cybersecurity at another separate tech college. I just feel like FLT aligns more with what I want to do. I want to go into forensics or investigation in general. Plain Criminal Justice just doesn’t feel right to me. I also understand that some agencies and other employers want more specialized degrees rather than CJ. I feel lost. I honestly don’t know what I’m doing at this point. What would you do in my situation?

For a little bit of context. I'm studying Criminal Justice online with a concentration in cyber crime. I only have taken a few intro courses so far. I'm in the process of trying to start from the bottom and get into one of my local technical colleges nearby for Forensic Lab Tech. I already have a diploma in Paralegal Studies if that matters. I just don't know what would be the best fit after Forensic Tech for a bachelor's.

I'm asking because I don't really know if Criminal Justice is the "perfect" fit for what I want to do, at least as a future bachelor's degree. I understand that for some agencies and other employers a lot of more major degrees would matter more than CJ.

I’m currently doing college online for Criminal Justice with a concentration in cybercrime. However, I don’t think that’s what I’m leaning towards for my career goals and path.

When it comes to Criminal Justice, I want to work more with the investigating and technical side of things. I also like helping others but my first passion of investigation is mostly taking over that. I’m also struggling with the online structure of courses nowadays. I been doing online courses on and off since my senior year of high school in 2020. Even earned an associate’s degree in business shortly after that. I feel burnt out with online schooling and honestly need the in-person structure back.

This is why I’m planning on starting from scratch and going to one of my local technical colleges for in person courses. I’m leaning towards Forensic Lab Tech. The thing is I honestly don’t know what would probably be the best bachelor’s degree path after that. Criminal Justice just doesn’t honestly feel all the way right if that makes sense. It feels “better” as a dual major or minor, but I honestly don’t know.

I genuinely have no clue in what I honestly need to be studying. I also need a change of structure.

For starters, I’m currently studying Criminal Justice with a concentration in cyber crime online for a bachelor’s degree. It’s honestly going downhill. Back in fall of 2025, I almost flunked every single course. Spring semester I almost withdrew. Now my institutional gpa in the toilet. I still have a 2.23 overall gpa (did technical college online straight out of high school.)

What led me to picking CJ is the fact that I love studying law. I love studying crime. However, I love learning more about the technical side of things and investigating. For instance, crime scene investigation or being a detective. I also love helping people. Another issue I’m having is the online structure of online courses nowadays. It felt like in my previous community college days.. online courses had more structure. I was denied from my local four year university for in person courses because of my recent gpa downfall and currently being on academic probation. I’m considering at just starting from the bottom and going to one of my local technical colleges for Forensic Lab Tech. I feel like in a way this aligns better with what I want to do rather than just plain Criminal Justice. There was also the thought of me doing cybersecurity, but I don’t think that really fits. Are there any other major ideas? What would you do?

I understand that people have a fear of identity theft or their information being stored in a system for years and years.. but come on man.

I’m not even halfway into my shift yet. A guest came in. He has a plain ole third party pay at property reservation. Any guest or potential guest should know by now that they need to show their ID at check in. That’s any hotel’s policy (or should be.) Plus most of these third parties are bad at sending their info over to their reservation like the generic 185000000 or 11111111111 phone numbers.

All I literally ask him was to see his ID and a good phone number. He then went on a full blow rant about how he already put his information in when he made his reservation. Like I said before, some of these third parties are bad at sending the guest’s information over. His reservation only had one of the generic phone numbers. Of course, I tried to de escalate the issue and said that an ID and phone number is just part of really any hotel’s policy. As soon as I typed in his address to his reservation, he started bombarding me with questions like “Why do you need my address” “Why do you need my phone number” “I don’t trust the hotel’s system”. It actually amazes me how people trust a third party more than the hotel with their information. Also literally anytime somebody has a reservation or if they’re a walk-in, I just put in their number to see if they’re a member so they could get their points for staying and also give them the program rate if possible. Not even two minutes later after I printed out the reservation reg card so he can sign it, he tried to start another argument. He’s a member of the reward program. So of course it had his gold member status, loyalty number and also his email on the reg card. He then went onto ask, “Why do you have my email?” ….Sir. I don’t even have your email. I just put in your phone number to see if you were part of the member program so you can get your points towards discounted rates or free night stay at any hotel that’s apart of the program.

*Rant*
Each day that I see a third party reservation that’s already been prepaid.. I lose a year of my life. Accidentally booked the wrong date? You might get charged a fee regardless if the hotel says the third part can waive it. Every time I say they can waive it. Even the managers say that they can waive it. Problem with the room or have a family emergency and need to leave? You have to go thru the third party hassle to get a partial or full refund.

The first guests that walked in were a couple. Of course when I see that I don’t see their prepaid reservation, it’s always either they booked it for the wrong date or wrong location. I saw that their reservation is for next Sunday. Of course the culprit is the third party. So they had to wait for a good twenty while third party goes thru their process of talking to the guests, then calling the hotel, then calling back the guest. At that point the guest had gave up with third party and just booked directly with us. Usually something like this happens, I just give them some type of discount to make their lives easier.

