<p>This is going to be pretty long, but I want to explain as thoroughly as I can.
So, I'm a student at the University of Minnesota. I started out in CLA (The College of Liberal Arts), because I didn't really know what I wanted to do. At the beginning of college, I was interested in all of these fields (and still am):</p>
<p>English
Psychology
Elementary Education
Film Studies
Biology
Spanish
Economics
Marketing
Management Information Systems (MIS)
Finance
Public and Nonprofit Management</p>
<p>Sometime during the end of my first year, I decided I wanted to go into the business school (CSOM). This was based on countless hours of research into different majors, different careers, people's perspective on different degrees, employment statistics, articles about the best jobs, etc.</p>
<p>I decided going there that I'd want to major in one of the business degrees I posted above for these reasons:</p>
<p>Marketing: I love psychology but I want something more practical for finding work. I took an intro to marketing course and really enjoyed it. I'm good with people and data.</p>
<p>Management Information Systems: I'm really good with technology and I find it interesting. I like keeping up to date on the newest and greatest things. I'm good at helping other people understand technology. I don't want to work in programming though; I know that.</p>
<p>Finance: I'm really good with numbers. I'm a very logical and analytical person. I've always strongly enjoyed mathematics prior to calculus 2. I enjoy following stocks and do fairly well with them in a simulation game I play. Within finance, I think I'd enjoy a financial adviser/planner position the most, as I enjoy helping people.</p>
<p>Public and Nonprofit Management: This is actually a dual degree, so I'd have to do it with something else. There are numerous nonprofits that I support and I'd love to be working for a greater cause. (and again, I enjoy helping people)</p>
<p>Anyways, I applied to CSOM. I didn't get in. To keep it short, I worked my ass of the following year, got my GPA up from a 3.5 to a 3.8, and was accepted.
I'm currently a junior in CSOM and now once again I'm wondering if I'm doing the right thing. Should I be in business school? Am I majoring in the right thing?</p>
<p>I succeed in almost all my classes at CSOM. I've gotten a perfect 4.0 the past two semesters, which was largely made up of business classes. One of the people I know in the career center there believes I will be excellent in almost any company. One of my statistics professors told me I did the best in his class (around a 98.5%) out of any student he's ever had in 15 years of teaching and offered me a full-time job at his company as a Business Analyst. Many good companies have reached out to me about their internships, saying I'd be a great fit.</p>
<p>So, I'm doing well in the school. That's not the issue though. The issue is just me thinking is this right? Is it what I want? What if I make the wrong choice? Should I have gone into Elementary Education instead? (my back-up plan if I didn't get in)</p>
<p>Looking at the other courses in my potential majors at CSOM, most sound interesting to me, but it's hard to know until I take them. Based on my research, a lot of jobs in my fields sound like I'd enjoy them, but again, it's hard to know until I work there.</p>
<p>Honestly, I've done so much research, it's been like a full time job. I've even complied a lot of what I've read into word documents and powerpoints for my own reference. I've taken multiple personality tests which all say the same thing typically: education and business are good fields for me. I spoke with a career coach who advised me based on everything to go into business now and then use my success down the road to pursue another degree and enter education if I still want to.</p>
<p>I just wish there was a clear way to know if I made the right decision. Like with your schoolwork for example. I mean, I know you won't love every class in your major and won't love every assignment right? But I wish it was that easy. Where it was you loved going to class every single day and loved doing your homework every single day if you were in the right field. Then I could know for sure.</p>
<p>Even the jobs I've had haven't pushed me definitively in any direction. I worked at an insurance company, which was okay, but it was mostly grunt work so I can't really base anything off of it. It did help me decide that I don't want to work in insurance specifically.</p>
<p>I worked in education in multiple areas: a math teacher to adults seeking their GEDs, a teaching assistant at an elementary school for 4 5th grade teachers, and a children's summer program.</p>
<p>Working with adults was enjoyable in that I loved seeing the spark go off in there eyes when they understood something and I felt really accomplished after hearing most of my students passed the test. It was pretty frustrating working with my students who didn't care though. Still, I enjoyed this job, as I felt like I really made a significant difference in some peoples' lives.</p>
<p>Working as a teaching assistant for 5th graders was fun in that it was lighthearted and little kids are fun to be around. On the other hand, there's an incredible amount of paperwork involved (way more than I expected) and I miss having intellectual conversations with others...5th graders aren't great for that. It also sometimes tired me out just working with the kids.</p>
<p>Lastly, in terms of teaching summer classes, it varied greatly how much I liked it. I taught Debate and Typing, both of which were fairly boring. I taught Garage Band, which I hated because I wasn't interested in the software or area and most of my students weren't either. I taught a gym class, which was pretty fun. The one thing I truly loved and looked forward to every day was teaching a cooking class. It was called Top Chef, and was basically like that show but with kids grades K-4. I like cooking and I love those shows, so I loved this class. The kids were super into it too. It was just great. So yeah, if I could find a full-time job teaching cooking competition classes to kids that paid well enough for me to get by, I think I'd do that.</p>
<p>Still, like I said, I don't know. As far as I can tell, there's no clear answer to be found. Research and data tell me I'm doing the right thing, but I'm unsure.</p>
<p>So please, any advice you can offer would help. I don't know what to do. I'm kind of freaking out, especially because if I did make the wrong choice, and I end up wanting to switch majors, I probably won't graduate in four years which messes everything up (finances, being here with my friends who I live with, etc.).</p>