I was always a good student, but I don't do well in any other context.

[Avocado]

I honestly don't know what I can do with my narrow skillset.

 

[prplchknz]

academia

 

[Tilt]

Get some real-world experience. I kept learning new skills "on the job". That's how I vastly expanded my skillset: saw problems, researched solutions, fixed the problems. Based on a cursory glance at your post history, your main problem seems to be that you think too much.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

I honestly don't know what I can do with my narrow skillset.

Why narrow anything? You don't need to be an expert in any one thing. In fact, Brené Brown notes that the most wholehearted and happy people don't limit themselves to one thing, but have several different things.

I know a lot of things about a lot of areas. But I am am expert in none, even if I am better at it than experts in some of the fields.

I would suggest finding something you wouldn't mind working at for a job, but then keeping your options open and develop hobbies in other areas.

You could do a few good exercises as well:

1. What do you like? Write a list of everything you like doing or would like to do. See how you can incorporate these into your life through career or hobbies.

2. Find your life purpose exercise. First, clear your mind be finding an peaceful spot without distractions. Then take a few minutes to meditate or just breathe and be still. Then start writing what you feel your life purpose is, without thinking about it. Keep writing, until you have a list.

You might need to refine the list a little, and repeat the exercise, but eventually you will write something that feels correct, or closer to correct. Then repeat it some more.

You should eventually get a solid mission statement for your life. Build your career around it.

If you ever feel stuck, revisit the exercise.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

Do you clean house? cook? get up early? make good coffee? give back rubs? dote? are able to converse enthusiastically?

 

[prplchknz]

Get some real-world experience. I kept learning new skills "on the job". That's how I vastly expanded my skillset: saw problems, researched solutions, fixed the problems. Based on a cursory glance at your post history, your main problem seems to be that you think too much.

inapproriate joke time:

solution: get a lobotomy

sorry i'm totally fine with going to hell for that though

 

[Tilt]

[MENTION=18694]Magic Qwan[/MENTION]: for being a good student, you learn:
Time-management/prioritizing
How to deal with authority figures in a somewhat productive/efficient manner
How to figure out what others want from you/follow criteria, rules
How to work at least somewhat efficiently in groups
How to be organized
How to present ideas effectively

These are all good skills to have to use as a launching pad for other things.

 

[ChocolateMoose123]

I honestly don't know what I can do with my narrow skillset.

Are you sure you aren't selling yourself short? Sometimes if you are really naturally talented at something, you may take it for granted or figure it isn't that difficult for you so it must be commonplace. When it really isn't. Or if delved into is something that you can really shine in.

 

[Yama]

In a similar situation myself, I'd say there's not much you can do to prepare other than jump right in. In my experience, we're not expected to know a whole lot before getting a job--that's why there are people there to train you. You just have to be open and willing to learning all of the new skills that whatever position you're after requires. If you can show that you have the enthusiasm and the dedication to learn new skills, there will be people who are more than willing to teach you.

 

[nonsequitur]

academia

being a student =/= working in academia

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I think you would do well in research, journalism, or teaching at the college level.

 

[Avocado]

Why narrow anything? You don't need to be an expert in any one thing. In fact, Brené Brown notes that the most wholehearted and happy people don't limit themselves to one thing, but have several different things.

I know a lot of things about a lot of areas. But I am am expert in none, even if I am better at it than experts in some of the fields.

I would suggest finding something you wouldn't mind working at for a job, but then keeping your options open and develop hobbies in other areas.

You could do a few good exercises as well:

1. What do you like? Write a list of everything you like doing or would like to do. See how you can incorporate these into your life through career or hobbies.

2. Find your life purpose exercise. First, clear your mind be finding an peaceful spot without distractions. Then take a few minutes to meditate or just breathe and be still. Then start writing what you feel your life purpose is, without thinking about it. Keep writing, until you have a list.

You might need to refine the list a little, and repeat the exercise, but eventually you will write something that feels correct, or closer to correct. Then repeat it some more.

You should eventually get a solid mission statement for your life. Build your career around it.

