I've been thinking a lot lately and dealing with advisors and guidanc couselors… because of my college major…
I'm currently undeclared… because I don't know what the crap I'm good at. Almost all of my "talents" I'm almost always questioning myself about.
I recently took a rather thorough series of testing to figure out what job types would best suit me… and I was set to be best fit for three categories:
Technical - Top jobs that came up for that was Computer Engineer and Computer Programmer
Creative - Top jobs that came up for this were Fiction Writer, Non-Fiction Writer and Comedian
Artistic - Top jobs that came up for this one were Cartoonist and Animator
……but each one of those struck a big nerve in the back of my head… because I wouldn't be able to handle some of the classes required to take some of these types of majors… to me, my mind can't handle it for some reason…
Does ANYONE else have this problem (or have HAD this problem?)
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Comic Talk and General Discussion *
"Major" Problems...
Dude, i'm 30 years old and I still don't know what I want to be when i grow up.
I've been fortunate enough to land a job that required no post secondary schooling, as I dropped out of my course before I accumulated too much debt.
So no, you are not unique in your situation. Me, i'm like a bard…jack of all trades, master of none.
LowRes, you should look into something that lets you make comics. :) I think those 3 fields compliment each other to a good degree. Computers, creativity, and art? Isn't that what the internet is all about?
I think most people end up being unsure about what they want, or what they've chosen. Lots of college students switch majors. I went from Chemistry to Math to Sociology and ended up with a master's in Educational Technology. You don't always end up where you start. :)
As for classes you can't handle… anything you choose is going to be challenging. That's the point of going to college - to learn new things and master the stuff that you need in order to succeed at it. Some of the classes do sound daunting at first… but usually you've worked up to the later classes to the point you're more confident about them. No one is dumped right into calculus. You start with algebra, then geometry, trigonometry…
Do something you like! ^_^
I majored in Computer Science because I loved computers (been working with them since the old 1980s blue screen IBMs), and I can also use it to get into videogame programming, since it pretty much all comes hand in hand. (I'm actually applying for some game jobs atm)
Yea i've been having a similar problem. I didnt know what i wanted to do with my life at all. Lucky though im on a foundation course in art and design that lets you explore a bit of everything … however its very demanding.
I have the same issues as you seem to, i often feel as though i cant handle the pressure of it all. But it's managable. All youve got to do is relax a bit, put your head down and just work through it all. You can do it.
As i keep getting told, you can do anything you set your mind to.
I was an english lit major. I wanted to be a writer, but comics really were just so much easier and more fun to do.
I have this rare ability where I am good at pretty much any job you put in front of me. Give me a job and an instruction book and in a few weeks I'll be awesome at it. I've done a bunch of different jobs and always the same results. The problem with that is that it's hard to figure out what I'd like to do because I like being good at stuff and I'm good at everything I've tried. It's only like, 2 years later that I realize, hey I'm good at this, but I f'n hate it.
It's hard when you get to college and suddenly you have to make a big decision. :/ ( That's why I dropped for a year or two! :D ) ..Don't drop! o__o
Very importantly, you have to think about whether or not you'll be happy being forced to do something. I was going into art at first, but I have the most terrible blocks when I'm not in the mood and I was terrified of my career being like that. That just isn't stable. Now I'm looking into going back and doing biology/zoology stuffs. It's something I'm interested in that would be less stress. ( so my arts will not suffeeer. *dramatic pose* )
So! Think of some things you're interested in. It doesn't even have to be a 'talent', so to speak, just something you're passionate about. And do some research on jobs in zat particular field. You'll find something you like.
Thanks for ya'll's responses o.o
Even though you guys have kinda discredited my worries, I figured I'd go ahead and explain the reasons why each major kind of scared me:
Technology: I took a few college classes going down this path in my Senior Year in High School… but I ended up dropping out of them because it just didn't seem likw what I wanted to center myself around…
English/Writing: I love writing… but every College Writing class I've taken has crushed me under its emourmous buttocks.
Art: >> …I'm a horrible artist… that's why I generally stick to sprite comics… The only reason cartoonist an animator came up was because I doodle during class, and because of my experience with Macromedia Flash >_>
Very few art-related majors in this thread so far. That strikes me as odd. Then again, this is DrunkDuck, after all, so maybe it shouldn't.
What do I want to major in? Illustration. The hours are great– I can wake up when I want!– and I can make cash off my distinctive (read: bizarre and God-awful-looking) style. Also, the Sequential Arts major at Savannah College of Art and Design was especially appealing to me– imagine! Getting a degree in comics!– but alas, that major is only offered at a few select schools, meaning that it isn't an option if I don't get into Savannah.
