I am a senior criminal justice major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I originally entered the major after liking a crim class that I took my freshman year here. However, I am just now admitting to myself that my heart is in a completely different field. I aspire to be in interior design. From a young age I would draw floor plans of the rooms in my house and re-arrange them, and everyone is always gawking at how I decorate my rooms and asking me to do theirs. (and yes, I do know that interior design involves far more technical work than simply decorating). I always had an interest in the area but avoided going into it because my father did not think that it was a wise career decision. However, now that I am months away from graduating in criminal justice, I realize that non of the jobs in the field sounds appealing to me, even though I do like the study of criminology. I don’t know what to do. If the two fields were more closely related then I could see myself talking my father into letting me stay in school an additional year or so, but these two majors are obviously on opposite ends of the spectrum. I really don’t know what to do at this point or even what my options are. Thank you for any advice/opinions as I feel as though there aren’t really people who I can talk to about this in person.
You know, you can always get a different masters degree from your undergraduate degree! You’re so far now you might as well finish on your current path.
Just graduate. Many people who go into interior design do not have degrees in interior design, or even in art. Often you get into that business by word of mouth: you design a friend’s living room, they tell a coworker and you design their living room, the coworker tells her mom, the mom tells her sister, so on and so forth. Your portfolio and your experience help you build a business. Even if you wanted to go work for an interior design firm as an apprentice or associate or something, your job may be more contingent on work samples than your undergrad degree.
Yes, graduate and find a job. You might consider taking a course in interior design while you are working.