How to choose the right college degree

In my How I Got Started and You Can Too post I advised on going to college only if you really wanted to, today I share how you make the right choice while choosing the right college degree for you. Spoiler alert: choose something you love!

Around my 2nd year in college, I hit a block. I wasn’t happy. I didn’t feel like I was learning what I needed. I felt lost. I almost give up and went to a fly attending course (if you know me, you know how funny this seemed, I’m 1,50cm!). But I got through and this was what I learned through this course and what I have to give to every student looking to choose the right college degree this summer:

How can we choose the perfect degree for us? How can we know if the degree that we have been dreaming of since kids is indeed for us? How can we decide what we want to do in the future?

Well, we don’t. No one knows. And don’t be mistaken by Aptitude Tests or other theories. No one can know the perfect degree for itself without going through it first. And still, then, you can go through a degree, graduate with the best grades, and still not feel happy when you get to apply all the theory in the real world (aka when you find the job).

Everything is possible. The only certainty we can have is that we can’t wait to feel 100% certain about our degree or career choice, because in most cases, no one is.

I know several people that have chosen the degree of their dreams and when got there and faced the real career and what it took, they lost all the interest and realized they were idealizing something that was nothing to do with their personality. And I’m not talking about giving up on a dream career because the degree is too demanding or difficult, no, I’m talking about realizing that they didn’t really want that. It happens, yes. More times than we think, much more than we thought when we were choosing our degrees in high school and had all the certain in the world of what we wanted.

Of course, there are also the ones that don’t have any idea of what they want to do, that choose a degree last minute while filling up their college applications and that ends up working very well for them, having a very happy career in that field. But let’s face it, that happens very few times.

So, what is the best thing to do?

Above all? Choose a degree that you know will give you a lot of excitement to be on. And when I say this, is not regarding the fun academic life, the friends that are going there… no, I’m really talking about the study part.

The most important is to do a degree with classes that really interest you, that make you want to go to classes, want to learn, get to know more about the subject. Because college is exactly this. And most times we forget that! Choosing a college degree with a subject that you’re curious about is the top tip to have a happier college experience.

The biggest goal of being a college student should be to learn something, not only end up with a paper saying “Graduated in…”. It should be leaving that school most days with a huge smile on your face because you learned something new and really interesting, that it was worth it leaving the house that morning to have that. And at the end of the degree be able to look back and feel that you’re leaving there as a more fulfilled and knowledgeable person on more interesting things than when you entered.

Yes, this is a tough topic and something we don’t hear often, unfortunately. We hear “choose that degree, you will have a job guaranteed”, “don’t choose that one, you saw all those people without jobs?”… But we don’t hear “choose your heart”, “follow your curiosity” so often. We should remember more this.

I wrote most of the above when I was a college student. I was in my 2nd year as a college degree, I was feeling lost, not stimulated enough with my classes. But I got past that and came back on the other side. You will too. So, don’t worry. Take the tip. Choose something that excites you. You will have to study a lot in the coming years, and if that has to happen, is best to be something you love.

Good luck! Have fun!

As, old graduates, will be here to help in any doubt. 🙂