Thursday, September 23, 2010

Um..career?

So, a worry that I have is that I don't know what I want to do with my life exactly. I'm a sophomore with a new major. I started off college going into elementary education, striving for my masters in special education. This was a new area for me because all through high school I wanted to be a journalist. I changed so quickly because I was afraid to go into journalism with everything changing in the field, and I've always wanted to write for a newspaper. Well, print is starting to disappear more and more emphasis is on internet sources, so I went with another area I liked, working with people with disabilities.

I'm interested in autism ever since 8th grade when I helped my dad start a soccer program for children with autism. I really enjoyed working with them because I was opened up to a whole new spectrum of people and how they learned. It was a great experience and I continued to help him through my high school career as well. My dad is a psychologist and works with mental retardation and now autism, so I thought what a great thing to go into because I will have someone to help me through everything and help me get the job I really want. So, that's how I somehow got into teaching.

Deep down I knew that teaching wasn't what I had always wanted to do, but I actually found the classes interesting and the more I worked in the classroom, the more I got interested in it and found that things need to be changed in the way that we teach children. I liked that I was becoming more interested in teaching, but somewhere deep down I still knew that I would have rather been writing.

But writing... what job does that guarantee me? Exactly.
I don't know for sure if I want to be a journalist, but I'm keeping that option open. I'm currently taking a news writing class and I'm going to be writing for the newspaper here on campus, so I'll be able to see more if I want to do that. But it's still a hard field to go into.

All I know is that I love to write, and I know that this passion will help me land whatever job I'm going to get. But for right now, I have no idea what job that will be and it worries me. Not only me, it worries my father, which makes it worse on me. Upon changing my major, basically his only words for me were "what job are you going to get?" He wasn't necessarily mad that I had changed, but he sure made it seem like it in some way. I'm nervous that I will have a hard time finding something, but I also believe that I will make it. I will find a job I love to do writing, and all will be good. It will take work, I know that, but I'm willing to do that for the thing I love. Writing will see me through.

6 comments:

  1. I am in the same boat. I was going for teaching spanish but then I decided to major in spanish and english and now I don't really know what I'm going to do with my degree. At this point, I'm kind of just going to wait and see what happens.

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  2. Okay, I'm an English/Specialization in Creative Writing major and not worried. Here's why...proper English is quickly becoming a thing of the past, as more and more Americans are leaning heavily toward slang. Take a look online and you'll see that jobs are opening up with major corporations for English majors in key upper management positions because they know proper English and can write it. Also, don't overlook working from home as a freelance writer, ghost-writing for novelists, writing your own novel or other creative writing and there are other options out there. Check it out online and you and your dad will see that an English degree is actually very versatile. You can also teach with it...
    Lastly, getting your degree from U of M will open many doors for you, U of M is ranked #19 finest university in the world according to U.S. News and World Report.
    Hang in there and good luck!

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  3. If you truly love writing you have to pursue it. Don't make the mistake of entering into a field simply because of its perceived "safety". If you really want to pursue writing, work hard to become the best writer you can be and believe me, the jobs will come and you will find yourself in a field you truly love. As Nick said, there are plenty of opportunities out there. Just keep on working on it and don't be discouraged.

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  4. I'm in the same boat. I went into college thinking I wanted to teach, but now I'm not so sure. I have always wanted to teach, but the more I look into it, the more I'm not sure about it. However, like everyone else said, English is very versatile. If there is something you really want to do, pursue it. I'm sure it will work out.

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  5. Why can you not write at the same time your helping those children or people? Who says you can not do both? Maybe your writing would someday help one of those very people you want to help! You have two or as many worlds open to you as you wish to pursue. Jan

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  6. Have you ever thought about going in to editing? That's always a good field to get in to but it depends on what your passion is. As far as being a sophomore and not knowing what to do with your degree, I'm a senior and I still don't know what I want to do...and I've been in school for 6 years now. So, don't worry about not knowing what you're going to do yet!

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