Written By: Lauren Hersey
We’ve all heard it since childhood, the age-old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Growing up with a sister that knew she wanted to be a vet since we got our two golden retrievers back in the diaper days made me that much more anxious to figure out what I wanted to “be” in life.
I started college and began taking my general education courses. After my first semester at UNF my advisor asked me what I wanted to major in. The panic started setting in. Everyone I knew had some idea of what they wanted to do, or at least what they would be good at. Not this girl. And now for the real heart breaker, there’s no job where you can sit on the beach with friends all day, which is my true talent. My advisor soon realized I had no clue what I wanted to do as a career and suggested that I take a Career Planning course. I wasn’t sure if it would help, but I enrolled knowing there was no possible way it could make me worse off than I already was.
Throughout the course, my professor had us take a few different personality tests. They were surprisingly accurate with pegging my personality type. They also helped a lot with figuring out what types of career fields I would be good at as well as enjoy. My professor had many speakers come into the class. They would talk to us about things like getting involved in clubs, going to career fairs and networking, things that ultimately helped me find the major that sparked my interest the most, communication.
I’ve always enjoyed writing, and the personality test I took in Career Planning said I need a career that would constantly surround me with people because I am an extrovert. I started asking communication majors what they wanted to do once they graduated and how they liked it so far. This helped me realize this was the major for me. I joined Osprey Productions and started going to all the events on campus and I really enjoy it.
I still don’t know exactly what I want to do as a career but I know that if I graduate with a degree in something I enjoy I will be able to find a career that I enjoy as well. I really like the environment in the communication department and the personalities of all the people fit my personality better than in any of the other options I explored while taking my Career Planning course.
I am so glad my advisor suggested taking this course because now I don’t have to worry about jumping around from different majors and having to take unnecessary classes. I love the communication department and all my classes so far. I am so thankful that the panic of “what I want to major in” has been relieved and that I don’t need to worry about “what I want to be when I grow up” just yet.
Swoop Scoop 