Are you passionate about your major?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>I am a rising junior concentrating in Religion at a top LAC. This summer I've felt bummed reflecting on how confused I am regarding my major and prospective career.</p>

<p>To make a long story short, I am the type of person who is good at many things but not "great" at any one thing in particular. I've volleyed back and forth between interests, never quite sure of my passions, except for writing/rhetoric, which my teachers and professors have always complimented me on, and a desire to help solve the world's problems (generic, I know). Religion and its intersections with ethics, culture, and politics seems interesting to me right now, but I am also curious about biology, robotics, and media creation. I've taken courses across a zillion different departments. The way I am going, I will end up somewhere in academia.</p>

<p>I believe that discovering my passions would allow me to plan for the long-term and craft a more coherent academic plan (while I still have a little bit of wiggle room). The problem is that I've become such a workaholic and generalist that I don't enjoy my former hobbies anymore and don't know how to use my free time. Also, so far no class I've taken has given me that special "oomph." :(</p>

<p>So I'd like to pose a general question: how passionate are you about your major? Does it line up with your passions or is it simply a stepping stone to a career? How did you discover your passions in the first place?</p>

2

<p>Not really. I like computers (one of my majors is Information Systems) and logistics seems cool (Supply Chain Management is my other major) although I haven’t taken classes for it yet. But they aren’t the fire that drives me. Shoot, I’d rather be in a rock band.</p>

<p>One of my dream careers is FBI special agent, and there isn’t really a major for that, so I’m basically doing two majors that hold my interest long enough for me to do well in them and are versatile enough that even if I don’t end up doing my dream job, I won’t hate my job either.</p>

3

<p>One of my hobbies is writing. As a child, I was identified as gifted in this particular area. I wouldn’t say I have the best grammar skills ever but people love my writing. I won many awards throughout my school career for writing poetry, short stories, and I’ve never worried about getting a B in any English class. A lot of authors (not saying they were well-known) would come to my school and my teachers would show them my work. I’ve never had a B on any paper I’ve ever written in my entire life. </p>

<p>However, I didn’t major in it. I majored in something I struggled in as a child. I found a book by mistake in the library my senior year of high school. I brought it home with me and could not put it down. I would laugh out loud and receive strange looks on the bus rides home when I would decide to read it to pass the time. The book was a biography about a very famous physicist. After that, I bought all of his books and my enthusiasm to learn something I previously hated turned into something I love today. I picked up a cheap Calculus book from Barnes & Noble, but I failed miserably trying to teach myself. College wasn’t even a possibility for me at this point. My parents knocked on the door to have a serious talk with me about joining the military and I’d sadly nod my head because I knew this to be my future. I couldn’t even afford my graduation photo. When I found this book, I was invigorated. I told them that I wasn’t going to go into the military and that we needed to find a way for this to work. When my parents saw that I was serious, there were fortunately benefits that were set aside for disabled veterans of the military and my dad would have to apply for them.</p>

<p>I had to wait out a year before I could go to college and during this time I applied to as many jobs as I could find. Anything I could do to get my hands on some money so I could buy some math books. I didn’t find any job but luckily one day my dad showed up with a letter and I ran around the house like a child so happy that I could go to college. The closest college was an hour away and I had to drive. However, my dad drove me the first time to take the placement test and I did exactly as I thought I would. I didn’t get one reading or writing question wrong, but I was placed into Pre-Algebra. Annoyed by this, I demanded to be placed into Algebra II or higher because that’s as far as I had taken my math education in high school. He shook his head and said “No, you cannot register for a class you are not qualified for.” I gave up and months later I drifted from my bed to playing video games. Not much else. This was from Fall 2008 to Spring 2012. Then, I decided one day that I wanted to give it a try again in the summer. I sat down at my computer and watched lectures for hours. I found every algebra, trigonometry, geometry problem set I could and did the work. On my testing day, I was so nervous and my dad drove me to the test center while I quickly penciled answers to practice problems I brought with me. </p>

<p>I came up to the counter and said “I need to retake the math portion of the COMPASS.” He gave me a few pieces of scratch paper, a pencil, and he led me to the computer room where everyone else was. I sat down at the computer and nervously retyped all of my information into the system. A person who came in after me left just a minute after he started and made my ears perk up when he said “It’s already over?” I did problem after problem until I got stuck on one and had a panic attack. I sat there for thirty minutes hyperventilating until I calmed myself down and figured out the problem. After that, I don’t honestly remember. I was in there for hours. My dad afterwards told me that he asked the guy at the counter “How long does it take for people to do the math section?” and he said “Mmm. Thirty minutes, tops.” I was in there for four hours, zooming through problems.</p>

<p>And the rest is history. I tested into Calculus and now I am transferring as a math major to my new school for this fall. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>It has been hard sometimes (huge procrastinator) and I admit I have slacked off a bunch in my courses. But I got into all of the universities I applied to and I am generally happy with where I ended up. I’m very excited to take my classes this fall and people in my math classes have been some of the most smart and interesting people I’ve ever met.</p>