If you ever feel stuck, revisit the exercise.

1. In my daily life, I mostly like to eat good food, sleep (being sure to study my dreams), and avoid contact with other people. When I can, I get as far away from light pollution as possible and star gaze. I haven't worked on the sequel to my novel in over a year, but I still dabble in writing by crafting short stories and by making characters in dungeons and dragons. I enjoy just wandering about places I haven't seen before, and if I must traffic with others, I share my philosophy, visions, values, and musings with them, though sometimes I just will use them as a sounding board for ideas and discuss current events with them. I protest a bit, but I would really like to infiltrate the corrupt systems I oppose and destroy them from the inside. The movements and riots I oversee require a lot of management, and I am not fond of managing things. However, I have a dream of a fair world, and I shall use any means availiable to me to bring my vision to fruition. I would rather let my ideas take on a life of their own and change the world, but until then, I must pull the strings.

 

[Avocado]

I honestly don't know what I can do with my narrow skillset.

[MENTION=18694]Magic Qwan[/MENTION]: for being a good student, you learn:
Time-management/prioritizing
How to deal with authority figures in a somewhat productive/efficient manner
How to figure out what others want from you/follow criteria, rules
How to work at least somewhat efficiently in groups
How to be organized
How to present ideas effectively

These are all good skills to have to use as a launching pad for other things.

I'm infamously socially inept and disorganized, but I always tested very well. There is even a trope in popular culture regarding my troubles:
Ditzy Genius - TV Tropes
The ACT, SAT, and schoolwork were effortlessly easy for me, some of my papers I wrote in my English classes won awards, and I almost instantly recognize numeric patterns and logical inconsistencies. Despite this, I am described as "dry and robotic" in my speech and having "absolutely no common sense" by family, employers, acquaintances and many other people. It's not that I'm stupid, so much as I either analyze something until I pass up my opportunity to act or I decide to act and forget to consider something. The former is more common as I detest being rushed or doing things before I've processed a problem from as many possible angles as I can envision, as well as used a few people as sounding boards for my potential solutions. My ADD may make me seem reckless at times, but at heart I am a very cautious man who avoids taking risks without some sort of safety net.

 

[/DG/]

being a student =/= working in academia

No, but it can mean you know a decent a bit about how academia works and a solid chunk of information in a given field. I would hate being a researcher, but not every professor researches. Some just teach. Granted, it's not the easiest thing in the world to get into, but it's a thing.

 

[nonsequitur]

No, but it can mean you know a decent a bit about how academia works and a solid chunk of information in a given field. I would hate being a researcher, but not every professor researches. Some just teach. Granted, it's not the easiest thing in the world to get into, but it's a thing.

Not true in the least. I've done both teaching and research in academia, and students know nothing about how academia "works". Being a good student does not mean having a solid chunk of information either - information is constantly evolving and teaching means having a good enough overview of several perspectives to decide what is necessary in a lesson plan/syllabus and what is not. On top of that there are evaluations and dealing with university quotas for grading curves, departmental budgets and negotiating your own minimum standards while trying to scale so that the department is satisfied and student feedback is acceptable to auditors and hits certain KPIs.

A student, no matter how good, is exposed to a single narrative and never sees what is behind the curtain. That is why most who teach at the university also do research - it keeps them current and exposed to new ideas (in theory). Undergraduate study is very different from postgraduate study, and a whole different skill set is required to make it through graduate school. A further different skill set is required to run and teach a class.

 

[/DG/]

Words

Did I say that it would make students experts in this and qualified to teach a subject just by being a student? Um no. Where do you see that in my comment? But it is quite likely that in their time as a student, they might gain some understanding of the background behind what it means to teach. Maybe the average frat guy-type student that drinks his way through college wouldn't know anything about anything, but many students will probably have some sort of knowledge of some of the system before the graduate.

Being a teaching assistant at my university has shown me a bit about the behind the scenes of the professor running the course, the politics behind teaching their, etc. Does that mean that I know enough to be the professor? Of course not. But I know a fuckton more about teaching my particular subject at a university than I do about becoming a politician, building a house, writing a program in a computer language, etc.

