Career pathways that are open and provide room for experimentation

[RyanCahoon]

Originally Posted by joelg236

as a grade 10 student, I am still not certain of my career path.
[...]
I have a very hard time following instructions, rules and other people's instructions.

My first thought when I read this is that you sound like a typical grade 10 student to me. Both of these will improve with time; try to continually improve these skills incrementally but don't worry too much.

Originally Posted by EricH

If you have a hard time following instructions and rules, particularly given by other people, you're probably best off as a self-employed inventor. Note that that career pathway doesn't necessarily pay well. It can--Dean Kamen is one example--but for every DK there are many failures.

This was my first thought as well, though I thought of Stan Ovshinsky. As near as I can tell, both have been successful because they are able to do intense self-study, in addition to recognizing societal needs. Ovshinsky taught himself neurophysiology and chemistry and I remember reading that Kamen taught himself advanced physics in high school. However, they both also connected to the people knowledgeable in their fields and other fields to supplement their own knowledge.

Originally Posted by joelg236

I enjoy learning, and I consider understanding much more important than knowing.

Another qualification is that I do not need to go to college or university. Neither have very much importance to me. I understand their benefits, but cannot see myself being employed by big companies or corporations.

Expanding on what Don said, if you attend a research university, college is a fantastic way to learn about the state of the art from people working on it. One could spend hundreds of hours reading scientific papers (which may or may not be necessary anyway) or one could go talk to the people who wrote those papers directly.

Originally Posted by joelg236

One qualification of my career is that I have no limitations as to where I can go (Project wise) and how I do it.

A lot of engineering schools don't ask you to declare your major until after you've taken a few sections of classes. Carnegie Mellon engineering students, for example, don't declare until the end of their freshman year. This gives them (and you, if you so wish) a chance to explore the options and get a sense of the content of each field in order to make an informed decision.

There are also several degree options which can keep your options open. Harvey Mudd offers a single engineering degree without a specified concentration, though I believe most students eventually develop some sort of area of interest or concentration. I've also seen people with physics or applied math degrees employed in engineering disciplines. There is, of course trade offs between maintaining generality and developing more of an expertise in one field, though there is Don's comment to consider:

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

As proof ask anyone in industry who has a college degree, how much of what they actually learned do they use in their work.