any paralegals outthere?

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so im turning 29 in a few months and i still have no clear career path or direction. im just working a low wage job that frustrates and depresses me more as time goes by. i already have a ba in communications from 2005. and well i basically failed at getting out there with that one. i wanted/focused on working in the media industry i.e recording studios/radio stations/production companies/etc and i had limited/random success with that. i went to back to school twice to get more education in that field and left the second school when i finally came to the realization that the social/networking demands in that career field was too much for me to bear as i have always had trouble with communication. AND YES i know its IRONIC i have a degree in communications. but i do enjoy science and i do enjoy critical thinking and i do enjoy or want to enjoy jobs with not much social interaction/demand. im an introverted aspie.

so im thinking of heading back to college for another degree in entirely different new field. with all of the career articles i have read, i constantly see PARALEGAL as a great, well paid, high demand career choice. so im just wondering if anyone outthere has any insight into the career demands of a paralegal.

Same thing happened to me too. I went to college with a communications/production degree and it's practically useless now that I've accepted my lack of interest of breaking into the profession.

I'm more of writer anyway even though I haven't written anything.

I had a job with someone who worked as a paralegal. He said it wasn't all great. If you enjoy science and critical thinking more than you should consider going back to school to find something in those kinds of fields instead.

I went to law school and chose not to practice law.

A paralegal does all the grunt work a lawyer typically would do for himself. Research, briefs, documents, etc.

Does it pay well? For some...absolutely, but it is grunt work. Given the poor investment college is, it would be horrible to get into debt for the degree then find out you hate it.

You could see about taking classes at community college in being a "legal secretary." You learn a little bit there, and most community colleges have tuition low enough that if you get the Pell Grant, 100% of tuition and books will be covered. If you don't find that aspect of the work too mind-numbing or it actually interests you, perhaps a professor can help you get a job doing some work on a low pay/learning basis with a local firm. That's the only way you can tell if you like the idea of doing it for the next 20 years or so.

I don't know the stress factor in paralegal work. Certainly if a task is on a time crunch, you have to keep it together to get the job done, and bigger firms might dump a lot of stuff on your desk and it's up to you to figure out what needs to be done first.

Another thought is to see if you can learn more about becoming a court reporter. These people charge some outrageous fees to produce transcripts from what ultimately was an audio recording of the court proceedings. However, research the career with those doing the work in your area. It's not a great choice if the market is saturated with service providers and you would be competing over very little work. Other places might charge a lot of money, but it's a company and the guy who does the actual work gets very little of the fee.

Good luck in your choice.