Daniel E. Feinberg, MLIS, M.Ed
Online Learning Librarian
University of North Florida
d.feinberg@unf.edu
For those who go to university and are told to try to choose a major at 18 years old, they all make decisions that affect their future career paths. Some people are unsure if their initial chosen major is the right choice, or even if it is feasible. Depending on the major, many students will choose a major in a timely manner so they can graduate in four years. I remember thinking that I would become a CDC biologist/chemist or a Broadway actor. However, the real question became what I am going to do with the rest of my life. Recalling my parents’ advice, “choose a major in which you are going to come out of college with a job” truly meant nothing to me because I did not know what they really meant by saying a job, rather than saying a career. What is the similarity or the difference here? What my father did was become a teacher, and then he became a lawyer while he taught. My mother wanted to be a librarian in the 1960s. However, her parents felt it would be better if she worked as a teacher. And so, when I went to university, I bounced around from major to major not knowing what I was doing; I was aimlessly hoping that I would fall into a discipline that would somehow land me into a career.
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