My mother recently forwarded me an article that listed some popular college degrees, spotlighting ones the author considered “winners” and “losers.” His rankings are not the focus, but rather the article’s topic.
As a college student, I have many friends who graduated with bachelor’s degrees and are putting them to little use at restaurants and retail stores. Understandably, it takes talent, persistence and luck to land any entry-level job, especially in the current market, but should four or more hard years of collegiate work result in jobs also held by high school teens?
It seems ridiculous, unfair even, but with some of the degrees many students choose to pursue, they find themselves emotionally satisfied but unable to secure stable employment. For many people this is irrelevant — their ships on collegiate years having sailed — but for those of us still exploring academia, picking majors, minors, internships and the like, it’s imperative we make smart choices now. “If you love what you do, you don’t work a day in your life.” How many times have we heard that one?
In theory, it’s brilliant. Find something you love, pursue it with all your heart despite the odds, and you’ll end up employed with a contented smile on your face.
However, I’m a bit of a skeptic and find this a little too sweet to palate. It would be incredible if I could make money designing jewelry or playing professional basketball, but things don’t happen that way for everyone. A very small percentage of people are lucky enough to have the resources and opportunities coincide to allow them to work and play simultaneously, but for the rest of us it comes down to practicality.
Don’t get me wrong, I admire those who follow their passions and have the confidence and drive to achieve their choice of career, but who has a passion for finance, chemistry or accounting? Nobody loves those classes or spends hours dreaming about equity mortgages and market portfolios, but those are the practical skills that will allow graduates an easier job search and stable pay opportunities. More and more of the passion-chasers are finding themselves out of luck after college, but four years of hard work and thousands of dollars aren’t easily forgotten.
It’s a fine balance between what you love and what is practical, and college is the time to get serious about the equilibrium.
I’m not trying to knock any degrees here, as they all take talent and dedication to achieve. I just want to point out the inopportune situation some graduates face when they choose a degree out of pure passion and no practicality.
As it’ll say at the end of this column, my major is finance and, honestly, it kind of sucks. I’ll put it on the record I am in this area almost solely for post-collegiate rewards in a job search, and hopefully financial security and job stability. Those are things I’ve chosen to value, and they reflect in my degree choice. Is it selling out? Maybe, but after years of thinking on it, I’ve decided it’s the smartest choice for me.
As for that article, the author urges the dreamers to keep up their zeal for their studies, preparing themselves for a possible difficult job search, and I’d like to do the same. College is a place to blossom and learn about the world and yourself, but let’s not forget why we’re here. Eventually, we’ll want homes and cars and we’ll have kids who need clothes and food. While it may seem distant now, it’s closer than we think.
Make your collegiate years count. Be social, make connections, learn life skills and, most importantly, leave UF armed with a degree you are proud of and will take you as far as you’d like to go. Twenty years from now, it probably won’t really matter what you majored in, but right now, it does.
Laura Ellermeyer is a first-year finance major. Her column appears on Tuesdays.
