I am constantly thinking about what my future entails and what I am going to do for a living, but I am never worried. I have in my mind that it will all work out and there is nothing to worry about but maybe that is just me being naive.
I came into my first year at Lebanon Valley College as an undecided major. After my first semester, I found out that I really enjoyed learning about the history of the United State. So I declared my major as history with secondary education. That only lasted a semester until I realized that I wanted to do more with the content of history than just teach it to students. I dropped the secondary education part and decided that I wanted to pursue a career as a history professor.
That was all fine and dandy until I took a few politics classes and really enjoyed them. My next step was adding a minor in politics and then this semester I flip flopped my major and minor. I am currently majoring in politics and minoring in history and not considering academia as a career.
Throughout my college career I have changed my major and my career path many times. I do not currently have a goal as a career but I am planning on pursuing internship opportunities that may open up a career path.
The weirdest thing is that I am not concerned and I probably should be. I honestly do not know that is in store for my future. Maybe I will work on Capital Hill in Harrisburg or maybe I’ll do something completely unrelated.
Everyone tells us that we have plenty of time and that so many people change careers and it works out. But will it all work out? I believe it will.
There are so many different careers out there. Each major has an incredible amount of different options that align with it. The best thing to do is to make connections. Talk to people. Show an interest in others and create long lasting relationships that might be mutually beneficial in the future.
I have been told how important internships are as well. This is for a number of reasons. First, they give you real world experience that will give you a leg up on other competitors. Second, working for a company or organization may give you an in for that organization. It is possible that that company may want to hire you full time after you graduate. Lastly, as previously mentioned, you can make connections. There are many stories of people getting jobs because they know someone. This may not be fair but it is the way that the job market works so take advantage of it.
I do not have the authority to tell anyone that they need to know what career that they want to pursue but I do have the strong belief that if you know what you are interested in, follow through with the major and try to gain experience in the area.
Most importantly, you are not alone.
