Does Your Major Matter?

Who in the world is answering this survey? The Scoop!

Over the past couple weeks, I've been getting incredible responses to my survey.  I can't tell you everything about it yet, because I don't want to influence the people who are still planning to take my survey...

HOWEVER, my results are really exciting and I can't keep them all to myself much longer.  Today, the 500th person responded to my survey and in honor of that, I'm going to release some of my highly-confidential data!

Some quick teasers:
500+ Respondents
20+ Countries
449 Recomendations about subjects to take in college (the results are surprising!)
- and-
457 Bits of Advice for Young People who don't know what they want to study!

If you want to know exactly WHO is filling out my survey, click on the link below.

If you still want a chance to fill out my survey, go here.

And stay tuned for some more results!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Thank you very much for taking the time to do my survey,  I really appreciate your input!  Please feel free to browse through my website if you have time.  It's an ongoing project that I've just started, but updates will be coming more frequently now as my deadline looms!

With much appreciation!

~ Katie

Katie Konrath

kkon0001@um.edu.mt
Masters student in Innovation and Creativity
Edward de Bono Institute of Thinking
University of Malta

India: Half a world away, but can't be counted out.

Less than 10 years ago, people would have been considered insane if they even suggested that young people in India would soon be competing with young Americans for American service jobs!  India is on the other side of the world and it would have been horribly impractical to rely on foreign voices that are frequently hard to understand for Americans... especially due to the time it took to transmit information around the globe!!

Things have definately changed, however, and today Indian workers are legitimate competitors.

Job Security? How Quaint.

My father enjoyed a very wonderful, but very typical career paths for his generation. 

Graduating as a teacher, he spent several years teaching economics and coaching football at Minnesota high school.  Then, for several years, he had the opportunity to be an assistant coach for the MN Gophers.  Finally, in the early 1980s, he took a job at Lutheran Brotherhood in the Twin Cities.  For the next 20 years, he worked hard and dedicated himself to the company, and in return was rewarded with a paycheck and promotions that increased corresponding to the time he had spent at the company.  Finally, in 2002, as LB merged with another company, my dad coordinated the joining committee and was offered a generous benefits package that allowed him to retire a couple years early.

My father was a member of a workworld that rewarded excellence and loyalty to the company with the promise of a continued job.  My brother and I, however, will enter into a very different workforce in the next couple years.

Vital Stats: About Me

Name: Katie Konrath
Age: 23

Right now, I'm a graduate student studying at the University of Malta's Institute of Thinking for a Master's degree in Creativity and Innovation. 

I started my involvement in creativity as a 12 year old competing in first the Odyssey of the Mind and later the Destination Imagination creative problem-solving competitions.  In the 8 years I participated in these programs, I fell in love with using my mind to solve problems and think of creative solutions.  I also enjoyed the emphasis on teamwork (some of my best friends now are from DI) and the intense time-pressure we worked under.  Finishing my competition years with a couple successful appearances at the World Finals competition didn't hurt either!

As a undergraduate student at Luther College, I continued learning about creativity under Professor Tim Schweizer.  He exposed me to both TRIZ and Edward de Bono's methodologies, and successfully urged me to consider post-graduate studies in Malta.

My focus for my studies here, how the world is changing and the effect on young people just about to enter the workforce, was inspired by my own struggles to find a major that would keep me engaged in college AND provide a solid foundation for my later life.