So here's the deal....

I entered college as a History major. I love history. I love studying about it, reading about it, etc. I despise American history but love Asian and European history. Well, friends and coworkers at work convinced me to change my major to business, since the majority of jobs with industries I would want to work for (Tech industries mostly) would hire someone with a business degree over a liberal arts degree any day. My focus in business was marketing.

Today was my first day of business classes. I can't tell you how alone I felt in them. I felt so out of place, the material seems way over my head, and to be honest, I don't WANT to take it. I don't find it interesting, I suck at math, and no matter how I try to get interested in the materials, I can't. These classes are also packed. My history classes were at most 35 people. The Economics class is 150 and the business class is at least 65. I feel like a number in them.

It's been tearing me apart all day. I know it's only one day, but I can tell I'm not going to enjoy them. The worst part is I officially changed my major over to Business Monday. The other thing is, I took 4 (!) Asian Art history classes with absolutely NO background or knowledge of the subjects and I aced all 4. I didn't once get the feeling then that I have now.

So today, I dropped all of the business classes I had registered for, that people fight tooth and nail for. I signed up for a 100 level history class since I hadn't taken it and it was still worth credits and I start that tomorrow. It came down to taking something I love doing over taking something I'm going to fight to pass for the next 2 years. Also, the business degree would require 120 credits (most classes don't even count towards the degree, just to get accepted INTO the business school), more than I can take on my scholarship. History is a mere 62.

I guess I just want to ask some of the more mature and experienced members of our community: Do you think I made the right choice? Studying something I enjoy over a more potential (though not guaranteed) successful job?

I, on the other hand, love European history, but hate Asian history lol.

Anyway, I just want to say this. I've always wanted to study Sociology. I am under the greatest of personal beliefs that Sociology is where I'd fit right in. And then there's story-writing. It's something that I'd dedicate my time to, if I wasn't busy with schoolwork. I should be studying English Language or English Literature, alongside with Sociology as a double major.

Unfortunately, in the real world, things seldom go according to plan, and first and foremost, survival takes precedence over personal interests. Hence, I am stuck studying Economics, which I don't loathe, but I would gain greater utility by adopting a different budget curve. Do I regret my decision? Nope. I wouldn't have it any other way, because personally, my interest in upkeeping a family is more crucial than personal interests.

It doesn't mean getting a liberal arts degree is a bad thing. It just opens fewer job windows, especially if you are intending to take a few years into a well-paying job under an employer before, say, moving on and doing your own thing e.g. book authoring, entrepreneurship etc, I think there is nothing wrong with a shift of priorities, and even more so if you already have a general idea for future plans.

You therefore need to ask yourself: what do you really want in life? What's your goal? Do you want to start a SOHO type of business? Do you want to attach yourself to corporate life indefinitely? You have to measure your long term and short term plans, and then weigh the pros and cons.

You know, I did exactly what you did: I majored in Medieval History in university, while during senior high school I majored in Science. I never regretted my choice afterwards, because I just felt I was in the right place. I studied lots of great topics, met lots of wonderful people.

But I knew from the beginning that it would have a cost: I basically gave up any chance for a "successful" job (in the "high salary" department, I mean). Historians are not wanted anymore in our modern societies, basically because they have been taught to THINK about things, to balance opinions and facts, to be critical towards the powers. And modern societies don't want people who think, they want people who buy.

In addition, I knew there wasn't much chances I would ever land my "dream job": to teach european history in a university. Because it's all about politics. If you want to be successful, if you ever consider a career in university, prepare yourself to lick light-years of asses, to witness petty tactics, to work for nothing for the professor who will tutor you. It was like that in France (I'm french), it's certainly like that in Japan, I don't know why it would be different in the United States of America.

Do I regret choosing History in university? Hell no!! I enjoyed every single second of it (well, minus a few ones, let's be honest). If I was presented the choice to "redo" anything, would I choose again History? Yeah, no doubt about it.

Studying something you enjoy is the first key to the degree. No doubt about that. After that, being hired in the job you want is another matter. But don't ever think that by choosing History you closed all doors to Tech jobs. Life is mysterious, you never know what it has for you, you just have to be extra careful, extra aware and be ready to show the extra dedication that will convince your potential boss that you're "the man".

Good luck!!

I'm not really a mature or experienced member here, but I'll make a comment anyway :P

I did some college classes for a program for high school, but decided that college in general isn't for me and if I can make my way around it or find the right niche for me then I'll go for it. But if I just don't like it then I cannot physically or mentally force myself to do it. I also didn't like my experience there, it made me feel like I was being brainwashed rather than taught. "If you disagree with our findings, we will fail you and you will never get a job, therefore you will die."

So I think you should just do what you want and not care so much what other people say on the matter.
Did I just encourage you to ignore my comments? Yes.

Question: What's your plan after you exit college? What career do you want? College should be enjoyable, but it's more important to find a job that you enjoy. If you didn't like your business classes, you probably wouldn't like the careers that would lead out of it. In my experience, doing something that you enjoy is more important than making loads of money.

Business is actually a pretty good choice because it applies to absolutely any place that might hire you and does have useful (if mind shatteringly dull) skills.

