When you choose your major in college, it is automatically assumed that this is what you will base your classes, internships, jobs, and ultimately the rest of your life on. That seems like a scary commitment – how are you supposed to know what you want to do forever before you’re even 20 years old? I know that I still have no idea; that’s why I went outside my major.
Here’s some background: I’m a Secondary Ed and English major with a Psych minor. Along with my writing and pre-prac, I have a social media and editorial internship, and work at Hillside. There are plenty of different jobs where I could have stuck with my major, but I wanted to spread out.
I don’t know whether it was my indecisiveness, my desire to keep trying new things, or if I wanted to prove that I could do more, but I’m glad that I chose to go outside my major. Because I’ve gone out of my comfort zone, I’ve learned so much about the aspects of the jobs, and more importantly, about my passions and myself.
Along with finding new skills, I found out more about myself. I found out that I’m surprisingly not bad at making a caramel macchiato, and that for some reason, I absolutely love reading and editing documents, no matter how tedious they are. Although I may not become a world-class barista, or become an editor for Cosmo (I wish!), these are things I will be able to do and enjoy – which I wouldn’t be able to do if I hadn’t went outside of my Secondary Ed major.
You’ll never know if you’re good at something or if you’ll like it until you try it. I’m sure you’ve heard that applied to many things throughout your life, but it applies to your life now, too! You never have to feel like you’re stuck with your major.
I challenge everybody to try one new thing this semester, whether it’s a job or internship, a class, or even a club. Good luck!
Photo Sources:
http://online.kimball.k12.mn.us/course/view.php?id=131
http://www.ptc.edu/blog/take-time-know-yourself-picking-your-career-path