If you're like me, the instant you started telling people you're going to college, the questions begin. Everyone immediately asks, “What are you majoring in?"
When I started school, I knew I was going to be a Communications major. Several months later, I knew I was going to major in Spanish. After that, I knew I was destined to be in the business world. A couple disappointments later, and I thought that I could create an Interdisciplinary major from all the classes I'd taken. By the fall of my junior year, however, I ended up in my advisor's office, crying my heart out because I had no idea what I should major in and there was no way I could graduate without a major.
By now, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who had no clue what she wanted to study when she started college! Only the few students who want to be in a degree-specific occupation—generally future doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers and teachers—know the exact path they want to take through college. For the rest of us, choosing a major can be very stressful!
When I was a student and clueless, I turned to Amazon to find some answers as to what I should study. Unfortunately, books written for young students who are just starting college really, REALLY emphasize the importance of a student’s college major in determining their course in life.
The Parent's Crash Course in Career Planning: Helping Your College Student Succeed told me about Cory, a student who was interested in both philosophy and business. Ultimately (and wisely says the book) he chose to go with the more “marketable” business major.
Although the Princeton Review offers a quick disclaimer that a student’s major doesn’t necessarily determine the rest of their life, it quickly follows that by saying that choosing a college major is “one of Life’s Big Decisions”. The College Majors Handbook with Real Career Paths and Payoffs, published in June 2004, insists that “choosing a major was more crucial to future financial success than the college attended. Great.
That really helped me feel better about having no idea what I want to study!!!
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