Still… basically, I'll be happy with anything in the arts field. Or anything that doesn't involve me sitting in a cubicle for the rest of my life.
~IJ
There are always going to be aspects of the things you enjoy doing that either don't work out for you or you dislike. Unfortunately, they also happen to be the things you just have to do.
It's just a matter of either finding a creative solution to what's bothering you or deciding whether or not this hurdle is worth going over in order to do what you love. I loved taking law courses when I was in high school…but I didn't love it enough to spend $20,000 a year on tutition for law school. I did desire graduating enough to take the required science and social science credits though. I took a political science course to satisfy the latter because I enjoy politics and I ended up getting pretty good marks.
A lot of my art profs aren't rich and oftentimes, they spoke of days when it was hand to mouth. There were days when they seriously wondered if they would have enough money to last next month's rent or buy art supplies. Sometimes their work is hot and other times nobody wanted to buy anything. There are a lot of networking involved and in the beginning you wouldn't usually have an agent so you would have to deal with the business side of art.
These may not be things you would enjoy but in order to be a professional artist, these may be things you would have to deal with. Maybe later when you're well established you could hire an agent but when you're living hand to mouth, that's not really an option.
The question then becomes whether or not it's all worth it to you, and whether you can deal with these not-so-pleasant aspects of your profession. Does the good outweigh the bad for you?
For things like writing, you don't necessarily need to take writing courses to become a writer. Much like you don't need to take art courses to become an artist. It helps but it doesn't mean the door is closed to you forever if you don't take them. Neither does it mean that just because you can't draw, you can never ever be a cartoonist. After all, technical skills can be taught…but it's a matter of whether or not, depending on your skill level, it's something you want to pursue as a profession.
Personally the following fields interest me, but I don't know how you would take them:
Philosophy: Interesting in many, many ways. Also it teaches you to think outside the box. Companies like that and will sometimes hire people with degrees in philosophy for marketing, etc.
Political Science: Lots of history to memorize, but in this day and age it's incredibly useful.
Art: It'd be cool to be a pro, but it takes an incredible amount of talent/skill. Plus people who draw comics are on a strict deadline and the pay sucks. However being an art teacher/professor would be cool.
Psycology: You learn about the mind. Takes a lot of work, but it'd probably pay off in the end. Still, I'm not so sure about this.
yeah I'm pretty close to graduating and I still don't know what the hell I'm doing.
For you, I think you should just start taking some general education requirements (like, whatever you need to graduate but not for a major) and see what you like then go from there. It's what I did and I ended up with two majors from it…even if I still don't know what I'm doing.
There are always going to be aspects of the things you enjoy doing that either don't work out for you or you dislike. Unfortunately, they also happen to be the things you just have to do.
It's just a matter of either finding a creative solution to what's bothering you or deciding whether or not this hurdle is worth going over in order to do what you love. I loved taking law courses when I was in high school…but I didn't love it enough to spend $20,000 a year on tutition for law school. I did desire graduating enough to take the required science and social science credits though. I took a political science course to satisfy the latter because I enjoy politics and I ended up getting pretty good marks.
A lot of my art profs aren't rich and oftentimes, they spoke of days when it was hand to mouth. There were days when they seriously wondered if they would have enough money to last next month's rent or buy art supplies. Sometimes their work is hot and other times nobody wanted to buy anything. There are a lot of networking involved and in the beginning you wouldn't usually have an agent so you would have to deal with the business side of art.
These may not be things you would enjoy but in order to be a professional artist, these may be things you would have to deal with. Maybe later when you're well established you could hire an agent but when you're living hand to mouth, that's not really an option.
The question then becomes whether or not it's all worth it to you, and whether you can deal with these not-so-pleasant aspects of your profession. Does the good outweigh the bad for you?
For things like writing, you don't necessarily need to take writing courses to become a writer. Much like you don't need to take art courses to become an artist. It helps but it doesn't mean the door is closed to you forever if you don't take them. Neither does it mean that just because you can't draw, you can never ever be a cartoonist. After all, technical skills can be taught…but it's a matter of whether or not, depending on your skill level, it's something you want to pursue as a profession.
Well… yes, it is something I want to pursue as a profession. I see absolutely no point whatsoever in going to some lame state university and forcing myself to learn something I'm not crazy about ("Synergizing Syntatical Business Communications Infostructures", or whatever). I want to create. I want to create very badly, so much so that I'm not sure I even could do anything else as a career. And if I want to really succeed in showing my creations to the world, I will have to go to college to hone both my technical skills and my industry savvy. If I starve to death, fine, but at least I'll die doing something I enjoy.
