I have a goal and that’s to get a job after college, a career in fact. I also have a dream, a dream that could find its way into my career but isn’t concrete. And I have a deadline, four years, to make my goals and dreams a reality. So what do I do? I change my schedule five times, I add and drop double majors, minors, and certificates three times, and I panic the entire first week of my sophomore year in college.
I am a Journalism major. I knew I wanted to get into the writing field when I was a junior in highschool but I wasn’t sure for what exactly. I had this passion for writing and had no idea where it would take me, but I knew nothing else made more sense for me. So it shocked me in my second semester of my freshman year when my advisor told me I would need something else to pair with my journalism major.
“Like what?” I asked her dumbfounded.
“Anything you like.” She responded matter-of-factly.
The only problem was I didn’t know what else I liked. And thus came my scramble to discover once again who I was and what I wanted to achieve in my life. It wasn’t until the last month of freshman year when I decided to choose whatever double major I thought would be interesting.
Skip past a summer of work, Netflix, and friends to the start of my sophomore year where it dawned on me, I need a real-adult job after college. And at that moment I knew I wasn’t on the right track. I had a full on panic, I felt the need to take business classes and minor in computer science to secure myself a job in the future. I added some entrepreneurialism certificates, marketing majors, and danced around the idea of dropping out to become a sugar baby. I was at my lowest point and it was only the first week of the new semester.
In my desperate state I asked my friends for career advice, many of them agreed that business heavy classes would secure a job. I started researching career outlooks for the next ten years and the salaries for certain positions. I looked at human relations positions for office jobs that I never imagined applying for. I was losing everything I had just to confirm a paycheck in the future.
As I looked through the 200+ areas of study at the University of Iowa, I knew deep down that business does not interest me, chemistry does not favor me and computer science feels almost unobtainable. This wasn’t who I was. This wasn’t my passion, goal, or dream, this was giving up. My search for a “real job” was me not believing in myself, not believing I could achieve my true dreams. Signing up for all these majors, minors and certificates was my idea of growing up and abandoning my goal in life.
So I’m here today to tell you that it’s going to be okay. You don’t have to become a doctor or take a hundred business classes to find a job in the future. Double majoring, minoring, or obtaining certificates for things you don’t love are not going to help you. Okay maybe you will have a better chance in finding a job if you have a minor in business, but if you hate every second of it and wake up wishing you didn’t have to go to class, is it truly worth it? If you can’t stand the thought of something, why do it for the rest of your life?
Do the things you love and don’t be afraid of the outcome. Do anything you want, you are in college, there are hundreds of possibilities waiting for you and you only need to grab them. Follow your passions and stay grounded, don’t forget what makes you happy and what will give your life meaning. This world is big and eventually you’ll find what it is that makes you happy, I believe in that hope.
When I grow up, I want to be a writer. I want to write opinion articles, lifestyle pieces and discuss pop culture trends. I want to move up in the industry and become an editor. I want to help and inspire other writers to finish their goals and pursue their passions. I want to do what I love and not settle for a job but achieve something greater. So as of Thursday August 25th, I am a Journalism and Mass Communications major with a certificate in writing and I know I am on the right track. What do you want to be when you grow up?
