For Love or Money? Thoughts on Choosing a Major.

I recently had a student email me about a dilemma she is having with her major. She is stuck between two choices: engineering or film? 

When she talked about engineering, she only mentioned money. It would make money. This would be good, right? 

When she talked about film, she went on, and on, and on about all the things she found interesting and what she'd want to pursue.

Others in her life have doubts about the reality of this path, though. She's wondering what she should choose.

It's not a new question, but when it's facing you, it can feel brand new. Do you choose a career, or a major for that matter, based on something you love or something that will help you make money?

I lean towards love. But it depends on what you love. 

Do you love money? Do you love your family (whom you might need to support with money)? Do you love yourself? Do you love a subject, a type of work? What do you love the most? What can help you pursue at least a majority of the things you love? What are you willing to give up? What are you not willing to give up? What will inspire you to do your best work?

I can't answer that for you. I know you wouldn't want me to. Only you know you, your life, your interests, your goals, and what really matters to you. 

I do want to give you permission, though, to not be ashamed or afraid of your interests. I think you should pursue them, in whatever capacity you can. It may be a major. It may be a career path. Or it may be something outside of that (when it comes to your job, there are other forces at work - an economy, time, technology, need, etc; it doesn't mean it's not possible to make what you love your job, it just means it is smart to do your research ahead of time and think openly and creatively about how you can make that a part of your life).

I did happen to choose a major because I loved it. I had a vague idea of careers it would prepare me for, but I've always chosen paths and classes based on what I was interested in - and not for just dreamy reasons. I'm actually pretty practical too: I've always realized, at least for me, that I do better and succeed more when I'm doing something I'm interested in. I just work harder. 

It doesn't mean there aren't boring things along the way. But because I know they're on the way to something I am interested in, it makes it easier to get through. 

I'm also incredibly biased here because last night I saw Dead Poets Society for the first time. In the movie, a tragedy occurs after a student's father bans him from pursuing his interest in acting. The father is so intent on his son having opportunities he didn't have, but for him that meant his son needed to go to Harvard and be a doctor. When the son stated he wanted to pursue acting, the father took him out of his prep school and was going to send him to military school in order to ensure his son would stay on the path of wealth and prestige.

The son wasn't able to tell his father how he really felt about the path he wanted to take. Instead he channeled his emotions in tragic ways, and it was heart wrenching. 

I know this is fiction, and simplistic, but it felt heart breakingly real. And then I got this email this morning from a student caught between love and money. I had to write this blog immediately.

Choose love. 

And do it wisely. For example, be careful of schools that advertise dream careers and require a lot of tuition. Do your research. The best research involves finding and talking to alumni (LinkedIn has a great tool for this). What jobs did they get? How do they like them? How did the school or major help them? Do they have any regrets? Did they think it was worth it? What advice do they have for you? 

In So Good They Can't Ignore You one of my favorite authors and bloggers Cal Newport explains why "Follow Your Passion" is bad advice. I highly recommend this book, especially for my fellow dreamers out there.

While his book is especially geared towards people who aren't sure of their interests (which is great - not everyone has to have 'a passion'), for someone with a passion or a dream or an interest that they can't ignore Cal's book serves as a great reminder of the hard work involved in becoming really good at something. Just "following" a passion without doing the work or research is the problem. Following is blind and inactive.

Instead, research your passion and its path. Work your passion. Learn your passion. Find internships. Find mentors. Get better. Seek advice from people successfully doing what you aspire to do. Practice, practice, practice. 

Ask yourself if it does fit into a major or career. If it can - awesome! But also be open to it being something else. Can you do both? (I saw a job profile on LinkedIn yesterday that said "Engineer by day, media by night." I LOVE that!) Be open to possibilities. 

In her book, Yes Please, Amy Poehler also has some great advice on this subject: "I think we should stop asking people in their twenties what they 'want to do' and start asking then what they don't want to do. Instead of asking students to 'declare their major,' we should ask students to 'list what they will do anything to avoid.'" 

I like this. I think advisors should ask this of every student before their first semester of college. A two-column list: What do you want? What do you want to avoid? How is college going to help? Why is studying for hours each week going to be worth it for you?

