I’m currently a freshman at St. John’s University in the accelerated 4 year PA program. Until recently, I realized I don’t really have a passion or interest in anything. Nothing seems to appeal to me or makes me think "wow I want to do something related to this the rest of my life. I like listening to music but never thought about becoming a rapper(since I listen to primarily rap) or something because it seems very illogical. I also don’t have any hobbies or great talents and my days pass by with me on my computer. I was wondering if someone could help steer me in the right direction. I hate math and I guess I hate science the least. I kept telling myself I’d become a doctor instead of a PA(which would mean changing my major), but I’m not even sure what I want since nothing appeals to me. Please help me with advice if you can.
I can’t really help you or suggest a major since we don’t really know what you like (besides music; you could be a music major, but becoming professional takes a lot of hard work and dedication).
If you really don’t know what you want to major in, perhaps spend some time scrolling through the course catalog, look for some random courses that might be of interest to you (could be anything such as medicine, basic computer programming, Romantic or Contemporary music, video game design, etc.) and perhaps take a few. Maybe you’ll find a new passion.
You could major in Liberal Arts, and open yourself to a wide variety of career paths.
It’s probably true what @bjkmom have said. Though may I ask what is your interest? maybe you don’t have any passion but surely there is something that interests you right?
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Go to your career center and see if they have any tests/inventories that you could take related to what major you should take
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Take an online quiz…there are many
http://www.luc.edu/undergrad/academiclife/whatsmymajorquiz/
http://www.slu.edu/beabilliken/quiz-college-majors -
Talk to the professor in your favorite class and see what they think
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Take your interests and see what you can do with those.
So you like to listen to rap…can you make rap part of your career?
Business related to rap
Audio Engineer related to rap
Writing related to rap or reviews -
Why did you sign up for a PA program? Why don’t you like it now?
Find the list of classes offered this semester or next at your school. Check off all the ones you wouldn’t mind sitting through. Maybe you’ll discover a pattern.
Use process of elimination. Cross out the majors you really don’t like. The last remaining one could be your major.
A quote I remember
“If you don’t know which path to take, any path will take you there”
Not everything we do in life has to be the one and only thing we want and love to do, we often develop many passions over our lifetime. Chose a path that seems interesting and then pursue it. If you realize you absolutely hate it, then change. Sometimes you can’t know what your passion is until you go all out to pursue it. But after you graduate then you can work and develop other hobbies or go into a specialty in your field.
I started out knowing I wanted to be something in the health field because I’m fascinated with the human body and how everything works. I went into nursing and became an LVN but realized I didn’t want to be pushing drugs all my life so instead of pursing RN I changed my path to dietetics and now I plan to become a Registered Dietician. I don’t have a dream job planned yet but I’ve found great interest in preventative healthcare that I might never have realized had I not started out in nursing…
@MITer94 majoring in music is very hard especially since I would only do vocals and not an instrument or anything. Rapping especially is not well received in the music world. I think I would have found my passion by now because it’s usually that one thing you don’t mind doing. @bjkmom liberal arts was never the field for me because I don’t excel in it. I’m not the greatest writer and don’t like the subjects associated with liberal arts in general. @HumphyDumpy like I said, i like to rap and listen to music, as well as scroll through facebook, I used to play video games, but I think I’ve grown out of that a little. Nothing else really interests me besides watching YouTube videos and scrolling through the Internet. @bopper I spoke to an advisor about that and he just asked me what I hated least and I was like science. He said there might not be a point in taking the career test because it would point to the science field anyways so I’d still have to decide from a large quantity of options anyways. I took one quiz from those links and it said biochem which I know I don’t want to pursue. The other one placed me in liberal arts focused ones and I know for a fact I don’t want to do anything history or language related. I don’t have a favorite class, I just go to everything because I have to, so I wouldn’t be able to speak to the professor of my favorite class. Rap in business usually has to do with management and I don’t see myself as that because I’d rather be more involved and an audio engineer is not something I’d like to do because it’s something you develop an attachment for early on and then continue pursuing it. Writing in general is a tricky job because you could be freelance or get paid for an article. I would not like to write about a rap or any journalism because that leaves people to judge your work when it may seem to you like the right thing, to others it won’t. I signed up for the PA program because my parents told me to go here. I didn’t have much choices, not because I didn’t get into schools but because I was limited to what my parents wanted. My parents set a mindset in me to follow a healthcare track which flawed me as individual because when it was time to think on my own, I had no idea what I wanted to do. @stradmom and @yogi123 I do mind sitting through classes when I could be doing something more productive like writing raps. I wouldn’t use that method of elimination because I would probably end up crossing everything out. @shellebelle212 the problem with me is that I don’t have a passion and the environment I was raised in(something in health care field was expected of me) led me to think one way until it came time to think for myself which led me to not realize what I wanted. You see, you had an interest in healthcare from the jump and even though you switched career paths, you stayed within that field. For me, I still don’t know what it is.
