Here is another post by our friend Jane Park. Jane is a recent college grad, and has some great insight/humor on the subject of whether or not your undergraduate major matters. Enjoy the post!
There’s no time that flies by like college. Running on 10 hours of sleep and juggling missed classes with work, friends, family, and fun makes it seem like having only 24 hours in single day is an injustice of its own.
On top of that, the majority of all undergraduate students enter college with an “undeclared” major, and the rest switch their majors two to three times before they find a subject that they genuinely want to pursue. There’s a fear of commitment and uncertainty about the future, because the question that follows “What’s your major?” is always: “So what do you want to do with that?”
I was an English major, and there were many late nights where I asked myself the very question everybody else was thinking: What the hell are you going to do with an English major? It was hard to believe the people who assured me that my major didn’t matter when everybody else was cocking their eyebrows and looking doubtfully at my unpromising future.
During sophomore year, a professor told our class: “Your major doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is your GPA and your personality.” I was filled with a false sense of hope that I could do anything with my life – all I had to do was simply study what I enjoyed in the meantime. But when it came down to trying to decide on a career, I realized that this major can only open so many doors. Most internships and job descriptions I read prefer or require a certain major related to that field. So if I don’t want to be a lawyer or a teacher?
Motivated by my first (of several) quarter life crisis, I searched for internships that could boost my resume; if my major wasn’t going to help me, I needed to at least have other work experiences besides tutoring kids. I found an internship for Human Resources at a post-production company that preferred students with a major in Business Administration, Communications, or a “related field.” I applied.
To my surprise, I landed an interview. In preparation for this day, I remembered what my professor had said two years before: GPA and Personality. I made sure to keep a steady GPA ever since then, and went to the UCLA Career Center to do a mock interview. The greatest thing I walked away with from this session was to know my resume, and to simply know myself.
What followed was what seemed like a 2-hour long interrogation, except it really did last 2 hours. The lead manager asked me why, in spite of my major, I wanted an internship in Human Resources. He repeated the same questions, kept confirming my experiences and future plans, and called in four other department heads to ask me further questions. I knew that my major was fueling their doubts about not only my career goals, but my potential success in the business world.
After several more questions, approving nods, and clammy handshakes, I got the internship – not because I was totally confident, but because I did some soul searching. I got to know myself beforehand, which helped me answer the questions more naturally and honestly than any “mock interview” could ever do. Being comfortable in my own skin also helped me get to know my interviewees on a more personal level. By the end, we were all too attached to say goodbye!
At my graduation ceremony, our guest speaker was a Bruin Alumni who received a degree in English ten years ago. I will never forget something he said that day: “Whoever says ‘do what you love and money will follow’ is lying. This saying should be changed to: ‘Do what you love, and enjoyment will follow. As for the money…you’re gonna have to find some other way.’” Today, he’s a financial advisor.
Am I saying that you should trash your dreams and major in something you’ll totally be miserable in? Definitely not. Despite the fact that majoring in the liberal arts or social sciences may not make you the strongest candidate in the professional world, I think people should still study what they enjoy. Learning what you are passionate about will help you maintain good grades and to be a happier person throughout your college years. So even if you’re not studying economic theory, bioengineering, or medicine, you can still explore other fields through working, internships, or by picking up a minor.
PS: You can also have a one up during cocktail parties, when an intellectual or professor approaches you to discuss Marxist theory or Milton’s poetry. Smile, nod, and enjoy your drink. Just don’t be like Sherwood Anderson, who died by accidentally swallowing a piece of toothpick lodged inside an olive in his martini. Good thing I hate olives.
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I agree that your undergrad major doesn’t define your career. I was International Business & Economics major and although I enjoyed it and make use of it, I now wish I had majored in something I was more passionate about like Art History or Philosophy. College should be about exploring your interests and learning more about yourself. It’s a great time to take risks. You can always buckle down in your mid/late twenties and focus on your chosen area of expertise at work and/or grad school.
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