Here’s the deal. Real life, that period that starts right after you graduate from college and ends with a nice plot of land, is tough. There are a myriad of challenges waiting for you, just past graduation, including paying back the student loan debt you may be accruing during your four years of becoming an adult. You know this intellectually, you’ve probably even taken an economics class. Or a sociology class. Or a business class. You know that life is hard, and you also know that because you’re in college, and you’re not leaving without a piece of paper, you’re going to have it better than some of the folks that don’t go.
I keep reading advice for college students. The advice usually goes a little something like this:
- Major in something that will make you money!
- Don’t waste your parents’ money on college yoga!
- Focus on the ROI of a college degree!
This advice is well-intentioned, but it runs contrary to my college experience.
My Story
I was a senior in high school in 1999. This was the year that people with English degrees were getting signing bonuses and new cars at all these neat “dot coms” and I was intrigued. I was also very good at math, so when I talked to Pacific University (it’s little, you might have to Google it) and heard that for the last five years, their Computer Science department had 100% placement (this turned out to be a huge misrepresentation of the facts. Only about twenty people graduated with a CS degree in the five-year span they referred to, and yes, by 1999, they were all employed, but not in their field, necessarily. So, take statistics with a grain of sand.), I was sold. I got a good scholarship and I applied to one school.
My mind was made up. I was going to end up with a lucrative career in computer science. I’d take my core requirements, minor in politics, and focus my energy on this CS degree.
Fast forward to the spring of my junior year. Compilers. For those of you who do not have intimate knowledge of how programming works, a compiler is like the translator that turns programming language into machine language.
And it was hard. The hardest class I’d ever taken, ever. I simply didn’t understand. And what’s more, I loathed it. I was twenty years old, and I said to my roommate, “I can’t imagine doing this as a career.”
Red flag.
She took a look at the course catalog on my behalf, as well as my transcript. “Look, Kathleen, you should change majors. If you major in politics, you can still graduate in four years.”
“But,” I whined, “it’s past the add-drop deadline, and I don’t know if I will be allowed. Plus, I can pass this class — what do I need, a C-?”
She said, “it’s not about the class. This class, I think, is fairly representative of what you will do as a programmer. You hate it. You can’t major in something you hate.”
So, I spoke to the dean, he made a few phone calls, and I switched my major to politics with only a bit of catch-up work to do.
Fast Forward to Today
My career today has a lot more to do with programming than politicians, and that’s okay with me. I still don’t have to write code, although it does help that code isn’t entirely foreign to me.
My point is this: the well-meaning folks that tell you to major in business? Only listen to them if business classes are fun. Look through your course catalog. If 20th century American history sounds interesting, then by golly, take it.
You can’t change the economy, no matter how much you want to. But you can dream big. And you can follow your passion. And you can join the rest of us in real life upon graduation.
See you there.
About Kathleen
You make a good point Kathleen. I majored in Chemical Engineering, because I really liked chemistry, but I figured Chem E would be a lot more marketable than straight Chemistry. Though I realized about my junior year that I hated Chem Eng (liked chemistry, didn’t like engineering), unlike you, I stubbornly stuck with it. By the time I graduated, I knew one thing for sure: I did not want to work as a chemical engineer. So, yeah, I was highly marketable, but not doing anything I wanted to do. My solution was to go straight on to grad school and earn an MBA. In retrospect, I should have majored in chemistry–still one of my interests.
The main thing I think is to apply yourself and aim to be excellent at whatever one chooses to do. Still tough to fail if you do that.
I was a finance major and now I’m a financial expert. Funny thing is that finance has nothing to do with personal finance. More than anything I have a passion for financial literacy and changing people’s behavior be financially successful. I liked finance, but didn’t have a passion for it. However, I made the best of it and I do see how my skills that I acquired as a finance major has become more important than previously thought
I wish I would have been smarter as a kid but I only wanted to chase the money. I looked at Electrical Engineering when circuits and things of that nature didn’t interest me at all. I knew a couple of extremely successful family members that were EEs and that’s the only real reason I wanted to go in that direction.
Needless to say it didn’t pan out. Not only would I suggest kids look at the course catalog but try to intern or find a part-time summer job at a company that your major is used at. See what job paths your major leads to, learn about them, work them, and see if it fits for you.
Focusing on your passion is good, if you can get your passion and the money that is even better.
Wise words here! Totally agree with your comment, Andy.
I started chasing a degree in software testing and computer sciences, and quickly dropped that because I couldn’t imagine doing that for 40 years! Instead I went and got my Enrolled Agent license and started doing taxes, because I loved helping people with money. I am getting closer to my passion in starting a blog to help people get on a budget, save money and pay down debt.
My full time job is partly my other passion, which is technology. it has worked out well, but not something I want to do forever. Someday my side job(s) will make more than my regular job, and that’s when it’s time to leave
Kathleen, your story is so similar to mine! I was planning on majoring in computer science, but jumped to political science and economics when I figured out programming wasn’t for me. I’m glad I have that tech background though, as it has really helped!
For the first two years of college I desperately wanted to know what I was going to be when I grew up. Then I started taking business courses and never turned back. I actually did programming too, realized I hated it, but think it’s great to have a background in programming. Still, had I not taken any business classes, I may have been stuck being a psych major despite hating it, simply because I wanted to do something.
Thanks for sharing your story with us! I am 100% for go with your passion and not what major makes the most money. Years ago I started off in college as a Math majoring wanting to transfer into the engineering field because, yup you guessed it, they make a lot of money. In my sophomore year I switched out because I did not have passion for engineering. I gravitated towards finance/personal finance because that’s what I was truly passionate about. I am happy I went with my passion and not where I was going to (potentially) make the most money… I do not regret my decision til this day!
Most of the people I know who are SOL are business graduates. I agree with you; you should go for what you’re passionate about. But I don’t think that if you’re going to be an elementary school teacher you should be taking $40k out in loans every year. Because it’s going to take a huge portion of your life to pay that back. I think the right path is one of passion tread with responsibility.