So does anyone else feel like the older they get, the less sure they are about what they want to do with their life? Fun stuff.
So I’m a señor applying international/global relations to most schools. My interest is definitely in that area: languages, traveling, exploring, etc. I’m interested in either going into national security/counter terrorism stuff, or more human-rights stuff like world education or fighting human trafficking.
My question is, for the second idea (world education or fighting human trafficking) what are major(s) good for that type of thing? Am I on the right track?
No need to decide on a major now. Typically it is done the end of sophomore/start of junior year of college. Go to college, take a variety of classes, see what piques your interest and then you should have a clearer direction of where you want to head.
There are lots of majors that can lead to a career in human rights - you can major in anthropology, sociology, political science, or economics; or in philosophy; or in international relations/affairs/studies; or in a modern foreign language/cultural studies. Sociology is probably the traditional major most concerned with human rights, with political science a close second, but philosophy also has a lot of discourse around this area too.
Middlebury is a great place to study languages, but you can study languages at virtually every college in the country, and there are many places that have a broader variety of languages than Middlebury. Besides, Middlebury also has intensive summer schools you can attend even if you go to college elsewhere.
In both of the fields in which you’re interested, you’ll want to study some less-commonly taught/critical languages. Arabic, Chinese, Russian, or Korean are good choices, but so are Indonesian, Hindi, Punjabi, Wolof, Khmer, Yoruba, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, and Pashto. Think about the people you’d be working with in either field.
Also, look up the Critical Language Scholarship Program and the Boren Scholarship. Both provide summer funding to intensively study less commonly taught languages abroad!
@juillet thanks so much for all of the advice! I will check out those scholarships. I’m a big spanish nerd but i also love russian history and news, so i might go with that. I could do eastern european stuff too. thanks!
So does anyone else feel like the older they get, the less sure they are about what they want to do with their life?
Yup - and I’m in my 50s. The good news is that you don’t need ‘the answer.’ There are usually many answers - at different stages of your life, different answers. And the 20s are all about wandering in the broccoli (to quote a former boss) generally discovering what you don’t want to do, until you get a handle on the things that you do want to do. That should be comforting - it means you can change directions and probably will many times. We all need to reinvent ourselves periodically, push beyond our comfort zones, try something that has only a 50/50 chance of working out. It’s part of the joy of being human.
Some people seems to know what they want from an early age, go for it, get it and are happy at it for the rest of their lives. I know only a few of those folks. Sometimes I envy their clarity and focus. But usually, I’m okay with the less direct trajectory of my life. It’s certainly made for some interesting reflection in retrospect, some humility, and some kindness to those whose lives are more discursive.
So, enough new year’s day philosophy…back to your immediate question: As others said, you don’t need to declare a major for 2 years and there’s a reason for it. Your world is about to open up wide…see what’s inside before you choose something. You wouldn’t stand outside a clothing store, order the ‘red shirt, size x’ without looking around at what’s on offer and trying on a few things, even if you think the red shirt is what you want. Don’t do it with college either.
Seconding juillet. You can study those subjects outside of Middlebury. Check out the Croft Institute at Ole Miss if you need scholarships. I don’t know their deadlines, though.
My friend is going there and he’s paying FULL