 

[nonsequitur]

Did I say that it would make students experts in this and qualified to teach a subject just by being a student? Um no. Where do you see that in my comment? But it is quite likely that in their time as a student, they might gain some understanding of the background behind what it means to teach. Maybe the average frat guy-type student that drinks his way through college wouldn't know anything about anything, but many students will probably have some sort of knowledge of some of the system before the graduate.

Being a teaching assistant at my university has shown me a bit about the behind the scenes of the professor running the course, the politics behind teaching their, etc. Does that mean that I know enough to be the professor? Of course not. But I know a fuckton more about teaching my particular subject at a university than I do about becoming a politician, building a house, writing a program in a computer language, etc.

What you're saying: "I've studied something about something so that makes me more qualified to teach it because I have some idea about where to start". Well, duh.

You mentioned becoming a professor and not doing research and that it's "a thing" even if it is not easy, and what I'm saying is that the gap between studying something at the undergraduate level and becoming a professor to teach is the equivalent of starting at the same place and becoming a politician/building a house/everything else that you're NOT trained to do. By all means, TA away. But it is NOT a career path. Which is what the OP was asking for directions in.

 

[/DG/]

What you're saying: "I've studied something about something so that makes me more qualified to teach it because I have some idea about where to start". Well, duh.

1. If the OP wants to have literally any direction, then it's something to at least casually glance at. I don't see why the suggestion was seen as totally unhelpful.

2. That isn't entirely what I meant. That is part of it yes, but I'm saying that as a student, many of us gain some understanding of the academic system in addition to base knowledge on a subject.

You mentioned becoming a professor and not doing research and that it's "a thing" even if it is not easy, and what I'm saying is that the gap between studying something at the undergraduate level and becoming a professor to teach is the equivalent of starting at the same place and becoming a politician/building a house/everything else that you're NOT trained to do. By all means, TA away. But it is NOT a career path. Which is what the OP was asking for directions in.

?? Not every professor has a PhD if you're trying to imply that they do. Many have master's degrees, which are typically 2 year degrees. Obviously there is more to it than that, but it doesn't necessarily take a lifetime.

Why they hell would I be saying that a teaching assistant is a career path? That's nonsensical. I was merely indicating how I gained some more knowledge of the system behind academia.

 

[1487610420]

 

[nonsequitur]

1. If the OP wants to have literally any direction, then it's something to at least casually glance at. I don't see why the suggestion was seen as totally unhelpful.

2. That isn't entirely what I meant. That is part of it yes, but I'm saying that as a student, many of us gain some understanding of the academic system in addition to base knowledge on a subject.

1. OK, this is where I have a problem - throwing out "any direction" and asking why it's "totally unhelpful". There are a million different possibilities in the world, I could as easily suggest working starbucks because "many graduates do that" and ask why that's completely unhelpful.

2. What I am saying is that any superficial knowledge you have of "the academic system" that you gain, whether through being a student or through TA-ing, has nothing to do with the reality of it and is about as accurate as someone who has NOT been through college.

?? Not every professor has a PhD if you're trying to imply that they do. Many have master's degrees, which are typically 2 year degrees. Obviously there is more to it than that, but it doesn't necessarily take a lifetime.

Why they hell would I be saying that a teaching assistant is a career path? That's nonsensical. I was merely indicating how I gained some more knowledge of the system behind academia.

That first statement indicates how little you know about how universities are run these days. Most large college classes at community colleges, smaller state schools and non-Ivies are now run by adjuncts/assistants who are contract staff and are paid less than minimal wage. Why would universities hire master's degrees when PhDs are so damned cheap and common? There are master's profs. but they tend to have come through from the 70s/80s and no one hires them to teach at unis anymore.

..and as I said, your knowledge of what "academia" is through your TAing has nothing to do with the reality of making a living by teaching at a university. That's why I said by all means, TA to get experience and see if you like teaching, but teaching full-time at a university is not "a thing" that "happens" with a masters degree.