When you come to college you realize that there are so many options for you to majors and even more career choices that you may never have realized existed. Along with that, you may realize that what you thought you wanted to do was not actually a good fit for you. Now, let’s say you come to this realization but your parents have always wanted you to be a doctor or you have this ideal for yourself that won’t be met unless you make it into the business school. Should you continue on this track that you don’t think will satisfy you in the long run just so you can fulfill this image? In my opinion, you can’t continue on this track if you want to enjoy what you are doing. My parents are constantly preaching that I need to find something that will pay the bills but is something that I can enjoy waking up every morning to do. I’ve seen my dad work with the CDC for over 35 y ears, retire and then return to work the following Monday. I want something like that, and I don’t think I could have seen that happening if I didn’t follow my heart when choosing a major and possible career path.
I am an Anthropology and Human Biology major, and the amount of times I have been asked what can I do with an anthropology major is so numerous that I can no longer count it on one hand. I also get the question of how did I decide that I wanted to major in Anthropology? Until I got to Emory, the only reference I had to anthropology was Bones in the show Bones who was a forensic anthropologist. In high school I decided I wanted to go into Public Health and always wondered what I should major in that I would enjoy studying for four years and would be a great segue into Public health and Anthropology and Human Biology seemed like the perfect compromise. I loved culture and traveling and with a major in Anthropology I have the ability to learn about different cultures from all around the world and analyze how they fit in context with each other. As for the Public Health requirements, the human biology aspect fulfills the science requirements that I would need.
Basically, the moral of this story is that you can major in whatever you want and find a way to work it into a career. I know a person who is currently enrolled in the Med School at Emory and his undergraduate degree was in art history. Whatever you want to do, make sure it is something that you enjoy, because college is the perfect opportunity to follow your passions and discover your calling.
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