<p>I am a freshman undergraduate and I still am doing my requisite courses for my University Course Curriculum. The problem is I have an issue with picking my major. Actually, I already have decided on a major - Biomedical Engineering. I am also enrolled in it. The thing is, this thought of changing my major is increasingly affecting me. I am interested in doing International Relations. But because IR isn't reliable in terms of salary, I picked Engineering. I want to have a foundation in my Bsc Engineering which I can always look back at if I have an job difficulties. My main target is IR though. I've thought of blending Engineering and IR to help countries that are medically deprived with certain medical technology etc. Various ideas...
It's not that I dislike Engineering. I am interested in the concept of blending biological notions with technology. The math part is something I dislike but will have to do it. I was thinking of doing Engineering then a Master's in IR/Political Sciences. I feel IR is my thing too because I have the qualities for it, I am an efficient public speaker, I speak around 6 languages, I know about plenty cultural and social issues. I want to work for the UN or EU. I lived in Africa and the Middle East. These are just factors. I still have trouble because doing what you want best is not always beneficial financially. And I like both majors. I currently have decided to do a Minor in IR.</p>
<p>I hope you guys can give me some feed back, thank you very much !</p>
<p>You don’t need a degree in international relations to help people in other countries.</p>
<p>Well heres my unbiased answer. I know quite a few people majoring in international relations and I know quite a few people majoring in engineering. The IR people are those “I wanna save the world” kind of people. The engineeers care about that too but they don’t build their life around it.</p>
<p>Heres a scenario that is true: An IR major that wants to make an impact on the world will end up working for a nonprofit organization without generating any tangible results and are thus part of the oprganization’s bureaucracy. You’ve all heard of how those international aid organizations donate about 20% of what they make to the poor, while the rest go to “unavoidable” expenses. The IR major constitutes as an unavoidable expense.</p>
<p>The engineer on the other hand will cost money too but lets say he is working on a design team that builds high efficient and cheap battery powered LED’s. These LED’s are shipped to Africa so school children can read their books at night without having to breathe harmful fumes from gas lanterns. Even though the engineer causes the organization to use up capital, the organization is benefitting because the engineer has the capability to make the LED’s more cheap, more efficient, and possibly even solar powered so batteries are not included, etc. BTW this program is actually going on at my school.</p>
<p>TLDR: The engineer can produce results for an aid organization that can directly help people whereas the IR major just is there for administrative reasons.</p>