Liberal arts isn’t just history or language related… it’s literally a degree that covers a broad range of subjects, and you can get humanities or science degrees in the liberal arts. If you are undecided, going a liberal arts route may be the best way for you to find something you take an interest in. Lib arts degrees also don’t shackle you to a particular career/job route.
And honestly, you need to keep your mind open. Keep taking a variety of classes, and don’t shut down anything before you even try it out. You’re only a freshman, you have plenty of time.
@toojatt4u My suggestion is to look at what you enjoy doing when you were 8-10 yrs. In school - which subject you were able to understand or like without putting lot of effort. Out of school - what did you do - sports, video game, etc. Start from there and see which one you enjoy even today. If you are not sure still liberal arts colleges where you can take any course to graduate will be good. You can try various subjects. In general I have seen the following - Math, reading, arts (creative), practical (hands on) in fixing things, etc. You need to figure out which category you enjoy.
@silmaril i already know what i like and what i don’t like and rap is not something i can pursue in college. @bk1366 my childhood consisted of television and that’s about it. Everyone can watch TV so it requires no effort. There’s nothing I did that would have required effort for some people that didn;t require effort for me.
@toojatt4u Right, so what I’m saying is that since rap isn’t something you can pursue in college, you need to explore your likes/dislikes again. I mean, I don’t really see what other pieces of advice we can offer, since you’ve already shut down all the suggested careers that are related to rap, so your only realistic option is to take a variety of subjects and figure out if you have any new likes or dislikes.
Anyways, it’s possible to take classes for a particular major and still pursue other interests at the same time you know. It’s not like you’ll have to cut rap out of your life completely if you choose not to pursue it as a profession.
@toojatt4u If rap is what you like. I guess you can study music. College like Oberlin in Ohio is a good school for music major. May be Rap may be option. You can check it out. Remember all we can suggest is try… you have to figure it out by trying. LAC help you in trying various areas and still apply those credit towards the degree.
@silmaril and @bk1366 you guys are right. I need to give things a chance. whether it be rap or something else. But now a new question arises, if I choose to do biology as a major, should i transfer colleges because the school I am currently at is not the best for biology? please give me your thoughts.
@toojatt4u then maybe you could try filmmaking if it is videos you’re interested in or probably take some lessons about disc jockey since you’ve mentioned you like music 
I don’t know if you will find something to be passionate about in college, but I do know that it’s hazardous to enter adulthood without a means of earning a living.
Let me assume you’re in the US. The US job market has become highly competitive, and, with globalization continuing, it should be expected to become more so. In most, if not all, fields there are and will be more people wanting jobs than there are jobs.
Your family has put you on a track to be able to earn a good living. In such a good living, you can enjoy the music you like and can have peace and comfort, even if you’re not enthusiastic about the job you do and weren’t enthusiastic about the many classes you had to take to get it.
The alternative to the uninteresting classes (and maybe uninteresting work after them) is competing with a great many people for low-level jobs where you don’t get much pay or respect. Some people among them will exude enthusiasm and, therefore, be at an advantage in getting those jobs. When the economy takes a downturn you particularly may be unemployed, because then you will competing with both the educated and the uneducated.
^This. You don’t need to be “passionate” about your job, and the truth is, most working adults aren’t. Most of us work a job that we like reasonably well, with coworkers that we like reasonably well. The job has many tasks we enjoy and some we don’t. But it gives us the money necessary to support ourselves, our families and enjoy our hobbies and interests in the evenings and weekends.
PA is a great career for that! PAs make good salaries - they average $90-100K per year. The career is in high demand and highly portable, meaning that you can work wherever you want in the U.S. and still make good money, and demand will only increase over the next years. Most PAs work in physician’s offices, which means that they work pretty much 9-5 hours seeing patients about basic primary care issues. That leaves you with flexibility on your evenings and weekends to do what you want - including pursue music as a hobby. About a quarter of PAs work in hospitals, which would mean longer shifts (probably 3 12-hour shifts per week) and on-call work. That’s a little more stressful, but could offer you 4 days off per week.
And, if you decide you hate it, you can always do something else. Former healthcare practitioners can be in demand in public health, in consulting, in health insurance. You could do research. You could get a master’s in PA and teach PA classes.
But even if you don’t love it it could still be a great career for you if you are content in it.
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