<p>I had someone ask me why i chose my major when it wasn't "marketable" and that you should only go to college to "market" yourself.</p>
<p>I choose my major because i was good at it and that i enjoyed it. I could not even imagin myself doing a major that i did not enjoy. Likewise, I would rather do something i enjoy, and be paid less, than doing something i did not like.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>Depends on the major. Sometimes you have to focus the enjoyable major so it is also marketable. There’s no reason it can’t be both.</p>
<p>For some folks…it’s about the money. For others it is about the love of what they are doing. </p>
<p>It can be both, but I have to say…if you hate what you are doing, you won’t be able to market yourself for any price.</p>
<p>It has to be enjoyable. If it is marketable but you are miserable there is no point in it.</p>
<p>Your future is alive in Portland.</p>
<p>[‘Portlandia’:</a> New IFC Comedy An Ode To The 90s (VIDEO)](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>'Portlandia': New IFC Comedy An Ode To The 90s (VIDEO) | HuffPost Entertainment)</p>
<p>[Rocks</a> shatter windows ahead of ‘F29’ march | Business | KATU.com - Portland News, Sports, Traffic Weather and Breaking News - Portland, Oregon](<a href=“http://www.katu.com/news/business/140864923.html]Rocks”>http://www.katu.com/news/business/140864923.html)</p>
<p>^ Barrons, what does that have to do with the OP?</p>
<p>Some people are clawing their way out of poverty and using college to get a higher paying job and some social mobility.</p>
<p>^^ Which they’ll likely enjoy once they get there. Sometimes enjoyment is about the whole package - not just the particular job. Most majors have multiple career paths they can head down and even once heading down that path can adjust the direction and head in different areas. What they might have enjoyed at one time they might not another time. </p>
<p>Even if someone enjoys the actions of their job they may well end up dissatisfied and eventually bitter about it if they don’t earn enough in that career.</p>
<p>This isn’t black or white, it’s not enjoyable vs marketable - it’s about reaching a reasonable compromise where the job isn’t drudgery and ideally is enjoyable but also doesn’t pay dismally and ideally pays well.</p>
<p>I think it’d be short-sighted to ignore either of these attributes when choosing a path - enjoyable, marketable (financially reasonable).</p>
<p>If you watch the show one line is that Portland is where young people go to retire. Jobs are optional so major does not matter. Work odd jobs and chill is the lifestyle. Think about it or watch the show. You’ll get it. </p>
<p>[“Portland</a> is a city where young people go to retire”](<a href=“http://despairfaction.com/showthread.php?139977-quot-Portland-is-a-city-where-young-people-go-to-retire-quot]"Portland”>http://despairfaction.com/showthread.php?139977-quot-Portland-is-a-city-where-young-people-go-to-retire-quot)</p>
<p>Can anyone give me a reason how computer science and electrical engineering are not enjoyable? They are hard, but nothing keeps it from being enjoyable.</p>
<p>^^^
davidthefat:</p>
<p>I know that I took exactly 1 computer programming course and it bored and frustrated me beyond all belief…not because it was “hard”, but because I found it incredibly tedious. My DH has a degree in EE and while he found it fascinating, I would have hated it. OTOH, he would have been pretty bored by the journalism classes I took.</p>
<p>Different people have different interests and enjoy different things. Why is that hard to understand?</p>
<p>
I find it very enjoyable and have made a great career out of it but some people would hate it and others simply wouldn’t be able to do it since their minds don’t work that way.</p>
<p>I’d hate being a magazine or news writer but some people love that.</p>
<p>I’d hate being a politician but some people love that.</p>
<p>I’m sure you can come up with a list of careers that you think you’d find enjoyable, I can think of many I think I’d enjoy, but chances are very good that someone else’s list will be quite different if you sample a variety of people. </p>
<p>It comes down the the highly technical term of: ‘different strokes for different folks’.</p>
<p>My son likes computer science and he majored in it. But while in college, he took some philosophy courses and discovered that he liked that even better. He realized, though, that philosophy is not marketable. With some reluctance, he stayed in the computer science major and merely minored in philosophy. </p>
<p>Part of me wishes this had not been necessary, even though he now has a good IT job.</p>
<p>Barrons, the rental vacancy rate in PDX is 3.4%. Combine that with rent hikes & a very competitive job market & Portland is hardly hipster utopia.</p>