Philosophy: Interesting in many, many ways. Also it teaches you to think outside the box. Companies like that and will sometimes hire people with degrees in philosophy for marketing, etc.
Philosophy?! Now THAT'S a useless major! Ha ha! I mean, who has time to contemplate the essence of being when there's so much work to do?
~IJ
PS: Kidding, CSS. Please don't get worked up.
Philosophy?! Now THAT'S a useless major! Ha ha! I mean, who has time to contemplate the essence of being when there's so much work to do?My mom actually majored in Philosophy, and she now has a job with bioengineering. It's not the best job in the world but it's not too shoddy either (the company that she works with makes the equipment that's used in DNA testing and organ transplants).
The same question comes up with English as a major, which is probably what I'll end up doing. Although I am thinking on double majoring in English and Chemistry, but we'll see how it goes.
So, LowRes, if you really can't decide, (and are up for working really hard) you can always double-major. Or major in the thing you are more interested in and minor in another thing.
I was originally thinking of majoring in Business and minoring Art so I would be able to sustain myself as a pro artist, but I realized I absolutely hate business, and I don't think I'd be able to make it as a pro artist. That, and my family is really against it. They'd rather have me keep art as a hobby.
However, I'm also thinking of going to a liberal arts school. There's one such in particular that has everyone that goes there major in Humanities. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, since I need to see what that means, but I think it's good to have a well-rounded education.
All in all, choose something that you are interested in, something that would be tolerable to have a career in, but maybe not something you are passionate about. My mom is really passionate about riding horses, but she says she would completely hate to have it as a career. Sometimes jobs suck the goodness out of talents and interests you have.
If my school allowed a double major I would've gotten philosphy on top of my english lit.
As it is I took nearly every required philosophy class as my electives.
No better way to trick people into thinking your smart than busting some Kierkegaard out on their ass.
That's always been my plan, I'm not actually smart, I'm just cunning.
Even picking a major doesn't always mean that's what you'll end up doing…
I started in psychology, switched to forensic science, then to nursing, and finally to lab tech / hematology.
The best advice I could give you is to go to some open house presentations at local colleges. They give awesome advice on what kinds of jobs are available in each field.
that's my two cents, anyways.
I always thought I would be an art major. It was my plan from the age of… eight or nine. Then it got to be time to apply to colleges and I totally wussed out, positively certain I wouldn't be good enough to cut it as a major. And so got a degree in Theatre instead. I got some great skills out of it (I was a design and tech major, not acting. That would be crazy.) I learned to sew, I learned additive and subtractive color theory, I learned to weld, and basic carpentry, how to hang a light in a theatre space, all that crazy electrician math you have to do… And, of course, how to analyze a play to within an inch of its life.
It took me till Junior year to realize that it was not at all what I wanted to do with my life. But I was good at it. Everyone, all my professors, kept telling me what a great designer I was, when really, I'm a horrible designer, I was just a better artist than anyone else in the department at the time. But it was junior year. It was too late to change majors, I thought. So, I started taking electives that interested me, like my one and only art class, Figure Drawing. Once there, I realized I could totally have cut it as an art major. I was in that class with a bunch of graphic design majors that never lifted a pencil in their lives, and I blew them away. Suddenly the head of the art department is trying to convince me to change majors. But too late… My scholorship was running out, I was burned out on school, and just plain tired of thinking about it.
Point being, I have a bloody useless degree that I don't even want, because I was too chicken to get the bloody useless degree I did want. There's always grad school, I suppose. So the moral of this story is: Screw practicality. Just fish around until you find something that you think will make you happy, and if you later discover it doesn't, change your major. It's really pretty simple, if you're not a big ol' wuss like me.
…and I totally wussed out, positively certain I wouldn't be good enough to cut it as a major…
It has been my experience that often art majors aren't that good at art going into their degree. I've met art majors who I'm a better artist than, and all I do is draw comics.
Of course theres the flipside of people who's talent buries me.
But lesson learned. confidence girl, confidence.
yeah I always hear that but I never believe it~ you can get ahead a lot faster in life if you know what you want to do for a living…and what major you chose does affect to some degree who will and won't hire you.
I've just started looking for a job for when I graduate and I've found that most of the jobs available are jobs open to business/economics or computer science/engineering majors. They accept humanity majors too but put priority on other majors.
plus, it seems like if you know what you want to do earlier, you can intern earlier and build a much stronger resume of related work experience earlier, meaning you'll land higher paying jobs sooner.
Then again, it probably depends on what you're trying to get into I guess. I don't know. I'm probably just bitter at business majors right now for kicking my ass at job interviews.
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