Around the time of 9th grade, I pondered an age-old question: what is the point in learning this if we are never going to use it in real life? I had thought of this before, but had never gone as in-depth as I did this time. What prompted me to think more deeply about this was because someone in my class asked the question, and being the helpful student I wanted to help them. I tried to see myself in college, taking on the attitude of someone who only took classes that pertained to, what they thought at the time, their major. I realized this type of student, if not content with his choice of major in college, will struggle to stay afloat and grab ahold of the floating planks of unrecognizable majors and lost opportunities. Thus, ultimately drowning in their could-be dream jobs. I realized that majors are just titles, and without having taken classes in it previously, will be unable to distinguish it from the rest and will have a hard time choosing a major. Realizing this course is of bad undertaking, I tried to see myself in college with the attitude of someone who had broadened their horizons and came prepared with fall-back majors. This person was quickly able to locate their 3 fall-back majors, or savior planks, due to them being recognizable because of previous classes. This student, now with the hard part out of the way, will now be able to sail to calmer seas and continue their journey known as college. …show more content…
I chose a computer science class only because I thought I would be good at it since my dad does it for his job. Due to my change in beliefs, I am now taking my 3rd Computer Science class as a senior because I enjoy it so much. This opportunity that I took, has now given me closer relationship with my dad and has potentially made Computer Science my career
After having been in my first college year for a couple of months, I still had no idea what I was leaning towards for a major. Within these first couple of months I had learned that Biomedical Studies was not something that I was sure of, along with many other careers and majors that I learned about in the Compass class that were not for me. Tired of not knowing what I wanted to do, I sat myself down and did some researched. I came upon
College is a time for students to “discover what they love to do” (Source B), which may not have been what they originally thought it would be. Many students use college as a period of academic experimentation before deciding on a career path they will tend to follow for the rest of their life. Students are exposed to a majority of fields in their generals and are able to weed out what they do not like to
Another goal I had during my first year of college was to figure out my major. Being that there were many options, it also became an obstacle. Knowing that people often change their majors more than once throughout college, I decided to take various courses that were part of my GE in order to give myself time to think about potential majors. Throughout the span of those courses, I was able to learn about various majors as I met new
I have chosen to pursue a career in computer science, because it has been a heavy influence on me throughout my life. All my life I have been surrounded by technology, almost more than half of my family has a career in the IT field, which is what sparked my interest. My earliest memory of when I first became interested was when I was about 6 and my mother bought me a phonics dog, and I was more interested in how it worked rather than what it did. I then saw the screw bolts and knew if I used a screwdriver I could see the inside of the toy so I opened it, and from then on I knew I was interested in technology. In middle school was when I first took my actual dive into the IT world and I learned there are different computer languages, and about different devices used in the tech world. Also I
1. The author (Ostrander) emphasizes that students should not stress out over choosing a major. He tells us that what one majors in is less important than the overall qualities, knowledge base, and the skills that one develops. Ostrander also points out that a major is much less important than the skills that people gain by using a quote from an executive, “I look for people who take accountability, responsibility and are good team people over anything else. I can teach the technical.”
A big concern in todays’ world for graduating college students is being able to find a job right out of school. More times than not, there are many problems that occur when a student chooses a specific career path. In the short exert “Why Focusing Too Narrowly In College Could Backfire”, written by Peter Cappelli, he discusses in his opinion, as well as many others, the right path students should be taking. The lead way students should be following to secure they get a job in a field they will enjoy. Many students have trouble picking a college to go to let alone what major they want to focus on. Students are told to pick a major and start taking the classes for it as soon as possible without realizing they might not even enjoy that field of work. There are many struggles in college with picking the correct classes and
The presupposition of “Preparing for a Career” by Derek Bok indicates that vocational and liberal arts majors should merge to help students prepare for their career. Bok’s purpose is to convince the readers to treat both majors equally, whether it’s vocational or liberal arts. Bok argues that vocational and liberal arts should combine because liberal arts gives students writing, reading, presentation skills and critical thinking while vocational majors prepare students for their future career. Bok suggests that college should give students opportunities to build connections in their major, instructor should give students feedback about their work.
Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing a great inspiration to me, my mother, Stephanie Sacks, about her experience in college. She went to Evergreen State College for her baccalaureate degree. She enjoyed the vast majority of the classes she took; “All of Evergreen was sort of an extracurricular.”, she said. The one she didn’t like was a biology class. “I absolutely hated that class.”, she remembered. The room was so warm, and the lectures so boring, that she fell asleep on multiple occasions. “Thank god I didn’t go to a regular college, because I would have absolutely hated it,” She chuckled. “I hated studying things I had no interest in.” Her favorite part of college was getting to pick which classes she took, which she said, “...was
Cecilia Gaposchkin wrote an article over the movement of students who pick major that interest them more, rather than a practical job. Gaposchkin believes this opens their creativity and leads them to be a more critical thinker. I agree with her agreement, on more of a personal level since it relates to me. I chose to be a art major, for the fact of my interest and strengths. My parents on the other hand, think it’s not the best idea but i have no desire to change my major to please anyone. I’m not strong in other courses, and they do not interest me one bit so i feel the motivation is already lost. MY weakness will become my straights through my major though since i won’t be forced to improve my study skill through courses i don’t want to
“College is a balancing act” I have personally heard this quote numerous times; however, it did not forecast its complete meaning until I began college myself. High School counselors prepare you academically and allow the paperwork process to run smoothly when entering college as a freshman. Although most of these counselors work hard to help High School senior’s transition into college, I believe no amount of paperwork or aid prepares you for such change. According to this survey, career uncertainty leads to anxiety – I couldn’t agree more with the findings of this study and to me it is no surprise. It is evident that the change of majors and anxiety created by the pressure of future satisfaction of jobs remains evident present day. Personally,
When I first went to college I was seventeen years old with a knack for writing, an investment in history through story-telling, and curious about group dynamics, psychology, and sociology. When I was seventeen these weren’t the words I used to describe my interests in continuing education and because of this I remember scanning through majors that didn’t fit all my interests simultaneously. For a moment, Liberal Arts caught my eye as it gave me the freedom to explore my own identity. However, upon sharing this out loud with those in my mesosystem the underlying message of choosing this major ultimately
According to the National Center for Education, about 80 percent of the students in the United States end up changing their major at least once. In fact, I myself am part of that 80 percent. Not only did I change my major, I changed Universities in order to discover who I’am and find a suitable career for me.
Senior year in high school is the time we finally approach the first look at college applications. For many, it may be simple, for others it may not. Some of us have had our lives planned out earlier than others. others may see it as a scary lifelong decision to be made when choosing a major. One way students make their decision by planning ahead and seeing the actual potential available within a major.
Through my whole life I had always been told college was going to be hard. I kept that in mind while choosing classes. I came across women’s studies and instantly thought I knew so much about it that I could take that class and easily do well. I registered for the class and then thought about how the class really had nothing to do with my major. We were probably just going to talk about the history of the women’s rights movements and feminism. I thought about dropping the class seeing as there was really no way to apply the class to an astronomy degree. Now that we are almost done with the semester I realize that this class is interdisciplinary. It does not directly apply to my major, but it applies to my life. I have come to realize things that I have seen in the world and how much it impacts myself and the people around me. This class has had such a positive impact on my life in changing the way I think talk and act in and out of the classroom. I related my life to many topics that we covered in class. From talking about media image to sexual violence and then tying everything to larger issues, the class has covered a plethora of topics that I encounter in everyday life.
One thing that varies faster than the gasoline price may be the debate around the value of a right path for a young adult— which major guarantees a smooth access to a decent job offer. According to the article, “Not All College Majors Are Created Equal”, the author, Michelle Singletary, indicates that college degrees are not the same based on the different majors. She starts her article with a question that she asked her college students, “What’s your major?” Singletary immediately determines her student’s future by the major that the student is choosing. Later in the article, she states her opinions on how majors have played a great important role in one’s career life by using different examples and statistics. Indeed, college majors are not