<p>Students who like a major will endure it better. That’s particularily important in grueling STEM curriculums.</p>
<p>When I was in my pre-teen years my dad and mom expressed to me that if possible you should strive to have a career that you love because you spend too much of your life at it for vacations and retirement to make up for it. Love what you do!!</p>
<p>My dad graduated from the CG Academy, was in the CG for 23 years, and has masters degrees in optical engineering and business. My mom has an undergraduate degree in French, and masters and doctoral degrees in music. Both were the first in their immediate families to complete college as second generation Americans. Both continue to work in their chosen fields and are close to 70. I ask them when they will retire and they say, “when I am no longer excited and inspired by what I do…” My dad has “tried” to retire 3 times, was bored and went back to work both teaching at the college level and working part time at an industry in his field.</p>
<p>I have an undergraduate degree in Musical Theatre and a masters degree in Directing. I currently teach full-time at the college level and freelance as a theatre director when I can fit it in. I love what I do! When I was in my 20s and early 30s I was freelancing in my field as a performer, director, teacher and sometimes supplemented my income with additional employment. I never regretted what I was doing as human being and as an artist. who doesn’t want more money, but I was able to support myself and doing what I loved was a part of that, so I was thrilled! With a full time teaching position I am now more financially comfortable, which is great, but in all stages of my career I have been fulfilled and able to support myself at a sustainable level… never was I rolling in dough. </p>
<p>Everyone has to decide the life they want to live and how money will play into that life. Life always throws us curve balls, and as individuals we need to assess with our loved ones what is the best path to follow at that time. No one can judge the choices of another. What is a happy life for one could be dissatisfying for another. </p>
<p>College has gotten more and more expensive and the economy is unstable. Everyone needs to make the choices that are best for themselves and their families. </p>
<p>I was an arts major in both undergrad and graduate school. I currently teach arts majors. Many of my friends from school and former students still work in the arts others have moved on to other fields of employment but use their arts background in their jobs and/ or are arts lovers/ possibly more creative thinkers because of their education.</p>
<p>I know college is expensive, but there are many options. A life lived pursuing and developing passions is not wasted. In my experience, there is a way to turn those passions into money earning jobs. However, those opportunities may not be following a straight and narrow path. Some will be more comfortable with this that others. When possible, one should pursue the path that they think will lead them to the life they would most like to lead. This may not always be possible… but may be someday. :)</p>
<p>Oh my, it’s not the major that is “marketable” it’s the person. The best way to pick a major is to find something you enjoy and are good at. By the way DavidtheFat I would absolutely hate engineering in any way, shape or form and I would be an abject failure if that had been my college major. Like GladDad says…different strokes for different folks.</p>
<p>As someone who chose the more marketable (at the time) field, I am going to say – choose what you love! 25 years ago, when I entered college, I went with the more marketable choice. After graduation, I worked a few years, had my children, took some time off to be a full-time mom… And, lo and behold, my field has changed. I would have to go back to school, get my master’s degree, in order to continue in my chosen profession.</p>
<p>If I had it all to do over again…I would have gone with my passions, rather than what I (and my family) felt would be the more “reliable” career. You live…you learn… If you choose what you love…you will never work a day in your life…</p>
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<p>This is the truth. As I look at people who have had successful careers, or young people who, against all odds, have gotten jobs, I see individuals with excellent interpersonal and communication skills and great work ethic who can sell themselves to a variety of employers in a variety of work settings. They are able to explain how they bring value to the employer. The apathetic, the bored, the lazy, the entitled and the unconfident don’t get hired no matter what their major is (or is not).</p>