I’m going to be going back to school in just under 2 weeks, I’ll be a sophomore, and I’m really nervous. I go to a well-regarded, small rural liberal arts school. I don’t have to declare until end of sophomore year, but to say I have no idea about my major isn’t true. I am thinking about either Economics and/or Math. I’ve always been pretty good at math and liked it, and I took Econ 101 and 102 this past year and I thought they were pretty interesting, but I got a B+ in both of them. I know that’s not a bad grade but it’s not like I am some Econ aficionado either. I’m probably better at Math but I’m worried about just being a Math major alone because I don’t know if I’ll actually want to end up doing anything with that or not. I also am a big music guy and want to take classes in that, and I like French too. Honestly I like to study a lot of things, but I don’t really like any of them enough to want to major in them.
I think I’m more worried about what I want to do after college. Even though I might want to study Econ or Math, I’ve always been a pretty creative person as well - I’m an avid musician player and know a lot about music in general. I really don’t find working on Wall Street or things like that too appealing. I know work isn’t necessarily something you’re going to love going to every day, but I don’t want to do something I’ll really dislike my entire life. I’m going to go into the career counseling center sometime in the beginning of the year to get some guidance on this. I am involved in the radio station at my college, and I think a cool thing would be to work in the radio/media business, not as a DJ of course but in the marketing/management sector. Don’t get me wrong, though, business school is definitely something I’m considering, and the world of finance isn’t a definite no for me, as I like working with numbers. I have some other thoughts too, but at this point it’s so undecided for me.
I might just be really nervous about going back in general. I know it’s not a bad thing to be a bit aimless at this point, and people change their majors/careers all the time. I don’t have some vision about how things are going to work out, I’m just worried nothing will work out in general. I’m pretty type B and easy going even though I’m talking like a perfectionist and idealist - which scares me more. I’ve always had anxiety problems been a very indecisive, passive person.
You still have a lot of time, as you already know, but I feel what you’re going through. I’m also a perfectionist and have anxiety that makes me extremely indecisive. I’m just sort of getting an idea about what I want to do, and I’m a senior. The fact that you have fields that you’re considering is very good.
It’s fine to be undecided since you don’t know much about what’s out there in terms of jobs or what they’ll be like. If going into the radio/media business sounds interesting, pursue that for now. You can work out the details of the specific kind of job you want by considering what you do or don’t like about your various extracurricular activities. Do some internet research as well, seeing what people in the field have to say about the jobs you’re looking at. Definitely keep an open mind about a career in finance, especially if you want to give yourself time to figure out what you want while you work for a few years. But if you’re ambitious and have a plan early and the supply of jobs isn’t too low, it’s better to focus on how you can achieve your goals than to worry about not achieving them.
As far as what you’re majoring in, pick a major that has the most classes that seem interesting to you as requirements and a decent amount of flexibility to take classes in a variety of fields.
I read aloud the like top 10 paying jobs to my girlfriend. She laughed cause I had said I wanted to be this or that at one point and she had said she wanted to be one of them herself. We both ended up doing different things, although she only changed her mind once. I changed mine a ton.
You’ll get there eventually. I graduated with the wrong major and went back to school for the right one. Graduating with a good degree did get me in the door to the company I work at, which also led me to have more skills than I ever had before at programming, which I use in school now and find it helps me with stuff I do at home as well. They’re also letting me go to school during business hours.
You can like a lot of things. I’d like to think I’m creative too. I make and edit videos, write blog posts, and I like art.
However, that’s not what I’m choosing to do as my day job. Just steer towards something you find interesting and will lead to a good salary. Living in poverty woke me up to needing to get a good job and not only do what you’re passionate about.