Major decision

In My Humble Opinion
1

Ok, I’m in college and I have not decided what I want to do with myself. I’m getting ready to start my sophomore year and I’ve already changed majors three times.

I love to write, I hope to someday be a writer.

I love to draw, I hope to one day be a a cartoonist.

I love to play music, I hope to be a rock star.

I want to see the world. I want nothing more than to experience everything in the world. Not to be a tourist, but to actually emmerse myself in other cultures and to see what other lands are like. I recently read the book by Mike Tidwell In the Mountains of Heaven , and it just solidified my desire to do that for the rest of my life.

I digress, I was just wondering if anyone out there had any suggestions as to what the hell I could do now in college in order to allow myself to live that life.

I will NOT sit behind a desk for the rest of my life!

Thanks

2

I hear you can see a lot of the world if you join the military.

3

Hell, I graduated from college back in 1996 and I STILL don’t know what the hell I want to do with myself.

4

I totally admire your instinctive decision to avoid the Dilbert life and immerse yourself in the world. You need good, portable skills such that more or less anywhere in the world (within reason) you can earn at least enough to keep yourself fed, watered and sheltered.

Some suggestions…

Nursing skills. In demand all over the world. Good qualifications are usually transferable from one part of the world to another, and there is a well-established infrastructure of agencies which will help you find a placement for temp work more or less anywhere you happen to find yourself. And some it’s not badly paid either.

Travel writing, photography and ethnography. Okay, so it’s a tough market in which to make a name for yourself, but you’re young, fresh, ambitious. Time is on your side. If you can make a bit of a name for yourself, you can roam the world as you wish and generate enough material from your travels to write travel books or photo books and actually live off the proceeds. You start by doing this while beng paid very little or nothing, surviving on your wits and charm(?!), and submitting pieces to every editor in the world until someone likes your stuff enough to actually pay you a bit for it. Then it’s down to networking, contacts, experience and you gradually make a name for yourself.

Haircutting / hairdressing. Anywhere in the world, people need their hair cut. Anywhere in the world, you can put up a cardboard sign saying “Cheap haircuts! 2 dollars!” and probably earn enough to live for that day.

Learn hypnotherapy. Not hard, and it’s another very transferable skill with a good market rate.

Good secretarial skills are enough to get you around most parts of the civilised world, earning as you go. Again, there is a well-established circuit of agencies that will help you get temp work in any city or large-ish town.

Learn an internet-related programming skill such as Java. The world is your oyster, and the rate of pay is good. You can get temp work (3-6 months at a time) in most major cities.

Learn to play the guitar and learn 20 really popular songs that are known throughout most of the world (Beatles classics, Elvis classics etc. but just stick to tried and tested crowd pleasers). You can busk your way around the world!

Just a few suggestions to be going on with…

5

GQ is for questions with factual answers. Since this is a matter of opinion, I’ll move it over to the forum for opinions, In My Humble Opinion.

6

Here’s the nonsensical answer free of real-world pragmatism and logic that you’ve been waiting for: a) anthropology; b) art history or c) Comparative literature. Nice and wide ranging and interesting and you can do vocational damage control later. The business majors and the comp sci people are getting jobs you would hate-- you can pick up skilz later. Get smart and find out how big the world is and learn how much you have to learn.

7

My best friend at UCSD was in his 4th year & his major was ‘undecided’ the whole time. He now
cuts the grass for UCSD. lol

The career dept of your college usually has tests & stuff you can take to find out which direction is
best for ya.

8

Handy, the funny thing is that I went to the Career Center (which is nationally acclaimed, supposedly) and took the test. When I got the counselor to analyze my results, she said that no one had ever seen results like that and the none of the counselors knew what to do with me!

9

Not a long-term plan, but a just-for-now suggestion:

Go to your college’s programs abroad office and find out as much as you can about study abroad and student work exchange programs. It’s fairly easy to spend time in another country, and even work there, while you’re in school. After graduation, a lot of these opportunities disappear, at least for US citizens.

I know of a few study abroad alumni who have gone on to work for the program as counselors / cultural liaisons, which sounds absolutely ideal if you have the personality for it.

10

Just wondering if you speak any foreign languages? I recently spent a week in France and loved it. However, a week of hearing people speak French and having to try and communicate with them was starting to take its toll. Just something you might want to consider.

11

It doesn’t hurt to pick a particular major that you may want to focus on in your art/writing career, so that you have real experience to bring from the field. Scott Adams worked in the tech industry, which inspired Dilbert. John Grisham is a lawyer, which heavily influences his novels. Kevin Smith is a slacker, and his films tend to focus on those kind of people.

And so on.

12

j
's what I did. Didn’t know what to do, figured it’d be better to spend my contemplating time working for the country instead of wasting money in classes that I’d never use, or put towards a job I’d never like. Still don’t know what to do, but at least I’m a qualified linguist with a top security clearance. Not tooting my own horn, understand, just telling you that you really can learn valuable life skills while in the military; the commercials don’t lie about that aspect. Also, there are very few people who I’ve seen come out of Army basic training and not improved somewhat. It will set you apart from your peers. And there’s lots of money to be had; last I heard, the GI Bill was at 23K, but it might be higher now. A nd of course there’s the 50K college fund, and cash bonuses depending on the job you sign up for (liguist is at 40K now, I believe). There are cons though: as in anything related to government, there’s a ridiculous amount of red tape in everything you do. You get used to it. And you have to be prepared to deal with poor leadership; as in any job, not everyone is qualified for their position, but in the military you are less at liberty to do something about it; most of the time you have to suck it up and drive on, and learn what kind of leader not to be, and appreciate the good leaders you do have.
alright, I’ve talked too much already, but it’s not too often I get to jump on the recruiting train.
note to cover my ass I say this as my personal opinion, not as representative of the US gov’t, and if any of the above is taken the wrong way, the way it was taken was not the intended way.