Who Will I be? Que Sera Sera......

I’ll admit it, I have not always wanted to be a lawyer.  In second grade, I wanted to be a veterinarian, until I had to put my childhood pet, Buppy, down, then I was not so keen on that idea.  I then got hooked on Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes and wanted to become a private detective, until the idea of being shot at or having to shoot someone scared me out of that profession.  I then went on to wanting to become a history professor.  I learned the hard way that I am not a teacher; I cannot impart my knowledge on others in a way that will benefit both of us.  I was at a loss as to what to do with my life until my aunt suggested that I would make a good lawyer.  I have always had this in the back of my head, but I never thought I would be good at it.  I suddenly found myself fully excited for my future (yes, even studying for the LSAT).  It wasn’t until I watched Laws of Attraction that I became interested in becoming a family attorney.  I knew what divorce was and how it worked (my parents had gotten divorced when I was in sixth grade).  I remembered the hurt and the guilt, thinking it was your fault that your parents were no longer together.  Why am I telling you this long story?  I decided today to give some wisdom that I have learned throughout the years on finding your major and future career.

My first piece of advice is to take all of your general education classes during your freshman and sophomore years.  This will allow you to branch out and find the classes that interest you and the ones that you can’t stand.  These interests can reflect potential job choices.  For example, if you connect with children and find your introduction to psychology class interesting, maybe you will become a child psychologist.  Maybe instead, you don’t mind getting in the dirt and getting dirty and you love collecting rocks.  A geology major would be pretty interesting for you.  I am not saying that choosing a major is easy, believe me, I know it’s not.  I have chosen my major and minors so many times it’s not even funny.  I believe that you should find something that interests you; this will make you want to keep studying and reaching for something.

My next piece of advice goes along with choosing your major: choosing your career.  This is something that you will be doing for 50+ years, so it has to be something that interests you.  Of course, money is important, and should factor into your career choice.  If you want to live a life of luxury, choose a career that will help you achieve this.  At the end of the day though, your happiness will make you richer than any dollar amount will.  As my mother tells me, “it doesn’t matter if you are making a million dollars a day at your job, if you hate it, the money won’t matter.”  Follow your heart and go in a direction that will make you happy.

I hope this advice has helped you to at least think about your future career and major.  Let me know if you have any more tips or if these tips helped you!