Now this second guest was an older lady and she actually got on my nerves just a tad. I tried to also offer her a discount for her room if she booked with me directly because of the inconvenience of the third party had caused. At first she said no. So I had to explain the whole process of what happened with her reservation. She had me do everything with third party on her phone until she got to the calling part. I had to deal with the chat agent for ten minutes straight. The moment when the agent actually calls her on the phone, she somehow misses the call. 🫠 she tried to call them back and got the automated agent on the phone. It took another ten minutes just to get somebody on the phone. The agent is talking about cancellation and rebooking fees. They charged this lady’s card three separate times while trying to edit her reservation dates on their end. Finally, the third party woman says that they have an “error” and just refunded all her money. That’s when the guest finally decided to just book her room directly with me.

The same exact thing happened last night. A family had booked our suite room. Problem is. The family had their reservation booked for next weekend too. Also, someone else was already renting out the suite. The third party was also trying to charge them an $85 cancellation fee because of course the suite wasn’t available last night. All they could do was just change the room to a standard room or pay the $85. Even though we already said to waive it. Thats when the family just decided to take the standard room, and we (the hotel) comped them a second room.

What gets me even more is the fact that it’s always the same third party that does this. Of course I can’t say the exact third party on here. I really don’t have this problem with any other third parties. Sometimes I wish third party reservations weren’t a thing.. at least the prepaid ones. Unfortunately, my hotel uses them though.

For some context.. I’m studying online. My major is Criminal Justice with a concentration in Cybercrime. My online college is accredited but that’s not the issue I’m having. I recently applied to transfer to my town’s local university because I’ve unfortunately ran into some issues with online courses. I got rejected from the university now I’m just waiting on a response from their admissions to see what went wrong.

I currently feel burnt out from online college. I literally have been taking online courses since 2020. I finished high school online that’s where it started. After high school, I ended up getting an associate’s degree in Business Management. It wasn’t my first choice nor intention, it was something my mom wanted me to do. I earned the associate’s in 2022. Following year I went back to get a certificate in Paralegal Studies. Looking back, I probably would’ve just chosen General Studies or Criminal Justice Tech all together if I had the choice. Online courses felt easier back then. It was easier to learn. It was easier to communicate with professors. It was easier to network and communicate with other students. I took a break from college in 2024 to mid 2025.

Fast forward to now.. I’m struggling with my online courses nowadays. I flunked out last semester. I almost withdrew and took another break from schooling this semester. It feels harder for me to learn online. When I try to get help online from my professors, I don’t get a response until damn near the day of the assignment is due. It’s harder to connect and network with other students these days. It’s harder trying to have tutoring sessions, and don’t even get me started on the online group assignments we have in courses. Some of my courses have even started forcing me to go to my local university to take proctored exams. I know things like internships and such will be harder to get while taking online courses. These are the reasons why I tried to transfer to my local university since it’s only ten minutes away. There’s no more four year universities within an hour radius. I can’t afford any more failed classes nor semesters. I really don’t know what to do.

For some context.. I’m studying online. My major is Criminal Justice with a concentration in Cybercrime. My online college is accredited but that’s not the issue I’m having. I recently applied to transfer to my town’s local university because I’ve unfortunately ran into some issues with online courses. I got rejected from the university now I’m just waiting on a response from their admissions to see what went wrong.

I currently feel burnt out from online college. I literally have been taking online courses since 2020. I finished high school online that’s where it started. After high school, I ended up getting an associate’s degree in Business Management. It wasn’t my first choice nor intention, it was something my mom wanted me to do. I earned the associate’s in 2022. Following year I went back to get a certificate in Paralegal Studies. Looking back, I probably would’ve just chosen General Studies or Criminal Justice Tech all together if I had the choice. Online courses felt easier back then. It was easier to learn. It was easier to communicate with professors. It was easier to network and communicate with other students. I took a break from college in 2024 to mid 2025.

Fast forward to now.. I’m struggling with my online courses nowadays. I flunked out last semester. I almost withdrew and took another break from schooling this semester. It feels harder for me to learn online. When I try to get help online from my professors, I don’t get a response until damn near the day of the assignment is due. It’s harder to connect and network with other students these days. It’s harder trying to have tutoring sessions, and don’t even get me started on the online group assignments we have in courses. Some of my courses have even started forcing me to go to my local university to take proctored exams. I know things like internships and such will be harder to get while taking online courses. These are the reasons why I tried to transfer to my local university since it’s only ten minutes away. There’s no more four year universities within an hour radius. I can’t afford any more failed classes nor semesters. I really don’t know what to do.

Straight out of high school back in 2020, I immediately had signed up for technical school to get an associate’s degree in Business Management. It wasn’t my first choice nor intention. It was something that my mom wanted me to do straight out of high school. It was all online since COVID and all that stuff was going on. In 2022, I earned that degree. The following year I decided to get a certification in Paralegal Studies. Back then, online courses felt easier. Professors were actually willing to teach *no disrespect whatsoever to any professors now.* When I needed help with an assignment, I immediately got that help within the same day or the following day. It was easier to communicate with other online students as well. I held up a 3.0 GPA. Not the best, but not the worst. I miss those times.

