Life Lessons Courtesy of College - 8

First Is the Worst, Second is {Sometimes} the Best

The hardest part about growing up and going through college is knowing that at the end of those 4 years you need to find a job. No one tells you how nor do they tell you what to write down as your major. For me, I went through at least 5 things I wanted as my major starting with Biomedical Engineering followed by General Business, Marketing Analytics, Sports Marketing, and now I landed into essentially a consulting role in the auto industry. My choices in what I wanted to do varied vastly during my late high school and entire college career. Many people put too much stress onto finding and picking a major that they feel will be "the one" for them. Well, let me tell you that rarely is there ever a "one" major for anyone. 

Going through sorority recruitment, I often talked to young freshmen girls who were either "I am majoring in pre-med" (which isn't a real thing) or those who were like me when I came to college and had no idea what they wanted to do. For those who struggle in choosing something, my sage wisdom is here to help:

1. Never be afraid to try something new - explore a class as an elective first to decide if you like that and branch out from there 

2. Don't choose something because you feel it will make you a lot of money - while money is great and all, you don't want to be one of those people in their early 30s who detest what they do

3. Keep in mind the hiring rate for your major of choice - unless you're someone who is fine with staying in your parents' basement for years make sure you can actually get a job with the major you choose

4. Don't be afraid to switch majors - I had friends who switched a handful of times and are happier now with their major than before. Just be careful with credit hours and be aware of if you are going to need to stay longer and take extra classes

Never in a million years did I imagine I'd end up where I am in terms of employment after graduation yet I absolutely love what I will be doing. For those that struggled or are currently struggling, just know you are not the only one. There is a major and job out there for everyone!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life Lessons Courtesy of College - 5

Create Your Own Opportunities Being in college comes with the ultimate goal of finding a job. Most people, like me, also need to land an internship opportunity during their college career in order to achieve their coveted full time job opportunity upon graduation. One tough lesson to learn with all of this stress looming over my head was that these jobs were not the type where you can simply apply online and attach a tiny resume and hear a call back that you got the job like it was when I got my first few part time jobs in high school. No, these jobs required effort, a padded resume, and the art of networking. When I had first begun applying for internships the summer before my junior year, I was not the least bit of a "young professional". I had no clue what I was doing. I applied like crazy to jobs I found through the UGA Career Center website, LinkedIn, and all of the other job websites that existed. I spammed employers with my {barely there} resume in the hope th...
Read more

Life Lessons Courtesy of College

Image
I'd be lying if I said I went into college and didn't think I had everything figured out, but then again what 18 year old doesn't? Fresh out of high school and now "on your own" (despite still being financially dependent on your parents) gives you a rush of independence like no other. No longer do you have a midnight curfew- you get to stay out however long you want! But after these past 3 years I learned that I couldn't have been more wrong in my mindset. I was utterly and completely clueless when it came to living in the adult world. Growing up and learning important life lessons certainly isn't easy and not always a welcomed venture yet once you accept that you do not in fact know everything about everything and open your mind up to learning new things you realize the world isn't as scary of a place as it once seemed. Over the next few months I will enlighten you on some of the few lessons college taught me from the Freshman 15 to the unknown str...
Read more

Life Lessons Courtesy of College - 7

Money Matters When leaving for college, the first thing you think of is the fact that you are now a full-blown “adult” regardless of how untrue that really is. A hard lesson learned when I became an independent adult was the true value of budgeting. In high school, the money I earned didn’t go into a savings account but rather straight to whatever outfit I wanted or activity I wanted to attend. I never learned the true value of saving my money for a rainy day because I never envisioned that rainy day to ever actually happen. My parents have always instilled a sense of responsibility to my siblings and me, especially when it came to paying for things that were not priorities. Thus, when I made the decision to join a sorority it became my financial responsibility to pay for the hefty dues that came along with it. Sadly, after frivolously spending my money in high school I had close to no money in the bank. I quickly came to understand what it felt to actually be a poor college s...
Read more