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You had so many major interests. How did you narrow them down and decide your major(s)?
Mike
Junior, 21 years old
"Too many interests"
Previous Major(s):
Current/Changed Major(s): Business, Communication, and Accounting
Major Dilemma
I had sooo many major interests. I’ve been trying to narrow down my choices and decide on a major.
When I worked at a pool this past summer (that was when I was in my mode of trying to figure out what
I wanted to do), I asked many of the parents of about their work. They had jobs from A to Z and so I had
lots of conversations with people who hated their jobs and loved their jobs. I asked them questions about
where they were working and what they did, what they would suggest, what they wouldn’t suggest, what they
had learned and what they thought were helpful hints.
The (virtual) Advising Center was a big one. I went to the Career Center to see what they had suggestions about.
I spent some time in the Career Center looking around, learning about the resources. Then I made an appointment to see
one of the career counselors. I went to different society meetings: For example, I attend the Accounting society
meetings and one of the honors society meetings in the Communication department.
The general consensus of advice that I got was to do what makes you happy, don’t just do what will make you money in the end. Make sure [you] go with something you think you can have fun with or enjoy doing later on in life. {SO, he kept his majors the way they were? Decided on tripling???? Did he narrow his choices}
Advice for Other Students
EXPLOIT the Advising Central office as much as you can. It’s been a great help to my whole situation definitely.
Use the Career Center. Talk to your professors. I’ve only talked to a few, but the professors have been really
helpful and informative. They’re really good about talking to you about what you want to do. Obviously, talk to friends
and family. Talk to everyone who knows anything! Find out what they think, what they would suggest, what they would have
done differently in school. That speaks a lot, especially for people who ended up doing something totally different than
what they studied in school.
If you find something that is entertaining or something that you can possibly have an interest in, go with it. Don’t let other people tell you what to do. It could be the one thing you are really interested in doing. Just because someone tells you, for example, that there is no base in agriculture any more, or you that you can’t make any money in agriculture, doesn’t mean you should not look into it. There’s a niche there somewhere. There’s always a way to do something if you really want to do it.
If I Had to do This Over Again
I don’t think there is any way to make up your mind prematurely. I don’t think that’s a good idea necessarily. I found that taking classes in a major, or core classes of some sort, is a good way to find out if you are really interested in an area, or to find out if you can get through it. Also, you can’t always listen to what someone else says because you don’t if they have the same interests as you or if you are going to find that major as interesting as they did. There are too many opinions out there and no one is the same as you. You have to take all that advice and evaluate what everyone else says and compare it to what you think and what you find out by asking questions, visiting advising and career centers and talking to professors.
The Results of my Decision
I am about 90% sure that I want to complete my three majors or at least two of them and maybe a minor in accounting. That’s pretty much the message I have gotten from everything: if you look hard enough and you really want to work at it, you can find a way to make things happen… in choosing your major and in life.
Adviser Notes
in progress
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