<p>I have dancer daughters and wanted them to see Baryshnikov in his prime, so I netflixed The Turning Point. Interesting that there would be a thread on regret, because the movie is basically about the Shirley McLean character regretting settling down and having kids, seemingly for every moment of 20 years. Jeez! Do people really live their lives like that?</p>
<p>Like momofthreeboys, I also regret not getting my teaching certificate. Very similar–my mom was a teacher and also advised it, but I didn’t want to do it because she and my sister were teachers! I have a master’s in library science, and if I had gotten the teaching certificate along with my degree in English, I could have been a school librarian. That would have been a good option. (Should have listened to Mom.)</p>
<p>I’m reading over this and thinking… do I have any huge regrets? I guess I shouldn’t have married “what’s-his-name” (also referred to as “the no-longer-spoken-of”) but really, it was a mistake, not a regret.</p>
<p>I also find myself saying “why didn’t I pursue that interest in architecture?” but again… would I have regretted not studying biochemistry? </p>
<p>I do regret the anger I had throughout my early 20s. I was so angry at the world and it got in the way of so many things. </p>
<p>I do NOT regret graduating in three years. Getting out from under my parent’s financial thumb was huge, and I did it loan-free. Being 19 when I graduated… that was a problem and a challenge, but being female was more of a problem. Getting turned down for jobs because I couldn’t type? Maddening (see above: being angry).</p>
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<p>Ah yes, my dea HS guidance counselor, not *permitting *me to take typing because I was going to college.</p>
<p>I regret going to school on an athletic scholarship. I should have worked for a year to qualify for more aid and gone to Princeton, where I really wanted to go (I was admitted). </p>
<p>Then again, my mother was so destitute I likely made the only choice. </p>
<p>I obtained good grades, but never really challenged myself in school like I should have. </p>
<p>And Div. 1 athletic competition is so intense it narrowed my interests and my circle of friends. I was never interested in coaching and teaching so athletics just prolonged my entry into intellectual fields. </p>
<p>I went to grad school just to have the experience that I never had as an undergrad. Not a great reason to go to grad school, but I was catching up in so many ways. </p>
<p>The whole experience was one of arrested development.</p>
<p>I regret not buying Microsoft in the mid-1980s 
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<p>Sometimes I regret majoring in something so practical (business), as I am a liberal arts person at heart and gave in to parental pressure. But it has allowed a good living and excellent school opportunities for my Ds in spite of a divorce. I do regret waiting as long as I did (late 30s) to start my own business, which I had done that around 30 instead of waiting. Hey, then I might have bought the Microsoft stock, as I would have had a self directed retirement fund instead of the options I was stuck with in my corporate life…</p>
<p>I chose my college based solely on being able to try out for the sport I loved as a walk on. I skipped the try outs. I was so scared, full of self-doubt and knew not a soul not only at the college I had just arrived at but in the whole state. Then the shame from having not tried out followed me for years. </p>
<p>It’s my one true regret in life. It sounds small, and in the grand scheme of things it is small but it hurt, stills hurt.</p>
<p>My D said to me recently that in her life, she has felt regret more often for the things that she didn’t do, rather than for the things that she did do. When she is deciding whether to do something that’s a little hard or scary, she remembers that and goes for it!</p>
<p>I wish I had gone all-in to make a musical career happen, instead of hedging my bets with a “real” (but unfulfilling) day job. Either that, or accepted that music would be an avocation and gotten serious about finding a non-musical career that mattered to me. I played it halfway, and the result is that I may never find out what it’s like to make a living doing something I really care about and feel committed to. </p>
<p>I have tried not to give my son explicit advice about what career goals to pursue or not to pursue; my father did that, and though I know his intentions were good, I think he helped to screw me up. But the one piece of advice I have given him is, whatever you choose to do, commit yourself to it completely. You may change your mind later, but commit yourself to it in the here and now. Don’t play things halfway. That way madness (or at least sorrow) lies.</p>
<p>I wish that I’d paid $45 k to buy an efficiency condo near downtown D.C. in the late 1970s. I would have made a mint. It’s hard for me to believe now that I didn’t buy because I thought the price was too high. Those condos probably are going for $200 k now.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I’d still do the same things in life because otherwise I wouldn’t have the husband, kids, and interesting careers and travels that I’ve been fortunate enough to experience. I also wouldn’t be the person who I am now.</p>
<p>Few regrets, but I wish I had taken more risks earlier in life and not always played it safe.</p>
<p>NSM, $300K 18 months ago :)</p>
<p>Ack! I wish that I hadn’t been so thrifty about buying property when I was young!</p>
<p>Well, I was just kidding. No actual idea, but it would make sense given the recent housing price drops…</p>
<p>“The people who chart their own courses are the ones who are, more importantly than capable enough, brave enough to try.”</p>
<p>So true. I have few deep regrets but more “what if’s”. What if I would have conquered my fear and studied architecture instead of business? I had heard horror stories of people sleeping on the floor in the design lab and was afraid I couldn’t cut it.</p>
<p>What if I had not graduated a semester early? I could have taken more courses just because I enjoyed them and not been in such a darn hurry to graduate.</p>
<p>I also really wish I had looked for more opportunities to travel. All in all, though, I like my job and am happy with my life so there’s not much to complain about, just curiousity more than anything. The whole butterfly effect thing makes me wonder what could have been or would have been.</p>
<p>To the OP, best of luck to you. Are you familiar with Engineers Without Borders? I don’t know alot about it but it may be something you’d be interested in. My daughter has a friend who plans to pursue that after he gets his undergrad in ME. His dad is an engineer in South Africa right now. Be brave enough to explore. If you were my child, I’d tell you to go for it, but to get the degree first.</p>
<p>My regret is also about real estate. I wish we had kept the properties instead of trading up each time. Now, we’re in a 6 bedroom house and 2 of my 3 children will be in college in a couple of years. </p>
<p>Personal regret - not going to graduate school instead of getting my teaching credential.</p>
<p>I regret not studying abroad in college. I wish I would have gone abroad for a full year, and become fluent in the language.</p>
<p>…It’s never too late sopranomom92…there are plenty of foreign language programs abroad for adults. Leave your regrets at the airport.</p>
<p>MagnoliaMom - Yes I have heard about Engineers w/o borders, it looks very interesting to me and I think I would really like to do it. I would like to try and do a semester abroad, the thing that I’m stuck on with that is I go to a CC right now so when I transfer I will already have a limited amount of time so trying to squeeze in a semester abroad will be difficult but I’m going to try.</p>
<p>Another thing that I have been thinking about recently is that when I am eventually on my deathbed or having a stroke/heartattack/… and I am reflecting on my life, what is it that I want to remember. Up until a year ago I wanted to build a business empire but when I started thinking about it more, in the end I don’t want to remember a life spent in an office, even if I did create a successful business, I want to remember a life full of adventures and interesting people and family.</p>
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<p>I’m with you there, Elleneast. I gave up two fabulous chances at prestigious grad schools because it seemed too daunting with a small child, and then two, especially when H was in med school at the same time. But I regret more not pursuing my writing more diligently, though I’ve been playing catch up in recent years.</p>
<p>and I just sent off the grad school application and all supplements today, so it’s never too late! :)</p>