The, ‘And What Are You Going To Do With That?’ Majors.

It’s no secret that many of us take majors in college that might not have a straight forward career path. We have a unique problem on our hands.

Studying engineering? You’re going to work as an engineer when you graduate. Studying nursing? Well, I would hope we can all assume you’re going to become a nurse.

Or perhaps you’re avoiding college (An increasingly smart move) and you’re going to become a tradesmen. Carpentry, masonry, plumbing, or maybe you’re going to become an electrician. One could safely assume that you will be a carpenter, stonemason, plumber, or the previously mentioned electrician.

But then there are those of us who might not know what to do once we leave institutional education behind and enter the workforce. Maybe you studied communication or business or, in my case, creative writing. Despite knowing that I wanted to be an author and perhaps a great many things in addition to that (Space cowboy), I felt lost for many months after graduation, and still feel lost at times to this day.

Shortly after promising myself I’d launch this website this month, a waitress at the restaurant I work at said to me, after learning what my degree was in, “It’s okay, I have a degree in graphic design and I’m not using it either.”

It was the, “Either,” part that got me thinking.

“Either,” marked it out as an unfortunate truth. Many of us do not use the degree we spent so much money on for one reason or another. Maybe they did use it and things didn’t work out. Maybe something unexpected came up and they now have obligations higher than pursuing that dream. Maybe, they’re just scared.

Barring certain exceptions, the only time your degree has no use is when you, ahem, don’t use it.

It’s understandable to assume things when someone isn’t working in their field of choice; but when that was said to me, it felt like a sign. Reinforcing my promise to start the website. To at least try. Like I said, in some ways, I’m still lost. But who isn’t?

Those of us with no straightforward path, we must keep going. I have met and am friends with people who earned one of these unclear degrees. They found their way. They found jobs and earn a decent wage despite having no singular, obvious choice of career waiting for them after graduation. And we’ve all heard the stories of now highly successful people, lost and confused, eventually figuring it out and becoming who we know them as today.

Just because you’re unsure what you want to do when you graduate, does not mean your degree wasn’t worthwhile.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, start. Even if it’s bumbling, fumbling, and bad (as my execution of this website and this post may or may not have been), start.

Thank you for reading.