As I am being pressured to figure out a possible career path and college major, I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts. Dream job at this point (things seem to change every other month, mind you) would be to work in the field as a humanitarian aid worker; at least for a little while. I was wondering if this type of opportunity is something one takes time off from one’s stable domestic job to do in a series of deployments, while engaging a separate career back home (such as Medicines San Frontiers), or if it is possible to work in this field full time. What organizations and skill sets would be valued in this type of work? It seems as if practically any degree could be applied while working in a developing country, so I suppose in that lies the problem for me. Finally, what sorts of internships could I be looking at as possibilities for next summer? I am a rising high school junior, and to give a sense of my plans I am currently trying to raise money to travel abroad with Global Leadership Adventures (while I am extremely involved in mission work and community service in my hometown and around the US, I have never had the opportunity to travel further than Canada because of my family’s financial situation).
Any help is greatly appreciated!!
ps- I apologize for the wordiness and jumble of information 
You can work in an NGO/International Humanitarian Aid with any major. Hell you could major in something like Accounting or Computer Science and still be a huge asset. I know your trying to pick a major, and its nice you want to work for the non-profit sector, but nonetheless its just like the private sector: there is a role for everyone. Do you see yourself actually being the doctor in MSF? Do you want to be a community organizer? Clean up oil spills? The possibilities are endless.
If you are looking for a major to just scratch the surface, try Global Studies/International Studies (or if there is a specific region you are interested in, major in that language/area study), as after all you are a globally-minded person after all. With that as your starting point you can then either change or add a double major to narrow in your focus.
As far as internships go, same thing. It really depends on what you want to do. Try volunteering for a few organizations maybe and discover which one you could see yourself working for in the future, and then internship there.
If you want to work for a relief and development agency, they need cross-culturally sensitive engineers, public health professionals, and administrative types (accountants, business, public policy and management). If you are more interested in serving the public directly, there are positions for teaching English as a 2nd Language, nurses, doctors, etc. Those are more the on-the-ground folks. There are also the USAID types who might have more public policy, program management or regional director roles. And back at home, you might work in the head office as a support staff, administration, accounting, business, fundraising, media and communications/public relations.
So, so far you’ve figured out in which industry you’d like to work. That’s awesome! Now try to figure out what types of roles are needed that might be appealing to you.
For myself, when I was working in Africa with a R & D agency, I used to envy all of the engineers, public health workers, etc – because they were specialized and knew what their function was. (My undergrad was in “Development Studies”, an interdisciplinary major that helped me to understand big, global issues and their myriad complexities – but no skills to actually help solve any of these problems.) In the end, I realized that my role was more the big picture (needs analysis and starting new programs based on those needs) and managing those specialists toward solving a common social problem – so that led me to get my graduate degree in public policy and management. Later I also did marketing & communications and resource development, state-side,
You are way ahead of where I was at your age…you’ll figure it out!
But also make sure that the lifestyle – financially and living conditions-wise – will suit you as well. PM me if you have more specific questions.