Answering Your Family's Tough Questions About Your Major

By Timothy Hayes on May 23, 2015

If you’re like me, you’re back home right now. Home is where the heart is but it is also where some stress can build. For me and others, that stress is directly linked to what we are majoring in in college.

College is a great time to explore, but one does so at one’s own peril, risking thousands of dollars to spend time figuring out what you want to do when you’re there. If you’re not sure what you’re going to do though, don’t sweat it. Fifty percent of college students go in undecided and up to 75 percent will switch their major before graduating according to a 1995 study by V.N. Gordon. Those numbers have been shown to be pretty much standard. Universities however, usually have four-year tracks designed for their majors, meaning that if you don’t know what you’re going to do, there’s only so much time.

So picking a major is a time-sensitive idea, unless you want to go for five or six years. That’s becoming a reality for some students. Nursing is an increasingly long-track major and very competitive. Music majors may experience a dizzying number of classes to take. Engineers may have five years of work lined up even if they know what they want to major in going into college.

(image courtesy of www.fastweb.com)

With that in mind, many of us are hesitant to even pick a major because of the constant worry of getting the wrong one. This issue is reported throughout the U.S. as incoming freshmen increasingly see college as an important beginning to a career and as such they need to get it right. With this attitude, more and more students are hesitating to explore options outside of more traditional majors such as business, education, STEM, or medicine. Students no longer see higher education as that: education. Instead many are looking at college as a skills-based certification program.

This push is not just from students. It has been increasingly noted that pressure is on from parents and high school teachers for students to pursue these more lucrative careers. With such pressure from above, students may relent and go into a field they otherwise had no interest in. However, not all are giving into this pressure from above. Fields are still being filled, some decreasing, but nevertheless the lower categories are still being kept.

Some of us are increasingly pressed by parents, relatives, and others for our college major. As students try to muddle their way to a major, everyone seems to have a bit of advice for us. In these stressful times, it can all just be too much for some. I hope I can offer some help.

When asked “What are you going to do with that major?” be honest with the questioner. If you don’t know, tell them that. If you have a dream or ambition, tell them what that is. If you only have a general idea, let them know that too. Whatever you tell them, be honest with them and yourself.

If someone says “You know you’ll never get a job in that field,” I encourage you to prove them wrong. A lot of people I know personally love the idea of rebellion against institutions and authority. One of the ultimate ways to do this is to prove someone dead wrong. The most satisfying feeling you will ever get is going through with your plan, succeeding, and knowing that you were right; that you can make it.

When you get asked why you chose your major, be candid and open about your decision. Let them know what influenced you and why you finally decided on that major. Maybe it’s related to your career goals and dreams or maybe it’s just because you wanted a secure job field. Either way, you have the advantage of being largely in charge of your own success or failure. For as much as some people resent the “American Dream,” it is to some extent true. You make your own way.

(image from www.quickmeme.com)

I’ll offer a personal, anecdotal argument for those majors who are not considered economically viable. Currently, my brother-in-law is happily employed nowhere close to his history degree. One of my friend’s parents related to me his choice of journalism when I told him about my own and that man now works as a manager of a technology team. My own advisor has a degree in psychology, a field largely relegated to the domain of therapists in the public mind.

Each of these people has related to me a special bit of information along the way. It’s not about what you majored in, it’s about who you know and how hard you work. Success is not tied to a major. Success is not tied to an education, although it can greatly aid it.

Success is tied to tireless effort and perseverance.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format