I hate my major, and I'm a senior. SOS

College Life
1

<p>I'm a senior journalism major (I have three more semesters left including this one before I graduate because I transferred and switched majors from sociology to journalism). The first week of school has passed, and I'm realizing more by the day that journalism is not what I want to do with my life. </p>

<p>I thought I'd like it when I initially changed my major, but I'm miserable now partly because it's revealing itself as something I'm cut out for and partly because I chose to stick with it long enough to be basically trapped with it. Expressing yourself is so taboo in journalism, and I'm such an expressive person This among other things is really bothering me. I feel like I'm fading into black. </p>

<p>I love the arts, dance to be exact, and I know that's what I'd love to do with my life. Years ago, I let my parents and others talk me out of pursuing a career in dance, so I went to school majoring in sociology. I ended up transferring and changing my major to journalism, setting me back a few years. </p>

<p>I'm 22. I fear I'll be too rusty to start back dancing after I graduate and actually make something of myself as a dancer. I stopped dancing because of school. I could have been taking classes and going to workshops instead of these years wasted doing something I don't love ... maybe not even like.</p>

<p>Finally, the QUESTION:
What do I do about this? Things are getting scary because I'm not passionate about journalism. Is it still possible to get back into dance after these years of not dancing? I'll have to pay student loans after I graduate, I'll need to make a living for myself. Will a career in dancing for me forever be lost? If so (and I'm hoping this isn't the case), is there a way to make journalism work for an expressive "artsy" person like me? </p>

<p>I don't want to live a miserable life. I don't want to be trapped in a profession that I hate. I do want to wake up in the morning and be happy with my life. </p>

<p>Right now, I'm not seeing that, and it sucks. S.O.S.</p>

2

<p>Finish your college degree. Meanwhile, use your free electives, summer and extra-curricular activities to set yourself up for a career you’d enjoy. Just because your degree is in journalism doesn’t mean that you have to work in journalism. In fact, liberal arts majors almost all work in jobs unrelated to their college degree!</p>

<p>I am not familiar with creative fields and I can’t give you career advice there. But I’d encourage you to explore other career options besides writing and dancing.</p>

3

<p>Just a few ideas. If you are good with words but want to be a bit more creative than standard journalism allows you to be, you might like a career in advertising or marketing or communications. If you are tech-savvy and like visual arts, lots of corporations need graphics designers. Graphics are everywhere, from print media to web design to 3D-animations for movies and video games.</p>

4

<p>Take your required classes to graduate. Dance during your free time. Get a part time job at a dance studio and use your journalism skills to rewrite their brochures and publicity materials. Use your interviewing skills to network with dancers as you write about them (maybe do a book?).</p>