People reach to obtain an education for a number of different reasons. Some love the subject, others are in line to obtain a certain career, some are even obtaining skillful knowledge with the plan of changing the world some day.
I started my college career with the goal of becoming a computer programmer. It was a great career choice at the time, and I am very computer savy. But I realized along the line that it didn’t fulfill the purpose that I planned for my life. I didn’t feel I could do enough good for the world as a programmer. So I had to scratch that idea.
Next i planned on being a doctor. So I changed my major to biology and started pursuing the “pre-med” course of study. I love biology, so it was easy to get caught up in the subject and not ponder the actual journey of a medical student’s life. But soon I was forced to consider the actual life of a medical student. I realized it wasn’t what I wanted. I would love to be a doctor, but I am just not willling to commit the next 10 years of my life to the study of medicine. Scratch that.
After realizing my love for science and healthcare, and my savy mind, I thought that a MBA/MHA dual masters program might be the solution. But when I considered the lifestyle that a career like that would entail, I knew it wouldn’t stimulate me enough to love it. Plus the US economy went to crap and I didn’t think a business degree would be responsible.
So here I am now. I’ve decided to apply to graduate school to become a Physician Assistant. I love science and healthcare, and I know I’ll enjoy the curriculum. It’s a much shorter route than medicine, and I can still do great things for humanity. And I wont have to dedicate the next 10 years of my life, which means that I can still do more later if I choose. And since I missed the deadline to apply for 2009 I have a year between now and (hopefully) starting graduate school. With my bachelor’s degree I have 1 of 2 choices: I can work in a scientific research laboratory or I can teach science. I think I would better serve my community by teaching students, so that is what I’m going to do. They need a better caliber education than they are being given, and I have the patience and skills to give it to them.
So there’s my educational history. What’s the point of all of this? The point is that you need to know what you want, where you are going, and what you hope to achieve through your college education. If you don’t, you’ll wander aimlessly and realize 6 years after you started that you were lost. I don’t want my academic career to be yours, so do me a favor. Instead of continuing to wander aimlessly though the path you chose at age 18 or less, answer a couple of questions for me. If the answers don’t change your path, that’s wonderful. But if they do, be open to the whole new world you will find.
What do I want for my future? (consider lifestyle, accomplishments, achievements, amount of wealth that will be satisfactory, work lifestyle, humanity, family, and what kind of friends and colleagues you’ll surround yourself with). If you want weekends of and lots of vacation, being a surgeon or lawyer probably isn’t for you. If you want to invent something that changes the world, you’ll probably need a higher education than what a basic undergrad degree can give you.
What will satisfy me most? (is it material wealth, achievement, seeing my name all over the place, celebrity status, changing the world, helping humanity, or even as simple as having a wonderful family and being the best dad/mom/brother/sister/son/daughter I can be) If your current academic choice doesn’t fall in line with what you find most satisfactory, it’s probably not your best choice.
What interests me most? This one ignores satisfaction and what you want and take into account only what you love. If you love to read and write, you should consider being a writer or even a journalist. If you love technology, you should consider a tech degree of some sort. Make sure that your choice fits into all of the other things you want, but at the end of the day you have to love what you do. If you don’t, all the money and status in the world won’t make you happy.
That’s about it guys. The goal of education isn’t just to land a good job. Education is about broadening your horizons and learning the skills necessary to do what you want to do in life. Think about it this way: if college didn’t exist what books would you read to learn what you wanted to learn, to be what you want to be, and do what you want to do. If you let the answer to that question guide you, you’ll be headed in the right direction.
Tags: choose major, college life, why college
