I've made a little quasi goal with myself to try to write a new blog post every Sunday, particularly on the things that I've been thinking about throughout the week. Which is not to say that I won't be writing about Zara from time to time, but I'm trying not to brag too much about that girl. She's seriously awesome.
David and I tend to get a little chatty at night, as we're both trying to fall asleep. Well, most nights, David falls asleep approximately 12.3 seconds after his head hits the pillow, but on the nights that David has a harder time falling asleep, we tend to talk about many different things--current events, history, economics, existential life questions....you know, typical pillow talk.
This week I've been thinking about what I may have done differently if I was starting school all over again. Would I chose something different?
While both David and I are quite happy with the subjects we've chosen to study and the careers we'd like to pursue, it was interesting to think about what we might have done differently.
David (BA in accounting, working on an MBA in finance) started out as an engineering major before flunking out during his first semester at Georgia Tech. He would have made a great engineer and still has an interest in the topic. (He prefers mechanical engineering.) I don't know how he does it, but he can just look at something, examine it, and figure out how it works and how to fix it. He said that if he'd stayed with accounting, he'd have enjoyed forensic accounting.
On the same career trajectory (BA and MA in American Studies), I would have made a few tweaks. I wish that I had majored in history at BYU, rather than American Studies (which is a stronger program and would have provided a more structured education) and minored in anthropology, rather than art history (art history only offered 1 class on museum work but anthropology has 4-5 classes on museums....who knew?). But I still would have done the exact same master's program, specializing in material culture and public history.
When I first entered college, I was deciding between studying American history in order to work in a history museum (which I love and knew I could excel at) or zoology in order to be a veterinarian/zookeeper (which I would have enjoyed, but would have had to work really hard at). I still find the sciences fascinating (although they don't come easy to me) and I love animals, but now I think that if I entered a completely different profession, I would chose psychology and become a therapist.
Based on personal research (read: having doctor's appointments), I've discovered that most health care professionals kinda suck when it comes to interacting with human beings. I've also realized that I really like talking with people, hearing their stories and trying to offer advice (when it's asked for) and providing general support and encouragement. One of the few gifts I feel that I have been given is the ability to empathize with other people and to not judge too harshly. Though I still want to inspire people to love history, I like the idea of helping people in more meaningful ways.
So lone blog reader, if you could have a do over, would you have studied something different?
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"He made the world to be a grassy road before her wandering feet." -- W.B. Yeats
2 comments:
Funny...I went to GaTech for Architecture (which is what I wanted to do ever since I could remember) and discovered my first quarter there that it wasn't the career for me. However, I still really enjoy the idea of designing homes. So I ended up switching to CS and eventually MIS when I left GaTech due to financial aid delays. Wouldn't have changed any of that. Every now and then I think it would've been nice to have the exposure of more CS classes, but I went into MIS to get that business/management foundation and feel that has served me very well also. So you can't have your cake and eat it too there. Plus, I actually ended up being an Architect...just on the technology side of things. No regrets. All in a larger plan. :)
I originally majored in American Studies, but tossed it after my first semester because no one knew what the degree was. I ended up going into history which I loved, however, my first semester helped me discover that I loved Humanities. I almost got a Humanities minor and maybe I should have, but I was a bit too eager to graduate. I should have also pursued the business minor. I wasn't awesome at business but I took every class I could without getting into the degree program. Accounting killed me, but maybe I would have liked stats.
As for my graduate degree, I picked the perfect professional degree for me and I wouldn't have changed it at all. A class that I took on a fluke have helped me in my career.
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