this question may seem silly at first but here it goes: at what point did everyone know that they wanted to take the plunge and study urban planning/policy studies/urban design? if anyone has switched to planning mid-career i would really be interested in the motivations or the overall experience. was it what you expected?
some background on me: i have been in my current career for 6 years; i have a computer science degree that has served me well and i have a good position with a company here in detroit. last year, i took one semester of master's-level urban planning classes and i really liked it. i have always been interested in planning-related topics (especially sprawl, transit and traditional neighborhood design) and continue to study planning at home, on my own time. i guess i am scared to jump full-on into planning, considering my current situation is comfortable, if not 100% fulfilling. maybe i don't know enough about what "a day in the life of a planner" is really like. maybe i don't want to deal with the challenges of jumping into something that is so foreign from what i do now. and i certainly don't want to invest so much in school until i get my head straight!
any insight appreciated. thanks all! d.
some background on me: i have been in my current career for 6 years; i have a computer science degree that has served me well and i have a good position with a company here in detroit. last year, i took one semester of master's-level urban planning classes and i really liked it. i have always been interested in planning-related topics (especially sprawl, transit and traditional neighborhood design) and continue to study planning at home, on my own time. i guess i am scared to jump full-on into planning, considering my current situation is comfortable, if not 100% fulfilling. maybe i don't know enough about what "a day in the life of a planner" is really like. maybe i don't want to deal with the challenges of jumping into something that is so foreign from what i do now. and i certainly don't want to invest so much in school until i get my head straight!
any insight appreciated. thanks all! d.