Selena Legacy
Equinox Staff
Figuring out the right path can sometimes be troublesome. Some student find themselves regretting the path and major they wanted at first. KSC helps ensure those students will find something that works for them and guide them the right way.
Academic career advisor Louise Elwig shared why she think students end up regretting their major, “for first second and third year students if they are having any moments of doubt, or they don’t know what they can do with their major or [if] this major isn’t right for me. They should be talking to someone, their [advisor] or coming and talking to a career advisor.”
Elwig wants students to really find what they are passionate about.
“A really great resource, What Can I Do With A Major, is on our (academic career advising) website and it breaks down each major and what you can do with it. If it’s a lack of information start [with] research,” Elwig said.
Students should start understand all studies within the major and what they skills they haven’t even though that they acquired from the experiences.
“If you love what [you] studied but don’t know what [you] can do with it, talking about understanding all the skills you got by studying your major. Did you regret everything? Or did you regret certain classes? But there were other things you really loved about the experience through the courses, internship experiences, student activity experiences and volunteer experiences. [Then] zeroing in on what is interesting. If its a question of that I would say look at your resume and are you highlighting the skills you developed not only the direct skills skill from the major but all the transferable skills from experiences and what you studied, that is the argument you want to make to an employer,” Elwig said.
If at the end of the day you’re still lost with what path to take you have to just try all viable options.
Elwig said, “you just gotta start somewhere, trial and error, follow a skill that you enjoy, follow an interest area and explore, go work in an industry related to the skills you’ve developed in your program and see where that takes you, you just need to jump in and try different things. It becomes an experiment what do you like what don’t you like. Get involved and join groups. Have conversations. There are so many different way to open up things to explore.”
Students end up picking a major in high school. But why do they chose?
“They did something well in highschool and they stuck with it, I pursued what I was good at. Others pick certain majors that’ll lead to a job. People may pick majors because other people are suggesting a major. One may not even know what majors they can pick,” Elwig said.
Advisors ask those questions and try to see where you work fit best.
“I doubt there is a person here (KSC) that regretting every single thing about their major, so look at what you did like what skills did you develop by doing it, apply and try to things, explore,” Elwig said.
Senior Jeanne Longobardi shared the experiences she gained by switching majors multiple times. “I started off as criminal justice and psychology, then switched halfway through to secondary education and English, then switched to criminal justice and sociology instead.”
Longobardi switched multiple times and felt unsure what major was right. Each major she had chosen had upsides and downsides.
“I just want to feel like I’m making a difference and feel good about myself and help people in a way,” Longobardi said.
When Longobardi switched into education, she thought she wanted to work with children. She then shadowed in a class and her mind had changed.
“You lose drive and passion to keep going, with the way they treated the faculty and staff,” Longobardi said.
“I had doubt in myself. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure as to what I wanted to do. A lot of people told me that they think I would be a good educator, which is why I jumped into the education program. Then I decided I didn’t want to do it because, again, I was having doubts in myself and I wasn’t exactly sure. I know with education it takes a lot of passion, I didn’t think it was the right fit for me,” Longobardi said.
Later, when finally making a decision, Longobardi knew she wanted to be a part of the advocacy and social work.
Longobardi said, “The age group didn’t matter as long as I was making a difference.”
During this decision making she turned to adults she knew for advice.
“I talked to a lot of different people, I talked to a lot of previous teacher from high school, I talked to my parents about decisions,” Longobardi said. “I felt literally nothing other than support.”
Longobardi knew criminal justice and sociology was for her when the material came to her so easily.
Longobardi said, “My interest in the courses and the stuff came really natural to me, I found them interesting [and pretty easy]. I felt that I knew the material. This is me.”
This process consisted of a lot of conversations, but in turn, made her decision worth it all.
“A lot of it was talking to people, getting guidance and assistance communicating with people really helped,” Longobardi said.
Students may feel like they regret their major and can’t change it. Well, you always can.
“The switch is not bad. It’s relatively easy, most important is focusing on the general classes while you can and give yourself the extra time to figure it out before stressing yourself out,” Longobardi said. “It’s only a piece of paper to change your major.”
When you are unsure about your major, just be aware there are always people who can help.
“As a freshman, you take your intro courses and general education classes, which helped a lot. The process of switching wasn’t hard at all. Once you declare, you have to find an advisor to sign off. The last time I switched I didn’t have an advisor for a while, I was just undeclared, I was just waiting, I had a professor reach out to me and [she] asked if she could be my advisor,” Longobardi said. “I think having a good advisor and was really nice in making the transition.”
Stress, lack of motivation and defeat are all part of finding your path in college, but once you know, you know.
Longobardi shared,“Its [the] natural feeling of college, everyone that goes through college can feel overwhelmed and defeated at times, people that know what they want to do and are extremely passionate are really lucky.”
As of now, Longobardi is looking forward to being on her way with the majors she ended up choosing. Regret doesn’t have to mean you are unsuccessful.
“Just waiting on graduation then finding a job,” Longobardi said.
Longobardi wanted students to be aware that,“You’ll have time to figure it out, getting involved really helps you find yourself [as well as] what you want to do.”
Selena Legacy can be contacted at
selena.legacy@ksc.keene.edu
