Feeling confident in choosing a major can be stressful but the Career Center is here to help.
CPU1100, a class on career and personal exploration which is offered by the center, can assist students in choosing a major.
Ed Venegas, a career counselor and teacher, set up a workshop called “What to Do When Your Major is Not For You.” The workshop would give students a taste of what his Career and Personal Exploration course is all about.
“I know that a lot of students have to change their major. The idea for this workshop was to help get a group of students started with choosing a major,” Venegas said.
During the workshop, Venegas handed out a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Self-Estimated Type worksheet to determine what students’ sense of purpose type was.
The worksheet is designed to help students narrow what they prefer by asking if they are introverts or extroverts and whether they use: sensing or intuition, thinking or feeling, and judging or perceiving.
Venegas says a sense of purpose is key.
“Sense of purpose allows you to achieve your end goal or career choice and the way to do that is through the way your sense of purpose allows you to,” Venegas said.
Madison Vanden Berge, a third-year physics major, said the workshop helped her solidify the doubts she had about her chosen major.
“Failing a core course made me realize that this major wasn’t for me and made me feel confident that I want to change my major to communications.”
Armando Santos Ponce, a third-year civil engineering major, explained why he decided to stay in his major after attending the workshop.
“Considering that I’ve been doing well in my classes for the last three years, I feel comfortable staying in civil engineering because I know what to expect and have been exposed to careers in the field through internships and assisting professors in research,” Ponce said.
“Some advice I would give to students struggling to feel comfortable in their major is to give their major their all and if it’s not for them, then to test out other interests while they can in their college career.”
This workshop has inspired Venegas to hopefully do group advising in the future.
He said he wants to remind students that it’s OK to switch majors because if students attempt to do what they want, then their sense of purpose will be fulfilled.