I've talked to countless successful community college graduates who got through it not by following a specific passion, love, or dream, but because they wanted to do everything in their power to avoid another kind of life. For one single mom it was the life of retail. For another it was a life of poverty. For me, it was a goal to avoid feeling miserable in a job.   

Don't choose a major that is going to lead you right into something you're actually desperate to avoid. Choose one that helps you avoid those things, and moves you to want to learn, grow, and excel. Choose something in line, in some way, with something you love, whatever that may be for you.

Regardless of what you choose, hard work will be required. The journey will be long. No matter what, there will be hard times. You won't always love it. But if you choose something that feels worth it to you, something that will grow you instead of crush you, you may find you have the strength to contribute something you're proud of.

Quick activity to choose your major or career

As I recently shared in a review of the outstanding career book, So Good They Can't Ignore You, you don't have to have it all figured out in college.

But when it comes to choosing your major and career, the sooner you find some kind of direction, the better. It's okay if that direction changes (it probably will) but having it will propel you towards graduation. 

The key is to choose a major and future career path that matches your talents, interests, and economic need.

So below is a quick activity you can do right now to start to explore what this might be for you. I also highly recommend talking about this with a professor, career counselor, or professional mentor as soon as you can. 

1. Take a piece of paper and draw two lines so that you have three columns. 

2. In the left column, write "things I'm good at" and then list all of your skills and talents in that column. Think of your best subjects, the things people compliment you on, your people skills, your thinking skills - everything. Keep writing, no matter how long it takes, until you fill up the column. 

3. In the far right column, write "things that bring me joy" and then fill up the column with everything that brings you joy. Don't analyze; just write. It can be hobbies, interests, things you like to do in your free time - anything. Just think about when you feel most alive and happy, and write it all down.

4. In the center column, write "something people pay for" and then see if any of the things that bring you joy in the right column match your strengths in the left. Draw connecting lines between anything that seems like it could have a match, and then write on the line where they intersect (in the center column) what kind of jobs could match that talent and interest. Be creative, and consider how your skills and interests translate into doing something people would pay for. And then consider what major(s) would qualify you for that kind of job. 

5. Keep your list and don't feel like you have to fill up the middle column right away. You may only come up with one thing, or you may feel stumped. That's okay. The process is the important part, and it's a process you should continue throughout college. Continue to edit your list, and bring it to a mentor for advice. 

If you find your skill or interest column is lacking, let that be a reminder to build more skills (e.g. studying, reading) and try new things (e.g. volunteering, clubs, or internships) so that you can build your career capital and have even more options for your future career.

Four things you can do right now to help you choose your major

The most popular question I get in my inbox is: 

I don't know what I want to do with my life. How do I choose a major? 

There is a lot you can do, but today I wanted to share the top four things I tell students who e-mail me to do right away. I hope they help you too!

1. Visit Your Career Center: Drop everything right now, go on your college's website, and search for the career center. Find out what they offer, if you need to make an appointment with a career counselor or can just walk in, and then take advantage of every single resource they offer. At my career center, I took multiple assessments and read books that helped me understand what I was good at and what kinds of careers aligned with my values and passions. I then was able to talk to a career counselor to help me figure out how all of that fit into a major. 

2. Take the Free About.com Major Assessment: These assessments are not prescriptive, but when you're feeling lost, they are a great way to get you started in any direction.

3. Take the Free Myers-Briggs Assessment: This is my favorite personality test. At my community college we learned about this in a leadership retreat and in College Success class, and the things I learned about myself still help me to this day, including guiding my work. Once you get the four-letter-code that best matches you, just Google it with words like "career" or "majors" and see what happens. You can also Google it with "celebrities" which can be kind of fun. 

4. Check Out InsideJobs.com: InsideJobs is my favorite interface for learning more about current careers (you can se the interview I did with one of their employees, Annie, here!) My favorite thing they do is organize jobs into categories like exploring jobs for "Creative Types," "Social Media Ninjas," and "Law and Order Fans." Check it out to find your favorite and explore jobs you might like!

