For those who have gone to college... how many times did you change your major (what did you change from/settle on)? And/or how many times have you changed your profession ?
I guess I should start it off. Began as a Communication major but later switched to Administration of Justice/Criminal Justice. However, now I'm a Massage Therapist.
From the time I started college til I finally graduated (associate degree), I changed once. I started as a nursing major and changed to elementary education. However, I got an associate in arts. I am now a stay-at-home mother and wouldn't change it for anything. I might see about picking up some hobbies that would bring in money tho.... cake decorating or baking or something like that. But I love being a SAHM....even when they bug me!
I am mostly through college so not sure if this is what you were looking for. But I changed my major from English, to Elementary Education, to Digital Media. Now I'm back to Elementary Education and I think (hope) I'm here to stay.
I started with a biology major, then chemistry, but finally changed and got dual degrees in applied mathematics and software engineering.
After my first job, I went back to my current employer, where I had worked during college. Never used my degree with my current employer, an auto company. I'm in a career succession program, which involves rotations in operations, quality and procurement. I tell my son and daughter that the degree is only a launch point to what you really want to do, in many cases.
My biggest regret with college was that I let others, and the bias where I grew up keep me from pursuing other areas where I was interested, as a hobby more than a career. I could only afford college because I went on a literary scholarship, but I grew up in an area where men and writing didn't exactly mix. As soon as I could, I dropped the mandatory literature focus specified in the scholarship.
I started out as an Econ major, then switched to pre-law. Worked at a law firm for a couple of years, then went to business school for my MBA. I worked in consulting for years and then switched to a global software company, where I've been for the last 5 years.
I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, other than wealthy enough to never have to work again.
I started out as an "undecided" major, then ended up getting a BA in Business Management with a concentration in Marketing. I've had the same job since I got out of school 7 years ago, and aside from being in an office it doesn't relate to my education.
I started college during my senior year of high school, in an honors program at Boston College. The classics really seemed to elude me, I was more interested in survival at that point. lol. My father committed suicide my first semester there and I muddled through til January and transferred to my state university where at least I knew people. I stayed there thinking I would study hydrology and civil engineering but the Social Security program was cut so I joined the military, as an aeromedical technician (to avoid combat positions). While waiting for my enlistment to come up I moved to stay with a family I was spiritually bonded to as a young teen and entered part-time the college where I'm at now (that was 1982/1983). I took horseback riding and psychology, and spent a lot of time skiing. After I'd been in the military for a year, self-supporting, I was awarded a scholarship active duty, full-time. I arrived at Arizona State University and found out that I was enrolled as a BUSINESS MAJOR (omg) and computer information systems. I had a very difficult time learning financial ratios and accounting and programming. But it somehow clicked and I discovered a real knack for relational database programming as well as statistics and financial data. Fast forward to the period after Officer Training School, I took a class in personnel management, which was fun. (Based on See You At the Top, Zig Ziglar, recommended reading.) I went overseas for a couple years with a husband and had a baby, I returned to New Hampshire in 1991 and worked as a programmer and went back to school for an MBA but it wasn't that interesting so when I had an opportunity and got laid off doing mortgage programming I got a job in psych research and then went to Dartmouth to major in Health Care Policy but only because there was strong coursework in decision science, which was my main interest. I worked at the Psych Hospital doing research and doing my research work at Dartmouth at the hospital as well. The hospital was run by Dartmouth, so this worked out very well. I lived half way in between and went to school near to full time and worked half time. Then I graduated and worked at Dartmouth but at the business school, learning a lot about statistical programming and doing some heavy duty economic and financial research which was not too far off from decision science. I ended up doing consulting work from 1999-2010 in health care policy and assessment and quality improvement and then in risk management, when I incurred brain injury from hypoxia resulting from misdiagnosis of allergic reaction. Math skills severely impeded and could not program for a while. Took a year break and applied back to this college for comparative literature and writing, which I could still do, when I could not do much of anything else. Was accepted under a scholarship program and given post-9/11 GI Bill benefits from my ex husband. Went back to a research consulting client to discover she was doing of all things text analysis. Then landed a job in text analysis in the psych department here for the summer, combining full circle my love of literature and writing with my background and interest and passion for cognitive decision science. Presented at a conference recently and made a contact at the VA medical center and Dartmouth to work on a public health improvement program for a specific psych issue doing of all things text analysis. Will work under work study both Federal and Veteran's Affairs.
I think if you follow your interest and intuition your career and education path will make sense, but it will really only make sense to you. You have to trust that the right opportunity will present itself when you are ready to accept it. It helps that I'm a Quaker so not having a set plan but living by discernment is a-okay. of course I did not expect to find any job in comparative literature and writing, but I felt pulled to the major and figured that was the only thing I wanted to be doing at the time so why fight it. I did not have to go out on a limb financially and in fact my financial position has been strengthened during the past year of attending school and working in the chosen field of interest, and I'm happy as my work has meaning to me and fits in with the way I live my life apart from work. So it's seamless, I don't feel like I'm selling myself short or compromising values or interests with what I'm doing for work or for education. In a perfect world, it would be like this for everyone. I'm grateful to have health care that comes from my military service. I understand that health insurance puts constraints on people's choice of work and I wish it weren't so. Also that cost limits people's access to education choices, and I also wish that weren't so. But do try to think outside the box when making choices for you. Sometimes making the right choice from intuition and discernment is all that's needed for the logistics to truly fall into place, but it is a leap of faith and confidence.
And, just yesterday I decided I needed to deviate from the curriculum for my major in order to take advantage of a non-core/non-required English class on Language and Grammar (it's intense) in order to attain rock solid knowledge of the English language as it's used and evolved, because of my area of work. I explained to my advisor what I'd been up to with the Psychology department all summer and he agreed I needed to drop the core class and substitute it out with the other, effectively committing himself to teaching the core class to me as an independent study at some point in future so I can graduate with my declared major/s. My schedule also leaves my three weekdays entirely free of classes so that I can undertake research, which is more important to me than the coursework. My other classes are Madness in Literature and Beginning Creative Writing (in which I am assured I should have no trouble as I've already been writing a regular column for the school newspaper during my first year of studies, and some feature articles as well, and completed an Art of the Essay class my first term here.)
Anyway, when looking at coursework, consider also internships and research projects. These will open up avenues for you that mere coursework cannot.
6Likes 
Indecision... 