Fast forward to now. I decided back in 2025 to go back to school. I’m trying to earn my Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice. It has been a rough year in terms of online college for me. I completely flunked out last semester. I almost completely withdrew this semester. Now my GPA is a 2.2. When I try to get help with my assignments nowadays, it feels like I hardly get a response. I don’t get one until the assignment is almost due even if I email them ahead of time. I’ve tried online tutoring through my courses and it never works. I try to communicate with other students of my courses but that doesn’t work neither. I take accountability for giving up on last semester but something has got to give man. I know for some of these online professors they already have a full time job teaching in person, but I don’t know what to do.

I applied to transfer to my city’s local university and to start taking in-person courses, but I feel like my gpa is too low and I’m also worried about the future. The local university requires a 2.0. My online courses already forces me to take proctored exams every other week at the local university, so what’s even the point in staying online anymore?

As for the future in terms of job security and stability, I don’t know if criminal justice is even the right fit to begin with. My passion has always been helping people and being an advocate. I never had one myself so that is what led to that being my passion. My question is, should we always pick a major and possible career path based off your passion? I was thinking about going the accounting or business route since I already taken some accounting and other general business courses but I honestly don’t know what to do. I just know that I don’t wanna keep working $12 jobs for the rest of my life.

I had taken an eCore course that ended on Monday. Idk if that has anything to do with it.

My passion is helping others. I want to be that advocate that I never had myself growing up. I want to advocate for victims of abuse, bullying, mental health and so on. I’m not as interested in working directly with law enforcement, but I’m also interested in being an investigator as well. I have a few other career paths that I’m interested in pursuing like helping rehabilitate people or being a probation / parole / juvenile officer. However, like I said my main passion is being an advocate. I’m currently majoring in Criminal Justice. I love studying law and crime… but sometimes I just don’t know. I’ve been also looking at Psychology and Sociology. I understand that if I decide to switch to Psychology, I would also *probably* need to go for a master’s as well. Any advice or suggestions on what I should do? Is it best to just get a minor in one of the others?

Back in 2022, I earned my associate’s degree in business management online. Later on the following year I ended up giving a paralegal certification. Online courses back then felt easier. Professors actually seemed to care. Online courses felt like they actually had some type of structure. Plus, AI wasn’t a thing *I hope* when it came to professors trying to make assignments and give lectures. I was maintaining a 3.0 the whole time. Not the best, but not the worst.

Fast forward to now. Last year, I ended up continuing what I started with my paralegal cert. I decided to go for a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at a different online college. I been having a very hard time with online college. I completely flunked last semester. I almost completely withdrew this semester. When I try to e-mail professors, I don’t get a response at all until damn near the day of the assignment is due. I try to connect with other online students of my courses but that never works. I’m honestly kinda convinced that some online instructors use AI for their lectures and assignments. Don’t even get me started on the group projects that an online course may have.

The only thing that has really kept me with online college is the price. It’s cheaper and more affordable. I’m literally at my breaking point. I put in a transfer application to my town’s local university. I know I’ll actually be able to get help when I need it. In person courses have more structure to them. Even with some of my online courses now, I have to go in person to take proctored exams at the local university every other week it seems. Only thing I will honestly hate that it will be slightly more expensive. Other than that, what’s even the point in me staying online?

I live in Valdosta for context LMAO. I’m just thinking about switching from online college from elsewhere to VSU. What is it like? Any commuter students or VSU students on here in general?

TLDR: Should I stay with online college because it’s cheaper and more affordable or transfer to my local university?

For some context, I had earned my associate’s degree in Business Management back in 2022. Back then.. online courses were honestly easier. Most of the courses felt more structured. Professors actually gave a damn. Plus during my senior year of high school, we had switched to online due to Covid. So I already had a small glimpse of what online courses would be like.

Fast forward to now. I’m trying to earn my Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice. Last semester, I completed flunked out. Failed all my courses. It feels like nowadays that online courses have no structure. I almost completely withdrew this spring semester. Professors don’t really give a damn. When I try to email a professor for help, I deadass don’t get a response til the day of the assignment is due damn near. The online college of the college I attend is three-four hours away. My town’s local university is deadass ten minutes away. I wouldn’t need housing or meal plans or anything of that nature. I just feel like it might be slightly more expensive but convenient if that makes sense just to do in person courses where there is more structure. I know for a fact I will be more into and more active with my coursework. I’m seriously considering on being a commuter student. I also work part time on weekends. Friday-Sunday afternoons / nights. What do you think I should do?

I honestly need some advice or guidance.

I completed my associate’s degree online back from 2020 to 2022 fresh out of high school. Back then it was easier for me to. Plus during my senior year of high school, we had to switch to online anyway because of covid so I had a little glimpse of taking online courses.

Fast forward to now. I’m trying to earn my bachelor’s, but it feels like online courses are harder for me now. I genuinely don’t know if it’s cause I’m older now or what. I completely flunked last semester. It feels like online courses really have no structure. Professors just don’t give a damn. Plus with certain courses, I’ve had to schedule proctored exams at my town’s local university anyways.

Has anyone ever had this issue before with online courses or ever made the switch from online to in person?