Editor鈥檚 Note: This is the second in a series of blogs targeted to the prospective 黑料不打烊 student.聽
Part One: Why Salina?, Feb. 12, 2021
The question 鈥淲hat are your plans after you graduate?鈥� was the bane of my high school existence. The impending weight of adulthood was heavy enough, but most days it felt like everyone expected me to have a concrete path set out and ready to walk on. I didn鈥檛 have that, and I grew terrified I never would. I knew I would go to college and study聽something, but what that 鈥渟omething鈥� was remained to be seen.
Now, I鈥檓 an English major, but I didn鈥檛 start out with this path in mind. Throughout my junior year of high school, I toyed with the idea of being a music therapist. When I realized that would require me to attend a university three hours away from home, I switched gears and planned on majoring in music education. It didn鈥檛 take me long to acknowledge that I was a novice in all musical concepts. After all, I only started taking professional piano and vocal lessons at the age of 17. This put me considerably behind my peers, and I decided I would rather go into a field I already excelled in than just be an 鈥渙kay鈥� music teacher.
When I began my foray into studying English, I still intended on earning a teaching degree. After years of being told by the adults in my life that I鈥檇 make a suitable educator, I assumed that was my only option as a lover of reading and writing. (Outside of authorship, of course, which often seems like an unattainable dream.) Yet, I wasn鈥檛 passionate about teaching English. My real love was 鈥� and still is 鈥� for writing, thinking critically and analyzing text. All of these could be done while working with high school students, but that wouldn鈥檛 be the core of my job, and I knew I needed to seek out other options. Even now, people often hear what I鈥檓 studying and ask if I鈥檓 going to teach. I鈥檓 no stranger to the doubtful glances they give me when I tell them no. Many people don鈥檛 realize that English has never been聽箩耻蝉迟听for teaching.聽
With Amazon and its Kindle ebooks becoming increasingly popular, self-published authors are able to make money from their work. Opportunities for freelance writing positions are available across the Internet, though it pays to be discerning about these listings. In my experience, scams can occasionally run rampant on sites dedicated to freelance work. Writing well can help you find more traditional avenues to success in fields like journalism, marketing and other forms of publication, too. For example, I鈥檓 writing this blog post as an intern with 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Marketing and Communications office. Had you asked me four years ago whether I thought I had a place in a field like this, I would have assumed the answer to be a hard and fast 鈥榥o.鈥� The truth is, being able to communicate effectively via written language can open up many opportunities in someone鈥檚 life. If you choose an English major, you鈥檙e not defaulting yourself to a life in a classroom.聽
If it wasn鈥檛 obvious from my own struggles to select a major throughout high school and my early years in college, let me say it point blank: it鈥檚 okay to arrive at your first day of university entirely undecided about your major. Society often pressures us into believing we need to know all the answers before we even have a chance to seek them out. You should know that college is the perfect place to, pardon the clich茅, expand your horizons.聽
As you meet new people, have new experiences and make your own choices, you begin to learn more about who you are. You might discover new passions or fall deeper in love with pre-existing ones. College gives you that independence to grow and discover yourself, which means it鈥檚 entirely possible that your major and career path are going to evolve with you.聽聽Not only is it okay to be uncertain about your career, it鈥檚 become increasingly common to shop around for a job that suits you best.
So, if people are prodding you with questions about your future, don鈥檛 be afraid to answer with a confident: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know.鈥� Give yourself a chance to discover what you truly love in college and听迟丑别苍听chase it. Too often, people rush through the process in the hopes of landing that 鈥減erfect,鈥� make-you-filthy-rich job. To end up in a career you love takes work and a thoughtful approach to building that career. Most people聽诲辞苍鈥檛听get that dream job as soon as they have their diploma. Instead, they take their time bolstering their resume and skill set, eventually working their way up that metaphorical ladder. That means your position in your field of study may continually change and adapt, long after you leave the education system. So, if you鈥檙e worried about falling behind, remember that聽测辞耻听pick the pace, and even the professional world is a place that is ever-evolving to make room for the undecided young adult.聽
