Hi!
I’ve always been pretty wishy-washy about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life until recently - I was trying to mold myself into someone who wanted to be a doctor/nurse, and although I admire both greatly, it just isn’t for me.
However, I’m extremely interested in genetics and molecular biology - especially telomeres, proteins, and DNA itself. Although I have very bare-bones programming experience, I am also enthralled by artificial intelligence. Furthermore, writing was my first love, after reading, and after interning at my local newspaper, I definitely want to keep journalism (for print, probably) in my life/on my career horizon. Lastly, though, I love singing. I have no formal music training, and I don’t expect to become famous or anything, but I would like to explore music more, especially since I play ukulele & guitar (self-taught) and used to play piano.
What would be a major or set of majors/minors that helps me explore all these interests? I realize it’s still early and I have the flexibility to change my major in college (I’m an incoming HS senior), but I’m still curious to hear opinions.
Thanks!
The beauty of college is that you can become involved, and develop significant expertise, in a variety of fields you are not even majoring in. At most universities, the writers for the campus paper are not all journalism majors. The members of the various extracurricular music ensembles are not all music majors. They are just there for the love of the craft.
I myself got my start in IT through campus jobs, and my start in technical theater design through student theater companies, without ever taking a single course in theater or computer science. I’ve been repeatedly employed in both fields ever since.
I’d suggest finding a computer science or biology major that has a concentration available in computational genomics, computational biology, or bioionformatics. That would enable you to combine your interests in genetics and programming, and it’s a very employable path. Meanwhile, you’d surely be able to find writing and music opportunities on campus.
This is just one of many ways you could pursue your many interests without having to major/minor in all of them. There are other combinations that could also work (computer music, cognitive science, and computational linguistics are all majors or concentrations worth exploring for potential interest), but what’s most important is knowing that your learning in college extends well beyond the classroom. As a polymath myself, I can assure you - you’re gonna LOVE college!
In addition to the above, the other thing is that you don’t have to indulge every hobby or interest with a major, minor, or a part of your career. Some people are really serious about music; they play in a band in their spare time, compose their own songs, go to a lot of local music events, maybe volunteer for or donate to musical and arts causes in their city…but they don’t have a career in music and didn’t major in it.
It’s okay to pick one or two of your prime interests and focus on that for your major, making the other one more of a hobby.
Sounds like you would like a major that blend Bio with Neuro science.
Behavioral neuroscience https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_neuroscience
Or Psychobiology http://www.thefreedictionary.com/psychobiology
There is also a newer major that has become very popular due to computer use called Human Interaction design
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer-interaction-2nd-ed/human-computer-interaction-brief-intro
In terms of music, just enjoy it. It will be hard to blend it into your major other than it being an area you can apply what you have learned as an option, not a focused area.