If you want to gamble, don’t do it at college.
Tuition and student debt are rising. For the coming generation of high school graduates, a college education almost looks like a gamble. They find themselves asking if a degree is really worth the cost. There’s a ton written about how to choose your major so that you don’t mess up and can’t pay back your loans. I asked myself why colleges even exist.
Here’s my two cents summed up in three words: skills, understanding, and networking.
First things first: garbage in, garbage out. I don’t care what your major is. If you don’t put in the time and work hard, then you may as well play your luck on the slot machines. Lazy students don’t suddenly become productive employees.
Instead of trying to decide what to major in, think about what your goals are and then look for skills, understanding, and a network to help you reach your goals. Here’s what I mean:
Skills
Nun-chuck skills, computer hacking skills, etc. I mean skills for practical reality. Usually, this is what employers say they want: things like critical thinking, problem solving, clear communication, and working well with people. However, these “skills” are too vague and abstract. Instead, find a specific skill you want to develop based on your goals. It should be specific enough for you to say “I can do [specific skill at some level of quality] in [x amount of time]” and then prove it.
Do you want to become a journalist? You need to be able to pump out a well-written article in a very short time. Practice. As soon as you hear a story about something, quickly find a place to sit down and write that story into an article in 15 minutes. Your first one is probably going to be crap, but have it reviewed by someone anyway. You’ll learn from that experience and get better. This was not an assignment as part of your journalism major — you did it on your own. Eventually, you can say “I can write a well-written, one-page news article in 15 minutes. Oh, and by the way, here are some examples of my work.” BOOM! Skills.
Some disciplines can help you develop skills. Some examples are English language for good writing, Engineering for building and making stuff, Computer Science for coding/programming, Culinary Arts for cooking, Fine Art for painting, Cosmetology for hair-cutting, etc. These majors typically focus a lot on practice and doing stuff. Just remember, not all skills are in equal demand; there is much higher demand for people who can code than for people who can paint, for example. Take that into account.
Understanding
These are the theorists. The thinkers. The specialists in the ivory towers. A solid understanding of theory prevents you from making the serious mistakes that come from flawed thinking. No understanding = bad decisions. A classic example is the elephant in the room — Math. Ever heard of statistics being misused? or how about the Tacoma Narrows Bridge? On a more positive note, we now have cars, smart phones, computers, vaccines, and even plastic toothbrushes all because somebody wanted to understand what was going on.
Gaining this understanding requires a lot of reading and studying. Look at your goals and choose a topic that you need to understand a lot about. Maybe you want to be a nurse. Then go find some books about anatomy and physiology. When someone gets sick and is coughing up phlegm, explain what’s going on inside their body in a way they can understand. You’ll smile knowing that, behind the scenes, the goblet cells in their pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium (in their thoracic cavity of course) are overproducing mucus. They don’t need to know that. But you do. That’s understanding.
Certain disciplines emphasize understanding more than others. Some examples are math and statistics, English literature, philosophy, art history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, economics, anatomy, biology… pretty much all the humanities and sciences. Remember that understanding has a hard time selling itself. Reach out and get some skills to supplement your understanding. Then find others like you and make some friends.
Networking
These are the groupies. Your go-to advice people. The people making friends in high places. In many professions, it’s all about who you know. The people you associate with are the ones that can help you get the skills and understanding necessary to accomplish your goals. A network of people will help you learn and find success throughout your life.
Getting outside yourself can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. Want to be a user experience designer? Go join the user experience club on campus where they have pizza almost every week. You can get to know people in a casual, non-grade threatening way. Make some friends there and try working on a project with them. Maybe it won’t be super cool, but hey, you did it together. Or maybe one of your friend’s coworkers saw your work and knew someone who needed a UX designer. You get a phone call from a company that wants to interview you. It goes well and they offer you a decent job when you graduate. Ta-da! All because you knew someone who knew someone who knew someone else who…
Some disciplines provide a great environment to meet people and build a network. Some examples are business management (duh), drama, poetry and creative writing, sales and marketing, and financial advising. Success in these fields is strongly tied to the success of those you know. But don’t forget: you can’t bank everything on a network. You might get lucky but don’t count on it (I’m talking to you, business majors). Hedge your bets by developing some skills and understanding.
Conclusion
When I got to college, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had my goals, each of which fell into three categories: help people, teach people, and learn a language. Still, I ended up changing my major six times (Biotechnology, Anthropology, Middle East Studies/Arabic, Psychology, Economics, Applied and Computational Mathematics, but who’s keeping track?). It wasn’t my major I was looking for. It was the right environment.
When trying to figure out the whole college thing, including what to major in, make some serious life goals. Whatever you decide, just make sure you give yourself a full education. College won’t hand everything to you on a silver platter; it’s up to you to work hard and figure it out.