You’re at a dinner party. Just breathe. Okay, you can do this. You can get through tonight without talking about school. Keep it light. Weather…talk about the weather. Big smile. You’ve got this.
“So you’re a…Cognitive Science major, right?”
Oh, no. No no no.
I’ve found that this has been my inner monologue at the last five dinner parties my mom has conned me into going back home for (pro-tip: If you live within one hour of home like I do, whenever your mom asks you, “So how are things, honey?” we all know that means she wants you to come home. So in order to get out of it, you say, “Oh my god, I have a huge midterm next Monday!” Bonus points if you can conjure up a mental breakdown.) As the token college student at said parties, I’m inevitably the target for all career-talk. This shouldn’t be a problem, considering we go to a school that is largely pre-professional. I mean, look at how many clubs we have to help us with our career pursuits: Women’s Biomedical Society, Wharton’s Undergraduate Consulting Club, John Marshall Pre-Law Society. We’re barraged every day with information and opportunity to jump in and figure out our entire lives right now.
So how can I have such anxiety about this?
Most of those resources are for those who already know what they want to do. Some of your peers knew even before they attended NSO what they wanted to do. At the risk of sounding like a high school graduation speech, I’m here to tell you that it’s completely okay not to know. It really is. Even though I have a major I’m considering, I still have no idea where I want to go with it. Do I go to graduate school and commit myself to research? Do I go into consulting? Do I make the leap and take the MCAT? Or do I throw caution to the wind and try my hand at law? Or business?
The problem with a school that is so job-oriented is that the resources for finding out which path to pursue are buried under the avalanche of resume workshops and career workshops. But we are still a college, and I’m here to tell you that our Career Services department can work wonders[*]. When I went to the basement of McNeil the first time, the wooden chairs and motivational magazines brought me right back to my high school guidance counselor’s office, and the counselor I met with explained to me that it’s common to need help exploring the possibilities. The Career Services website has a handy Career Exploration tool that can get you started before you even leave your room. There are guides that tell you potential jobs for your particular major and quizzes to assess your work style and personality.
I’m going to stop before I start to sound like one of those 3 AM infomercials that last for 45 minutes (and that you somehow sit through because you’re just sleepy enough). But the bottom line is this: Don’t be scared if you don’t know where your life is going just yet, because it’s okay. You have people that can and want to help you succeed, and you also have time to think and make the most informed decision. So next time you’re with your Wharton friends who are all comparing the major internships they’re scoring that will feed right into the employment pool (not hating on you Whartonites out there—we’re all just secretly jealous of you), you don’t need to fake a smile and pretend you have any idea of what you’re doing. Put on a real smile and say, “I’m actually exploring my options before committing to anything,” and take a demure sip of your drink.
Everyone knows the tortoise won the race. Be the tortoise. You are the tortoise. Only much, much sexier.
*Post not sponsored by Penn Career Services, I promise!
Image credits:
http://www.sociologyinfocus.com/2012/10/22/socialization-the-advantage-of-being-a-2nd-generation-student/