<p>I’m thinking about going to graduate school or law school. I might use graduate school as a stepping stone to get a job with the NSA or Air Force Research Lab. I have taken an interest in becoming a patent lawyer, though. I took enough physics classes to qualify for the patent bar exam. :)</p>

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<p>@Caldud Wow! Thank you for sharing your story. Your perseverance is pretty inspirational. I am hoping to find a subject that will light a similar spark within me. (It’d be convenient if I could find it while I am still in school though!) I wish you the best of luck with your future plans, whether they be continuing math/physics or entering law. :)</p>

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<p>Damn.</p>

<p>Glad everything worked out</p>

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<p>Thanks guys.</p>

<p>I made a typo. I didn’t mean Fall 2008 to Spring 2012, lol. I meant Fall 2008 to Spring 2009.</p>

<p>Anyways, I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for. Good luck. Sometimes clubs can help point you in the right direction. My friend and I are thinking about signing up to work on a float for the Rose Float parade. Building it should be a lot of fun.</p>

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<p>CalDud that is awesome! Congrats! </p>

<p>Actually, I’m pretty passionate about what I’m majoring in. </p>

<p>I’m a Communications major with a minor in Political Science. Yup, I’m a Comm major, and nope, as I have to clarify to just about everyone who finds out my major, I’m not an athlete. </p>

<p>I came across a comm degree during an internship I had. Right after my freshman year I decided to just start emailing state senators of my political preference and see if they needed an intern. I ended up working for the entire senate party doing research and other things. I fell in love with it, but I had no idea how to incorporate it. I started looking into in and into classes at my college. Comm fit perfectly, but I loved the politics aspect so I am minoring in that. </p>

<p>I still am not quite sure where I’m going to go exactly with it. During this spring I plan to intern with a political reporter from a local newspaper. In the summer I’m working to get an internship in DC with the Department of Labor. I’m trying out my options. I’m excited though. </p>

<p>Before I found something I loved school was incredibly difficult. I couldn’t find a reason to go to class. I was English Education and that just didn’t seem worth it to me. Now that I’ve found something it all just makes sense. I’m not dreading going back to school this semester.</p>

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<p>Hmm, not many people in my shoes, it seems.</p>

<p>I have a strong preference towards English and literature, and ideally would’ve majored in such. However, in my eyes (and my parents’), that simply is not feasible. I personally feel that the career opportunities for an English major are too slim and rare compared to either of my present majors, which are computer science and economics.</p>

<p>Incidentally, in the “Stereotyping by College Major” thread in this forum, the person who posted after me got it pretty much spot on. To quote:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Source: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/572079-stereotyping-college-major-135.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/572079-stereotyping-college-major-135.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>That’s pretty much it. Dunno what I want to do, but I’ve been told that having both majors covers a wide selection of career opportunities. Which it does. But it’s not like I’m passionate about computer science or economics. I find both interesting, I do them well, and I have an internship currently that applies both majors, and everything seems to be “perfect,” but it’s meh. I guess I’m kinda similar to ThisMortalSoil in this regard. Can’t do what I’d like to do for survivability reasons, but at least I won’t hate what I’m doing. Unless it’s sitting in a cube programming 8 hours a day. That would be terrible.</p>

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<p>Being a polisci major, I used to love everything about politics and was a vocal member of my political party. But going into my forth year, I now find it idiotic and vain, something only ruled by money. That being said, I like money so I still see it as a viable career choice, though my youthful fondness of the subject is gone.</p>

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<p>Any interest in law? It sounds like it could be a good fit for you.</p>

<p>My program was a dual degree program for elementary education and (anything). A lot of the people in the program chose any major because their true passion was education. I chose math, which is also a passion of mine. So I kind of lucked out in that I am passionate about both things I studied. I also enjoyed a bunch of other departments - astronomy, computer science, languages. At UVA you can make your own major and at one point I considered doing that.</p>

<p>I think something for you to keep in mind is the lucrativeness of whatever you end up pursuing… Teaching is a pretty low paying job so if I did not have a passion for it, I would have been out the door already. You don’t really know if your career is for you until you do it every day for a year (or more). You need to make sure you leave some doors open in case you want to go make more money doing something else.</p>

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<p>I’m super passionate about my major and honestly can’t imagine studying anything else for the next few years. I have a lot of interests, but nothing that really gets me going like history. </p>

<p>I think it really helps that I have such a strong interest in it. Papers are a snap to write and it doesn’t feel like work to study/prepare for a test.</p>

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<p>When I first stepped on campus (international student, did not visit), I was taken to the basement in the engineering building. I saw a race car there that is built by senior mechanical engineers as a part of their year long senior design project. I did not exactly know what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to build that so I studied mechanical engineering. </p>

