It seems that everyone has advice on choosing a major. Given the topic of this week's post, I guess I'm no different. However, in my typical fashion, I'm not going to tell you what to do so much as give you some things to think about as you muddle your way through making this important decision for yourself.
But I don't know what I want to do!
First, though, a slight detour. In my conversations with students, I often hear "I think I'll just start at the local community college, because I don't really know yet what I want to study." OK, fair enough. This can be a wise decision and a good way to save money under the right circumstances. However, keep the following in mind:Does the community college have a wide range of options?
If your local community college has a wide range of fields to explore, this can be a good approach. Some smaller colleges, however, have limited options, and if the point is to explore the possibilities, you may be limiting yourself. Your experience at the community college may leave you unsatisfied, with no better idea of what you want to do. When you eventually transfer (hopefully with most or all of your general education completed), you may find an exciting field to study, only to discover you still have 3 or 4 years before you can complete your degree.
What are you doing at the community college to help you decide?
Are you meeting with an advisor? Doing some reflection and noticing what catches your interest? Looking for internships or other work experience in possible fields? Unfortunately, many of the students I talk to who start at a community college are no closer to knowing what they want to do at the end of the two years (or three, or four....) than they were at the beginning of the process. It turns out that putting off the decision for a couple years doesn't necessarily make it any easier when it comes time to decide.
So what should I do?
Advice on how to choose a major generally falls into two categories:
- Find a career path where you can make money, and choose a major that will help you find employment in that field.
- Do what you love, and the money will follow.
Like I said, I'm not going to tell you what to do. After all, this is your life, not mine. You have to live with your choices. I will, however, take a moment to disagree with both types of advice listed above.
To address the first point, I strongly encourage you to think about more than just average income when considering your future. Spending 4 (or more) years pursuing an education primarily for the paycheck, then finding out you don't really enjoy that career is a recipe for misery. While you make your way through your college education, take time to notice what peaks your curiosity, what you spend time on when you don't have to, and what subjects you really enjoy. Also keep in mind that most careers have several different entry pathways, and most majors can lead to several different career options. In other words, don't get too tied down to a particular major for a particular hypothetical career, particularly if you haven't taken time to get some work experience in that field to see if you really like it.
On the other hand, if your intellectual passion is in a somewhat esoteric field with few clear career options, it may be really fun to study, but at some point you will need a job. So, while "follow your bliss" may work for some, you also don't want to end up with a pile of student loans and a minimum wage job.
So consider this as a middle ground: figure out what fascinates you and sparks your intellectual curiosity, and study that. If that happens to be a field with no clearly defined career path associated with it, incorporate some classes that will give you in-demand technical skills, like computer programming, GIS, data analysis, etc. The communication and interpersonal skills (that is, the "soft skills") you develop through a liberal arts degree, combined with some high-demand technical skills, can be the perfect combination for many career fields.
