May 3, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR LESLIE WAITE IN CA
Hi Angelica;
This is a tough question!
I know more about biotechnology than technology in general, but here
goes: In a grand sense, there are three kinds of technology careers:
Designing the technology (making the hardware), programming the
technology (making the software), and running/using/fixing the
technology.

I would say that the highest paying jobs are likely to be in the area
of technology design - Computer Engineering, Biomechanical
Engineering or any field where you are designing high-tech machines
to carry out tasks.
There are a lot of things you can do in the technology field that
will pay you well, though, so don't limit yourself to the highest
paying options- you can still support yourself and your family nicely
in many areas of high tech, so think about what you are interested in.

As for whether there are more opportunities for a technology career
in the Navy or Air Force rather than in a college, I think it depends
on what you want to do. My understanding is that in the Military,
there are lots of opportunities to learn how to program, run and fix
high tech machines of all sorts, but the careers they would lead you
to would be similar to what you would get if you went to a technical
college such as Devry. You could support yourself, but you wouldn't
really be making "the big bucks" if that is your goal. Also, in the
Military you always have to factor in the very real possibility that
you can be working in very dangerous settings, such as Iraq. No
recruiter can guarantee that you won't be sent to a dangerous place
to do your job once you have received your training, and being a
woman is no guarantee that you will be out of harm's way once you are
there.
I think if you want a high-paying tech career, you need to get into
the design side of things, and that requires a college degree,
usually in engineering. A quick look at the web site of my alma
mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (one of the top
five engineering schools in the country, I am proud to say!) reveals
several areas you could major in to be able to prepare yourself for a
well-paying high tech career:
* Aerospace Engineering
* Bioengineering
* Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
* Computer Science
* Electrical and Computer Engineering
* Materials Science and Engineering
* Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
* Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering

Choose what interests you (designing machines to do medical imaging
for example), then find the field that will let you do that
(bioengineering). For more information on these specific fields,
check out Illinois' web site at:
http://www.engr.uiuc.edu/departments/departments.php
Click on the specific department you want to learn about to find out
what they do.

Good luck!

Leslie
Who thinks it is OK even if you DON'T go to Illinois.