I had my entire life planned out at this time a year ago. I was dead set on becoming an Elementary School Teacher. I was so interested in my classes, and I was even given the opportunity to graduate in five years with my Master's degree in Special Education. My future looked great on paper: I would be twenty-two with a Master's degree, graduating with no debt and basically guaranteed a career. The only problem was, I wasn't happy.
I chose to switch my major to Human Development and Community Engagement with a focus on childhood mental health. I faced a lot of backlash from my peers, parents, and relatives. I was constantly asked, "How are you going to get a job?" My response was usually, "By applying for one". My personal favorite question, "Why would you go to a high up school like Temple for Child Development?" First of all, that isn't my major. Second, just because YOU don't understand it, doesn't mean it is a useless degree.
I know a lot of people who are Chemistry, Philosophy, and Math majors (of some type). Seldom are they asked, "What are you going to do with that?" They aren't asked that, because their majors are seen as challenging. Believe it or not, my major isn't easy either. Just because I'm not balancing equations or writing thirty-page papers on chemical formulas does not mean that my major is easy.
I had another person say to me, "I feel bad, you're working so hard and you probably won't even get a job". Instead of being mad at this person I nodded politely. I have a job, just not a career. Sadly, most people don't have a career right after they graduate. That's where graduate school comes into play, Karen.
I intend to become a counselor or a lawyer, which clearly takes more than an undergraduate degree. My "useless degree" is my starting point, my golden ticket to a nine to five for a few years while I save for graduate or law school. Great news, no one is going to ask me when I have an established career, "What was your undergraduate major?" Though I would be happy to tell them, the point is that my undergraduate major is not nearly as important as my career.
I get it, my major is non-traditional. Not a lot of people are in my major, people I go to school with don't even know it exists, and it's discouraging sometimes. My path isn't clear, but my foundation is solid. I didn't give up on my Master's degree, I simply postponed it. It was a dream come true at the moment, but it isn't what I want from this life. Truth be told, the only reason I stayed an education major so long is because I knew I could graduate with my Master's degree early. It was about status, not passion. I wouldn't want my child to be taught by someone chasing a higher social status, and that's why I chose not to be that teacher.
