It's admirable when college graduates are determined to work in their dream job, no matter if it pays six figures or diddly squat. Unfortunately, it's also rare.

Before the inevitable realization that money doesn't always equal happiness, students enter their college years in a green haze. In other words, they want a job where they can earn lots of green -- which means majoring in something to take them there.

The good news is that the average starting salary for some professions is rising.

For nearly 40 years—from the launch of Sputnikin 1957 to 1995, when NASA issued the world's first space pollution guidelines—space-faring nations acted just like my cousin: Whenever they were in space, they would casually throw trash out the window.