What I'd suggest is having a look at the options for your course structure and trying to get a balance of good & shit. You love asian/euro history then that should be your minor with the option of branching out into a double degree at a later stage. The most important thing is to never leave yourself a semester where you don't have a class you're not happy to go to.

In my last year of IT, I was taking english lit as a minor (well I describe it as 'a negligible' because I only took 2 subjects) and the difference it made to me to be happy in a class was really quite remarkable. I was having a really shitty time in the other subjects doing a project that I hated with people who suddenly vanished leaving me to finish it alone so I tossed the lot 7 weeks from the due date and faced the prospect of doing 2 subjects worth of work in half the time you got for doing one subject. Needless to say the stress levels were pretty damned high and going for a weekly 3 hour writing workshop surrounded by cute girls (not a single girl in IT in 5 fucking years of study!) and with a lecturer who was unbelivably hot in that tomboy/nerdgirl way and who really liked my work even when it was my really dark & nasty stuff was the highlight of the week and made the rest of the crap seem bearable.

I should close with the important note than I've STILL not gotten a job out of all this crap but damnit I'm an extremely qualified bum!

My experience of the tech industry (in the UK at least) is that your last 1 or 2 qualifications are all that count, and that includes previous jobs. So really just make sure you get a good grade at college (I assume you get some kind of rankings in the US, here we have 1st, 2:1,.2:2, and 3rd class degrees). After that, choose the profession you want to get into, and try to get into it. People employ based on good grades, with the reasoning that if you can learn a subject to a high level, you can learn any subject to a high level. I've yet to directly use anything I learned in my computer science course, and I'm a programmer.

I've encountered people in my industry who are successful developers having studied music, history, or politics. So my advice is to do what you enjoy, as there's more chance you'll do it well.

I study philosophy with a minor in history. While I'm graduating this upcoming spring, what I've learned from many of whom I've questioned, is that majoring in something you enjoy in undergraduate years is the most important. Don't beat yourself up over stuff you don't enjoy. And while it may be true that a successful job is not guaranteed, it will be something that you have fun with, and learn at the same time. With more marketable fields of study, you're not guaranteed a job either. Just keep that in mind.

There's a long speel I've been pondering for many months about this thing. Here it is in a nutshell: Do what you feel is right, screw everyone else.

I feel a need to post this link now.

Here's a little anegdote:

When my pals and me finished high school, we scattered all over the place. My best pal went to law school, while another went to study engineering. Law school friend is doing great (lacking a social life, but whatever), but the engineering guy... We tried to talk him out of it, because he was a history whiz...

It took him a full year to realise he's wasting his time. He didn't fit in. He had no idea about anything regarding engineering. The only reason he went to study it is because of his parents and the "you must get a decent job" speech. He was very, very sad.

He realised he made a mistake, he lost a year of his life, and switched to History at my college. He's a year older than me, but a year under me academically, and is, in effect, late to the party. He regrets his decision but is now on the right track and feels better than ever. His parents aren't so keen.

In the end, everything turns out great - if you do what you love.

Even if you pick shitty subjects in your first year, you at least get the experience you need for writing uni level essays and assignments

In your opinion, is the CompTIA A+ qualification worth taking? I'm hoping to move into a more IT focused role, so am busy spending my employer's training budget on courses that will enhance my CV (already signed up to get Prince 2 accreditation).

Doing what you enjoy doing is a smart goal, as 75% of your life will be spent doing it. You're also more likely to work longer and harder when you enjoy doing it, which will usually result in faster promotions.

But, enjoying or not classes in a field may not be as good an indicator of how much you enjoy the field once you graduate as you might think.

You'll get better feedback from going to industry seminars at your college, where alumni come and share their experiences.

Internships are even better, though it's easier to get them once you're in your later years (there might also fewer opportunities for history majors to get them - I don't know about that).

I'd also speak to a career counselor. He or she could give you much better advice than any of us. He'd be able to tell you what kind of opportunities will be available once you graduate. (I can only think of a teaching role for history majors).

In short, pick your major based upon how much you will like your future job. College is the means of getting there.

My personal recommendation is to stick with History as your major, but minor in business. What you want to do is prep yourself to be accepted into an MBA program if you later realize that you need a degree that's more marketable.

Also out of any masters degree the MBA is probably the most useful degree anyone could get when it comes to finding a position in a company.

I have a B.A. in History. Graduated in December 08. I entered college undeclared and took 3 semester worth of "requirements." I then became a Communications major and after 3 semesters of that I realized I wanted to study History, and finished up college taking history classes. I took up History because I love the subject and I decided what I wanted to be was a teacher, specifically high school, and I figured why not teach my favorite subject. After I graduated, I fell into a routine with my current job in retail, but just recently I took the required tests to become a high school teacher in my state and passed. So, pretty soon I'm going to be realizing my dream of teaching.

So what it really depends on is your motivation for taking whatever subject it is you are taking. If you are studying history simply because you like it, that's all well and good, but don't expect that degree to really help you in the "grown up" world unless you plan to be a teacher or something related.

Also, theres nothing wrong with switching majors again if you change your mind. Lastly, if you plan on going to graduate school, it doesn't really matter what your undergraduate degree is.