<p>Some of the core engineering classes I took in my sophomore year really sent a strong signal and I started falling in love with this stuff. Now, I love my major and I’m very satisfied with what I’m studying. It’s my passion and I can’t imagine myself studying anything else. All the work that I have to put into is worth it for me and I love doing it.</p>

13

<p>I’ve been passionate about history and studying the past since childhood. I believe my ultimate purpose in life is to become a historian and a professor, and to pass on my knowledge and share my passion with others. I would never dream of studying anything else. This is who I want to be and what I want to pursue studying for the rest of my life. Everything about this discipline comes extremely naturally to me, and no other interest of mine has had things just fall into place so well. I’ve essentially dedicated my life to it with no regrets.</p>

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<p>I just graduated from a “top LAC” with a double major in the Humanities.</p>

<p>I was not “passionate” about either of my majors.</p>

<p>I chose my majors knowing that I would enjoy my work, and that there was no possibility that I would fail, provided that I work very hard–I did.</p>

<p>I do get a rush talking with others about the work I’ve done, but I can’t articulate concrete and pointed genuine interests.</p>

<p>Don’t worry about not feeling the OOMPH straightaway. Give yourself some time and distance from college, from the individual classes themselves, and you’ll feel it sooner or later.</p>

<p>(Some classes teach you invaluable thinking and communication skills that you don’t realize until you take a step back, is what I mean.)</p>

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<p>I like this thread and I really enjoyed reading the posts on here. I am like the OP in that I have many many interests. I have studied history, english, spanish, and political science and I would have loved to have gotten a bachelor’s degree in all 4 of them. I ended up liking History because when I first walked into the classroom, the teachers just started talking, no notes, no power points, NOTHING. I was like damn, these people are smart. Everyone in the college of business uses power points pretty much with real world examples and here I have a prof that can talk non stop for an hour and not even to have to consult a book. Needless to say, I was impressed and I started to take more and more classes. </p>

<p>I ended up making History my major since my school did not offer enough foreign languages classes for a major in a decent amount of time. I was not interested enough in English yet, and poly sci only had classes in the morning(and it still does 4 years later) I have become quite disillusioned about my choice of major since I graduated 4 years ago. The only “decent” jobs that I have held have been a banker and a director of a non-profit for a bit. Since then I have just felt that History is not a good thing to really major in especially with the recession. I wish I was more interested in business, nursing or engineering, but I’m not. I recently decided to go back for a second degree in English and as someone pointed out here, History majors seem to make more than English majors and while that is true, I feel that a lot of that is grad level/attorney work. I am hoping that studying English will open up doors for me in advertising, marketing, technical writing/design. I do look forward to my classes just as much as I did with my History ones.</p>

16

<p>I’m definitely one of those people who wishes to major in everything! But I’m overall passionate about my studies. I still can’t decide if I want to major in Business or Public Relations with Film Studies…</p>

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<p>I’m another one of those people who is interested in a lot of things. I’m a chemistry major, and I don’t know if I would say I’m PASSIONATE about chemistry but I really do quite enjoy it, and I did LOVE organic chemistry. Mostly I’m just excited about science as a whole, and of all sciences chemistry clicks most with my brain. Humanities and arts majors study a lot of unpleasantness, and there’s not a lot of hope of that going away. Science studies questions, and there’s infinite opportunity for progress. Instead of jaded about the world, my major leaves me hopeful for what is to come.</p>

<p>And I chose to do this at a liberal arts college so I can continue to take classes in and pursue my other love - acting, even though that’s not a viable career option for me.</p>

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<p>I love chemistry and all the sciences, but my real passion is helping children :). So, that’s why I’m majoring in biochemistry. I want to go to medical school and then hopefully become a pediatrician, with a specialty in oncology.</p>

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<p>Major: Aerospace Engineering (Astronautical)
Future Study: Systems Engineering, PMP
Dream Jobs: Project/Program Manager/Director at any medium to large scale company/agency building and operating spacecraft (NASA, Lockheed, Boeing, SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, etc.)
Goals: Ensuring cool spacecraft gets built, furthering human expansion beyond Earth.</p>

<p>As someone returning to school after nearly a decade, it wasn’t so much that I didn’t know what I wanted to do, it was that I didn’t know how to get there. When I was younger I never would have given myself the chance to try for something so ambitious, but now I realize just how important it is to go for something in which you believe. Technically my undergraduate degree is just a stepping stone for what I really see myself doing, but it makes more sense to define it in terms of being half of what I want to do, with the other half requiring work experience and graduate study. I suppose it would be accurate to say I am passionate about my field of study.</p>

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<p>I’m planning on double majoring in History and English and yes, I absolutely love both of them. I couldn’t imagine being something like a math or science major, even though I did consider Biology for a while. And yes, I’m okay with being a college professor in the future. :slight_smile: I don’t think I would have survived being in a major just to make money in the future; I would be so unhappy.</p>