Wow I am finding this thread so late! I need to hang out with the locals more ;p
Seth I am in college now so maybe I can help pitch in with my experience - I came here on a full scholarship but persued engineering - not easy! Eng kicked my butt and scholarship faded away but I am still plugging because I love it. The challenge is awesome. I think people are capable of doing ANYTHING if they feel in their heart that its really what they want to do. And if you end up getting a degree and get bored? Well just go back and do something different!
I personally would like to work for a while and then "Retire" and do something like what Marcye does for a living- I love animals that much im like, *** am i doing studying this stuff?
One thing that *really* helped me financially was the FAFSA. You can see it at fafsa.gov i think. It is government aid that looks at your status as an individual - do you depend on your family, how much money do you make on paper (your job.. i have no idea how it figures into it!) and they evaluate your "worth" as an individual and will give you free federal grants if they deem you a worthy investment. Money for free you don thave to pay back! That plus my scholarship is what helped me live until I met my now husband who so kindly subsidizes my education and aquarium addiction
If you can study anything.. its nice. being on a campus- like social hour! If you have a lot of self discipline it can be easy! There are things to study that wont quickly get you jobs- english, philosophy, physics (unless you get your phd sorta thing) and there are others that youc an excel in easily! Anything medical or legal- we'll always be hurting ourselves - or others, and in the case of others need a lawyer or law professional to help!
Tech jobs are popular and the orlando area is growing in them but we are fighting tooth and nail for our jobs to not be exported to cheap labor countries overseas.
I think just follow what you'd like in your heart - be it a nurse, forensic specialist or even school teacher- and everything inbetween - I decided what I wanted to do by eliminating the jobs I thought I'd be really bored with.
Hope this helps! And if you ever wanna talk tanks - any of you locals

send me a pm! I'm an addict and can't stop wanting things to go in my tank!