<p>-I like to help people.
-I want to work internationally.
-I like philanthropic work.
-I like communicating with people.
-I like to analyze things (less applicable, but more philosophical)
-World issues make me angry/sad; I want to go abroad and help (as mentioned above)</p>
<hr>
<p>Now, before you say, "just drop out and go abroad," I do want to get an education. I do want to join the Peace Corp after I receive my B.A., but I kind of want to just work internationally. I'm thinking of going to grad school possibly once i'm done with my humanitarian work. I just don't know what to major in! I know it probably it doesn't matter for the peace corp, but what are good majors that suit these characteristics?? Thanks!</p>
<p>So you want to go abroad and do humanitarian work. That covers the ‘where’ and ‘how’. Let’s back up and think about the ‘what’. </p>
<p>Would you like to teach? Build bridges? Treat the sick? Help farmers with your agricultural know-how? Offer nutritional advice? Set up and maintain an IT system? Or are you more of a “big picture” person and interested in international advocacy or politics or economics? </p>
<p>The most in-demand volunteers are those with technical or professional training.</p>
<p>Hmmm, I’m mainly interested in helping sick people, finding shelters, and, I’m kind of geared towards political advocacy in corrupted areas, but I don’t really want to be a politician…if that makes any sense. I would also like to teach English, as well.</p>
<p>Edit: This might be a little irrelavent, but i’m also into researching different regions of the world and how the society is different, like the attitudes of people in that area compared to the rest, what drives people to make these decisions, how people movie around geogrpahically, how these different regions of the earth have different looking people (bone structure, etc.).</p>
<p>With these skills, I want to go abroad and learn more about it by interacting with people and helping those in need.</p>
<p>You probably want to be a sociologist, that field is pretty much everything you are interested in. You should research it and find out what specific field or field(s) you are most interested in. </p>
<p>I’m also going to suggest a psychology major, since some psychologists focus on helping people and understand people’s decisions and behaviors.</p>
<p>I agree about sociology as a major, but I would suggest minoring in a language. You want to teach English? Great, but make sure you can communicate with the people you are teaching. French and Spanish are taught at pretty much every university and are invaluable languages for travelers to know, especially if you are thinking about working in Latin America (sp) or Africa (fr).
I would also consider majoring in one or the other, as they’d be such great skills for you to have. Unless, like me, you have NO interest in that sort of study beyond being able to talk to people. Humanitarian work can require a broad set of skills and you often hear of English majors or math majors doing exactly what you want to do. I guess what I’m trying to say is, your career doesn’t depend that much on what you major in in college.</p>
<p>What about anthropology? Its the study of people of different cultures. Also many Public state school’s have summer or semester abroad programs that may interest you in a related field of study. Also if you want to teach English, some school’s have a program called TESOL. Basically, you would take like a vigorous 1 month course(longer at some institutions) to learn pedagogy, phoenetics, etc, and end up with a certificate to be able to teach English in other countries.(Most countries require you to have a bachelor’s as well, but there are some that don’t)</p>
<p>You could look into physical therapy and work in underprivileged areas of society. It would require a Bachelor’s in whatever and then 3 years of PT school. I believe the prerequisites are two years of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Human Anatomy/Physiology.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, guys! I’m kind of gearing towards English and Psychology. I just made a thread about this debating whether or not I should double major or focus on one or another.</p>
<p>For your stated interests in your initial post:</p>
<p>Consider international relations; nutrition; international agriculture; nursing; public health; social work; English (TESL); language/area studies (e.g., African Studies, Latin American Studies) and, cultural anthropology.</p>
<p>For some of the more applied fields mentioned above, programs with an international emphasis are available. For example, for nutrition and agriculture, check programs at Wisconsin, Cornell, and Tufts (grad program). For nursing, an international emphasis is available in graduate nursing programs; look at Penn, Case Western Reserve for examples. For social work and public health, an international emphasis is available in graduate programs;look at Tulane for examples. For a good example of a TESL certificate, look at Wisconsin.</p>
<p>-I like to analyze things (less applicable, but more philosophical)</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>-World issues make me angry/sad; I want to go abroad and help (as mentioned above)</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Since you are very committed to the Peace Corps, I think you’d want to look into a nonprofit organization; and non profit doesn’t mean no pay!
If you aren’t ready to live a life abroad all the time, then perhaps Public Relations. You can speak for people (as a business, government, or organization), or speak for people AT businesses, governments, and organizations.</p>