“What do you want to do for the rest of your life?” This common question is always popping up around campus, and it is usually the follow up question to “what is your major?”
These questions are often answered with something like, “business major with a minor in economics, and hopefully that will get me a good-paying job after college,” or something entirely different, such as, “art major with a minor in philosophy… I’ll be going to work as an interior designer.”
Are those taking business and economics classes doing this just to get a high paying job, or do they truly love what they do?
Are the art majors taking these classes because they are extremely passionate about their artwork, even though they know that they may likely struggle to secure a job after college?
Either way, we all choose our majors for a multitude of different reasons.
One good reason for choosing a major is money. Everyone worries about money, and choosing a major that would score you a high paying job right off the bat is ideal for being financially successful, but is it necessarily the right thing to do?
If you choose a major that will land you swimming in cash, you might be able to buy a ridiculous amount of cool stuff, but will you be happy?
And is choosing a major that allows you to only explore your passions a good idea? How many artists out there actually make it big and get discovered?
Unfortunately, few art majors will end up hanging their paintings in the Guggenheim. But how does one go about sacrificing his or her passions for cash, and vice versa?
As college students, we often don’t think about our futures further than the paper that’s due tomorrow.
We often procrastinate to the point of writing a 10-page paper the night before it’s due.
Thinking about our future beyond college can be a stretch, but it is something we all worry about. We’ve all heard our parents or friends talk about how difficult the job market is right now. Naturally, this stresses us out.
For those who are taking the business classes, they can easily shrug this remark off. But for those of us who choose majors that will not land us a secured job after college, this remark worries us.
It sends our brains spinning in different directions. We even begin to doubt ourselves, wondering if we even chose the right major.
However, I believe that those of us who choose our majors because we are passionate about them, regardless of the money that we will or will not make, will end up content and successful in life.
We’ll get the opportunity to love what we do, day in and day out.
While we might not be rolling in cash, we’ll certainly live in a loving, positive environment.
And even though we may struggle at times, such as when we have to pay our mortgages or begin to raise families, we’ll always be happy knowing that we chose to spend our lives loving every single moment that we spend at work.
After all, what if Beethoven had chosen to focus on mathematics instead of music?
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Alyssa Carano/Senior photographer
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