Pull up any listicle about terrible majors, and you'll probably see communications in the top 20. It is frequently criticized for low employability, low salaries and general uselessness. It's not something you go into if you want to find what society classifies as "success." So why would I willingly go into this field of study, without any plan on the other side, knowing what the stakes are?
My best subject in high school was foreign languages. I was one of the best students in Italian and was recognized at graduation for being the top student in Mandarin Chinese. Naturally, pursuing one of these languages or linguistics would make sense. I applied to BU as a modern foreign language (MFL) education major, even though I knew education would not be where I ended up in the future.
I considered applying into a "safer" major, most likely management due to my background with DECA, but still had my doubts. I was advised that it was a much better path than MFL education, but might still be restricting in career options. If I didn't really like business or management as a career, there were some, but few other ways to go. I knew that more skills led to more diverse employment prospects, so I decided to look into a major that could give me a solid skill set, even if I didn't necessarily want to pursue that field after graduation. I ruled out all STEM majors, knowing that I would be eaten alive otherwise, but besides that I was extremely lost and clueless.
The idea of a communications major came to me at the end of one stressful night, where I had too many thoughts to even close my eyes and try to sleep. It was a revelation, and despite being a half-coherent thought, I knew instantly that it would be the best choice I could make for the moment (six months later, that still hasn't changed). One quick email to my admissions counselor later, I was transferred into one of the nation's best communications programs.
The days after I made that decision, I started to realize what in my world had influenced me to jump from languages to communications. Various past teachers had also stressed the importance of being a strong writer as a means of self-presentation. One particular English teacher continuously encouraged me to write and research topics that are against the grain, rather than conform to a majority's viewpoint, which allowed my writing to flourish while also staying professional and formal. In addition, my background in foreign languages and side interest in anthropology allowed me to love the idea of communicating with others to learn more about the world.
Do I want to go into a communications-related field in the future? Not necessarily. But this major offers me an opportunity to solidify my writing skills even further, as well as learn about a multitude of fields that I can pursue later on like multimedia, journalism, management, human resources or law, to name a few. What I am doing (or at least hope I am doing) is pursuing my indecision smartly, and making a diverse skill set my employable asset in the future.
