Thoughts On Deciding A College Major

A repeating point of struggle in my life for the longest time was WHAT TO MAJOR IN IN COLLEGE.

Even though I knew that I could take my time and trust God throughout, it was still stressful. I tried ignoring it allot. That sometimes worked. Hindsight is 20/20 you know.

I just didn't want to study something that would have no purpose in my life if it was not what I 100% wanted to do, or if I wasn't going to get a job in that same field.

But let's be honest... asking an 18-year-old, 20-something, or even aged 30+ what they want to do for the rest of their life is kind of preposterous. I mean, I am all for education, but can we take the pressure off a bit?

I DID NOT NEED TO DECIDE ON MY ENTIRE LIFE, AND NEITHER DO YOU. All college is, is deciding what you are going to study right now, for what you are interested in at the moment, while still keeping a somewhat long-term vision in mind.

(So basically cue the joke to not major in under water basket weaving.)

I know, I know, that might not have cleared much up for you if you are trying to decide on your career. But honestly, so many people learn so many different things in life, and change careers and hobbies and interests, and get thrown amazing opportunities outside of their exact degree path.

You seriously might study something that you will use forever, but in my experience, the pressure I was putting myself under to decide on FOREVER was too toxic. I needed to decide on the next right thing (cue Frozen 2 song).

If I study something I love, but later my life situation changes and I adjust, that's fine!

Repeat with me... That's. Fine.

Maybe this will bring you some clarity?

Anyways, regarding my career pathway...

See, for the longest time I had wanted to teach mathematics in secondary education, but I couldn’t quite get myself to commit to it. Schools are changing, and teachers have demanding jobs. There are more teachers in my (extended) family, than any other 1 career.

Also, any teachers I spoke with encouraged me away from teaching. The fact that a professional I was shadowing, interviewing, or just chatting with wanted me to study a different position definitely had an effect on me.

Now, if you're interested in teaching, I don't want to stop you. We need good teachers. But I decided that wasn't me.

Plus, I had an grown an interest in business, and began to wonder if I could create and sell my own content, like blog about my experiences, or perhaps write a book about graduating debt-free (which I'm now in the process of doing with these blogs, woo!).

With all of these ideas in mind, I looked at surrounding schools like Eastern Michigan University, University of Toledo, Siena Heights University, Concordia University, etc.

I determined that while Siena Heights would have been the most advantageous because I could have finished my entire degree while on MCCC’s campus, they didn’t offer the math minor I was looking for, and the private Christian colleges I wanted to attend were quite expensive.

At that point, EMU and UT were my best bets.

But I knew that there were more business classes at MCCC that could transfer to the two schools, so while finishing my position at the River Raisin National Battlefield Park, I began researching transfer credits for each school.

I also looked at MCCC scholarships, and had the idea to see if I’d be able to get that choir scholarship again! It was a two consecutive year scholarship, so I thought I had lost my chances as using it a second year, but I inquired anyway.

Both the choir director and people in Financial Aid weren’t exactly sure if a second, separate year would work, but encouraged me to apply anyways, audition again, and see. Imagine my surprise and delight when I got a letter in the mail awarding me the scholarship for a second, non-consecutive year!

So, when August hit, I began my 4th year at MCCC, and had pretty much decided on Business as my major, with hopefully a math minor. I was relieved, tbh, to have decided.

I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel...