Life in college is a veritable crock pot of emotions. From the dreaded college blues to the sense of trying to find your footing in life, we can feel that we are bouncing from pillar to post in the college environment because there is so much at stake. It’s not just our future that we have to think about, but it’s about making sure that we utilize the present as well. Sometimes we can have that dreaded feeling we’ve made a big mistake. The most perfect example in college is when you’ve chosen a degree that doesn’t feel right anymore. And while most of us change our major at least once when we’ve already gone beyond the point of no return, like halfway through the degree, what can we do?
There Is No Shame In Changing Your Mind
One of the biggest problems we can face internally at this juncture is thinking that we’ve become a failure. There is no point in beating ourselves up at this time. Some people enroll in grad school without a real plan on occasion, and others may have come to the realization that the degree doesn’t fit their expectations. But we have to remember that education is still education. Even if you have already decided that you need to go down another route, talking to the powers that be in your university can help you to switch if that’s what you want. Perhaps you have already decided that you need to go do a different course. Switching from something like law to a nursing degree can be quite a transition, but we have to remember that universities can allow for extenuating circumstances. If you set your heart on a place like Bradley University, it would be important to get in contact with them to discuss the transition. And it’s the next point that will help you to sell yourself…
Look At The Skills You’ve Already Acquired
Whether you’ve decided that you don’t want to carry on with your degree or you want to change, you’ve got to look at the skills you’ve already learned and how you can apply them to another career field. Regardless of the program, you’ve learned real skills that can be applied in other ways. It’s so easy for us to focus on the subject matter but there have been other skills that we have acquired in other forms. If you’ve done a law degree you have very likely learned fantastic research skills. This is something that you can apply to another analytical degree, whether it’s English literature or even engineering where there are numerous technical components.
What Has Changed?
After taking note of your skills, it’s time to look in the mirror. Things change, whether it’s in relation to the degree or within ourselves. You may find that you are still passionate about the subject but not necessarily interested in the jobs associated with it, or you have decided that the career you want doesn’t suit you anymore. We can tend to worry that the degree we’ve got is useless when we’ve made a conscious decision to pursue a different path. But in the working world, there is a lot to be said for transferable skills. In the big, wide job market, it’s harder than ever to compete, which means that you need a wider variety of skills.
Is It Time To Go Towards A Career Choice?
When you’ve chosen a degree that suits your passions, but the work associated with it is dull you can still find other jobs that work with the subject matter. For example, if you love numbers but you hate the daily grind of being an accountant, discuss with your professors and career counselor to find what types of jobs are out there. Conversely, if you want to start all over again because the degree is not what you wanted, you can still look for the opportunities to learn skills in a new field, as long as you are willing to take an entry-level position. We have to remember that when we are looking to make a new start, that the degree, even though it may have felt to be the wrong choice at the time, can still push us into a new direction.
If we made the decision that the degree is not what we want, we can feel that we’ve let people down, as well as ourselves. But it’s not uncommon to have a change of heart. If anything, it’s a more valid life lesson!
