Choosing a major is choosing the vantage point from which you will learn about the world, Director of Academic Services Christy Meier said at the Mapping Your Major event at the Whitley Residence on Feb. 15.
Meier explained what it means to choose a major at a liberal arts college.
“In the center of the liberal arts is a series of questions that we all have about life,” Meier said. “Questions like what does it mean to be a human being? What is the good life? So in the liberal arts education, you’re looking at that set of questions from a whole bunch of different vantage points.”
According to Meier, picking a major is choosing your primary focus on how you answer those questions. For instance, biology majors will look at those questions from a scientific perspective.
Picking your major is not the same as picking your career, according to Meier.
“The liberal arts does not look at your major as preparation for a career,” Meier said. “If you’re a history major, it does not mean you have to be a history teacher or a historian.”
Meier said the first step in choosing your major is to identify your personal and academic strengths and then cross out majors that would not suit you well.
“The pitfall of this is that you must be careful not to make up your mind too quickly,” Meier said. “This stage of the game should be about keeping doors open, or at least deciding which doors shouldn’t be closed. You don’t want to close all options just because you haven’t heard of them or don’t know anybody that has done those sorts of things.”
The way to narrow your list of majors is to interview students and professors in those majors to find out what the major entails, Meier said.
“Ask students, what do you like and dislike about the major? How would you rate the faculty in your major? What opportunities are available to people in this major?” she said. “Interview professors in the department and ask them questions like, what differentiates this major? What characterizes successful students in the major and unsuccessful students in the department? Ask them about the range of careers that people in the major have gone into.”
Taking classes in various departments is another way to research your options, Meier said. Students should consider taking classes that can count toward many majors, such as a business statistics class, that can count toward anything in the realm of business majors.
Freshman Clare Horvath said she thought the event was very informative.
“I like how Mrs. Meier said researching your major is like casual dating,” Horvath said. “Taking classes in a certain major is just like trying a major out, you’re not stuck with anything.”
Freshman Nathan Emslie said he liked the perspective Meier gave about choosing their majors.
“I think some of the stories that she went over of students majoring in history and then going into financial advising showed that you don’t necessarily need to just pick your major based on what you can do with it,” Emslie said.
Freshman Lydia Colby said it was encouraging to hear Meier speak.
“I thought it was really helpful that she gave me advice about when to declare a major and when to keep your options open,” Colby said.
