Choosing Your Major

My Ambivalence

One day before I got my hand surgery in a hospital in Texas, I needed to attain some shots to prepare for the surgery. The nurse who was accompanying me was friendly, asking me some little talks to make me relax and comfort. Once, she was asking me about my major, "Why do you choose to major in Industrial Engineering?" For some reasons, I did not know the answer. I watched the dust motes spinned in the thin shafts of afternoon light. For a moment, I forgot that I would have a surgery soon. I fell into a deep sleep before I ever said the answer. Yet, I did not have it.

From that moment, I had been worrying about my major. People say that College is the most crucial time because we get to choose what we wanna be by choosing our major. I worried that if I chose the wrong major, I would end up feeling regretful at the end of my life. I understood that the correct major for other people may not be the same as the correct major for me. But when it comes to the question "So what is YOUR correct major?", i did not have a single answer. I chose Industrial Engineering when I applied to Texas Tech just because I needed to. In addition, I can work in most of the companies with that major. After a semester I studied at Texas Tech, I went to the Industrial Engineering Department and found out that there weren't so many students studying Industrial Engineering. "Perhaps IE is not the correct major for me," I thought. Then, I came to the Career Center, an office which gives students insights and advices about their prospective careers. The officer gave me a little cliche about choosing a major-The Three Circles. There are three things a student needs to think of before choosing their future careers. They are talents, passion, and well paid job. The ideal job is where these three things meet up. If you only have talents and passion, you will be poor but happy. If you only have talents and well paid job, you will be rich but unhappy.

I was starting to ask my self what is my talent. I have quite a lot of talents (or what I called talents). I am really good in math and science-thats why I want to be an engineer. I am good at designing and drawing. I often design and create my own stuff such as my own study desk, my own laptop case, and crafts. I am also pretty good dealing with computer. The next circle is well paid job. I am pretty sure that Industrial Engineering will not help me to make a bunch of money but it offers a "normal life" in the office or factory. Another career such as petroleum engineers indeed will give me tons of dollars each year, but I can't imagine myself spending my whole life in the off shore while my future family may need me. The last circle is the hardest one-passion. I did not know how much I thought about it, I still could not find what my passion is and what I really want to do in life. I like (or dislike) many things. I don't have something in particular that I really like. Some of my friends like doing Karate, Soccer, or play a music band. I have none (or I may not realize just yet). One of my friends said that I did not look really excited with my major as what other people do with theirs. I was in Industrial Engineering, but I was thinking to change my major to petroleum or mechanical engineering. Let me tell you one thing, I did not really excited with all those major either. I was so pathetic, but that was what I was really afraid of.

Declared: I am an Industrial Engineer

Now after I spent a year in the college and had some talks with friends and mentors, I know that I already have an answer of the question "Why do you choose Industrial engineering?" If people ask that question, I will confidently say that it is my passion that I long denied. I was too worrying that I would choose the wrong path of my life. I was to worrying that I would regret my choice . I worried to much if I would not make enough money to live later in my life. I was worrying that Industrial Engineering at Texas Tech is very bad so that  I would not be able to get a good job. Now, all that I regret is why did I deny my major for the first time I entered college? If I didn't deny IE, I would have joined IE organization and made a lot of friends. If I didn't deny IE, I would have planned how my IE experience will be.

Few weeks ago, one of my friends posted an inspirational picture about success in life. The picture mostly looks like this.
I do agree that college is a crucial time where we supposed to choose where we want to be. However, it doesn't mean that we only have two options between success and failure. There will be many more times we should decide later in life. For example, you need to decide where will you build your business up to gain the most profit, or wether you want to take a master degree or not. They all have impacts in your life. There are no such things like wrong major or correct majors. Even if you took the wrong decision, it doesn't mean that you will end up regretting. Even if you failed today, it doesn't mean that you will fail tomorrow. The most important is how you deal with your own decision, whether you want to just sit down when you fail or stand up against it and make another decision. If you don't choose the right thing, make another decision again and again. You need to make things work for you!

At first, I thought that I might not be successful by choosing IE since it is not the best major at Texas Tech. I may be right or wrong, who knows? However, a success doesn't come from what major you are, but who you are and what will you do to earn it. I believe that I always give my best at everything, even for things that is not very important for me. For example, before the National Examination I had known that I will study in the United States and I wouldn't need anything to deal with National Exam. However, I still put my 100% effort to it. Consequently, I got the best score in National Exam not only among those who were in the same high school but among all students in the town. Sometimes, giving 100% also works for something that seems impossible. For instance, in my political science class at Tech, I mostly got B's or even a C. Political science is very hard for me because I needed to learn about America's politics and I needed to catch up with the current political situation that I didn't even understand. There was no way I could get an A in the class unless I got 100 in the final exam. However, I didn't stop trying. I focused my time and thought to study two weeks prior to the exam. At the end, I got 100 in the final exam. It seems impossible, but believe it or not I made it. So, when I believe that I can be success in IE, some miracles may happen in front of my eyes.

At the first time I chose Industrial Engineering, I did not even know what is Industrial Engineering and what will I do with that major. I just simply decided it. I didn't know why did I think that way. After a few months at Tech, I read about majors-related articles. I found out that the main job of an IE is to make the process more eficient so that a company will gain more profit. The works of an IE is not limited to manufacture-related jobs, but it has a broader variety of jobs starting from hospitality service, entertainment (like disney), or even in oil company. In addition, when I came to the career service, I took a test that will show my interest. In fact, I have all the skills to be an IE. So for a long time, I just simply deny what my passion is.

If you think that all of your future jobs will relate to your study in the University, you must be wrong. I have talked with many people in the "working world," and noticed that many of them didn't use their knowledge at the University at all. Some of them may have job which relates to their studies such as doctors. However, many of them still needed to learn again from the basic when they entered the job because each jobs is different. Your knowledge at college may become the basic, but you will learn the most and be the expert in your field when you start working. The most important thing about college is not about the chemistry or physics you learn, but it is about a good theacher that will teach you how to deal with both failures and successes. Sometimes you get a good grades, sometimes you get a very bad grades. Not about the grades, but it is about how you deal with them. In IE, I will learn the basic skills of management, leadership, and how to efficiently make things work for me. These probably will be useful not only in the working world, but also in my personal life.

Thank you for reading my blog. Whatever you major is, believe in it and always do it 100%. I know YOU CAN!