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College Majors Should Reflect One's True Passion

Kathryn van Handroff |
February 20, 2013 | 11:23 p.m. PST

Contributor
College can be the ultimate time for both exploring new experiences and making decisions, presenting to students the critical, pressure-laden choice of a major.
Financial success is not worth the sacrifice of personal happiness. (Paul Lowry, Creative Commons)
Financial success is not worth the sacrifice of personal happiness. (Paul Lowry, Creative Commons)
While some students pursue majors that they are genuinely passionate about, many other students pick their major(s) in the hopes of guaranteeing themselves the most financially stable career. While financial assurance may seem a sound reason to choose a college major or professional field, it is not wholly so; if one surrenders prospective happiness by forgoing a specific major for the supposedly greater contentment brought about by financial success, one loses sight of what is truly important.
In light of a 7.9% unemployment rate, the United States is witnessing a reassessment of major choice by countless university students that prioritizes financial viability. Depending on who is asked and at what time in their lives they are asked, people will respond differently to the idea that one major is the “best”. College majors do not always translate into profitable future employment opportunities, despite what is communicated in the news, from the government and on college campuses nationwide.
In a 2011 U.S. News article, college officials were reported as saying:
...students who don't follow their hearts by delving into subjects they're most passionate about will ultimately hurt their chances of a successful—and satisfying—career in the long term.
However, even this article promises to reveal the best ways to go about choosing the “right” college major. I urge people—including students, their parents, their grandparents, elected officials and countless others—to redefine their ideas of “right” and wrong college majors, as well as future careers.
It all boils down to a simple truth: what is right and what is wrong depends entirely upon the perspective of the person. In this case, it is the student’s perspective that matters. If a student understands the effects his or her selected major will have on the outcome of his or her life, and on the lives of others, then it is up to the student—through the acquisition of knowledge—to learn what it is he or she is most passionate about pursuing as a career. From this information will come the “best” major for them, even if others deem such a major inadequate. Labeling another’s choice as anything less than optimal for that person is a choice in and of itself—and it can be a poor one.
By choosing a university major solely for the purpose of economic security, one deprives oneself the experiences a truly beloved major and future vocation can bring. Such people will be deprived of countless occasions to influence others, in turn squashing their potential to learn and grow from those they could impact. This sacrifice can result in a lifetime of regret, oozing into other aspects of life and becoming mental or even physical discontentment that no amount of money can assuage.
Echoing the biblical verse Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” the Grammy-award winning band Mumford & Sons penned one of their most powerful lines. “Where you invest your love, you invest your life”, in their 2009 song “Awake My Soul.”This historic as well as new-found insight into personal contentment in human life is both potent and relatable.
Regardless of whether or not one believes in the validity of either statement, these quotes are famous for a reason; I advise readers to ponder these messages. Because, in the end, people’s choices are theirs to make and college majors are just another facet of the interwoven fabric of decisions one makes in adulthood, for better or for worse. Wherever we direct our efforts, there will be our treasures and our hearts, our loves and our lives. Our occupations will inevitably constitute a large part of these lives, profoundly shaping what we value most in this world, individually and as a people.
Reach Contributor Kathryn van Handroff here.


 

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