The most important thing to consider about your major is if you love the core classes (which you take in the last two years, and can be found in the college catalog of the 4-year university where you want to attend). If you love the core classes, then you are in a good place. Keep searching until you find something you really love to learn. The rest will fall into place as you continue to work hard every day and grow your skills. 

How to Choose Your Major and Your Path

What are you majoring in? What do you want to do when you grow up? What is your five-year plan? 

Do you know the answers to these questions? 

It’s okay if you don’t. Many of my blogs have focused on reminding you that it is okay to change your mind and keep exploring who you are and what you want to do with your life. It is an adventure that can continue for the rest of your life. But there is an important piece of this puzzle I have yet to address. 

If you had asked me 5 years ago what my major was and what I was going to do with my life I wouldn’t have ever dreamed I’d be where I am today. I wouldn't have known what I was going to get my Master's degree in or what my job was going to be. 

But. And this is huge. I would have had an answer.

Was I always 100% sure of that answer? No.

Did my answer change? All the time.

Did having a direction help me get money for college, stay motivated, and enjoy college? Yes

Every day, I had some kind of goal and direction for my life based on what I knew about myself and the world at that time. As I grew older, took more classes, and became more exposed to the world I learned more about myself and what opportunities were out there and naturally my career goals changed. They still change and evolve all the time. 

But I've never moved through life without some sort of goal. And while your choice of major can certainly change from one extreme to another, you should eventually get yourself on a path that moves away from dramatic shifts in focus to simply becoming more and more refined as you learn and grow.

I just read an article this week that said choosing a path in community college leads to higher grad rates. Without even reading the article I am sure you can guess why this is true. I certainly did.  If I didn’t have a greater goal in mind (e.g. my initial goal in community college was to be an English teacher) it would have been almost impossible for me to find the motivation to get through my math classes.

Honestly, it would be hard to even wake up in the morning to go to class without knowing how it affected your life and your goals and your dreams and your direction.

I always saw the greater purpose in what I was doing every single day. It kept me focused. It kept me motivated. It kept me in college. 

So while you don’t need to define your entire life's future today, you do need to start building your path.

That path may twist and turn and take you through places you could have never dreamed. But you’ll never be able to experience that adventure if you don’t pick a direction. You can’t just stand in the middle of the woods hoping someone will show you the way.

So how do you start picking a direction if you have no idea? There are many ways you can start exploring options and making decisions. Below are the ones that worked best for me:

1. Go to your career center and take every career assessment they have.

2. Pay attention to the careers that match your personality and interest you.

3. Find someone who majored in that subject or works in that industry and ask them what they like about their job, what they don’t like about their job, what type of person is most successful in that job, and what advice they have for you.

4. Rinse and repeat for any career/major that you find interesting.

5. Talk to a lot of trusted mentors and friends about what you’ve learned and about what careers/majors you’re considering. Get their feedback.

6. Research your major possibilities online. “Jobs for major X” or  “majors for career X” or “Jobs for personality X.”

7. If you're still unsure, consider choosing a general major (e.g. When I transferred to community college I still wasn't 100% sure what job I wanted, so I chose communications because I loved people, loved studying how we communicate, and loved the course descriptions.

And I knew the major would transfer into many different careers as I talked to a lot of people with different jobs I liked and they all had majored in communications). If you're deeply unsure do not choose a major that translates into a very specific industry (e.g. medicine). 

8. Choose a direction. Choose a major. Pick one.

9. Find the educational plan in the catalog/website of the university you want to transfer to after you finish community college. Print it out and make an appointment with an educational advisor at your community college. Compare the educational plan with your current course schedule plan at community college and ensure you’re on track.

10. Never stop exploring, researching, and staying on top of your path and direction. This should be fun. If it isn’t fun to continue to explore your future, then restart at the beginning and find a direction that you find invigorating, exciting, and that moves you to want to contribute to the world in your own unique way.

I have a vlog/blog on USA Today College!

Today I had a special vlog/blog posted on the front page of USA Today College! Thanks to Patrick Foster for working with me to make this happen and to everyone who has shared the link. It means so much to me! :)

http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/blog/did-you-pick-the-right-major