You don’t need to major in graphic design to work in the field. The only thing you need is to create your own portfolio and get people to know you (Instagram, etc)
Meanwhile you can either get a job somewhere with maybe a little more quality of life than america (idk where are you from) or you can finish your degree in psychology (and obviously after enroll in a master because the degree alone is useless). I don’t recommend you to start over again because you will never like anything enough. Academia is boring. That’s the truth.
Do what you both love and are good at.
Don’t pick your degree based on what you’ll enjoy studying, pick based on what you want to be able to do for a career.
This is the opposite of what I’d tell a 17 year old worrying about what they’ll apply to do at college. At that age college is as much about social education and growing up as it is about academic education. You’re 25, you’re past that. The only reason to get a degree now is to further your career.
If you can’t decide on a career path that identifies a degree you need to do, then why are you doing a degree? Its just a waste of money if you don’t need to get one.
As for classes being boring…heads up, almost all jobs are boring 50-75% of the time (minimum). Many jobs are boring 95% of the time. It sucks to say, but get used to having to do stuff you find boring - thats part of being an adult. Kids get to say “I’m bored now, I’m leaving”, adults don’t.
So yeah…consider what career path you want to follow. Base that on what you’ve done with your life thus far, what building blocks have you already laid. Identify the sorts of things you like in a job, and what you dislike in a job. And then work out what the educational pathway is for you to get into that career.
Make a plan. Stick to the plan. If the plan requires you to study part time for the next 6 years whilst you work to support yourself, then do it. If the plan needs you to study full time for a couple of years and take out loans to support yourself, do it. The important thing at this stage is to make a decision, and follow through on it.
Occupational health is cool
I’m 24 in the exact same boat as you. I wanted to do nursing, and then now I’m in the biology program. I think the biggest thing to do is pick something and stick to it. I want to change my major again, and I wanted to countless times. Most people don’t end up using your major, and your major isn’t something that you HAVE to do for the rest of your life.
I think put aside your age, and map out career paths based on majors. I picked biology because the opportunities are endless. There are so many types of graduate programs you can get into with a biology degree, and entry level jobs.
Map out the pros and cons of each major, and if you feel that indecisive atleast pick something where you can pick a variety of different careers. Also with your age a lot of the times FASFA should make college free depending on how much you currently make. Right now I don’t have to pay for anything and I get additional money to cover books.
And when you decide, STICK TO IT. The grass isn’t always greener, and many times you can find a foot in the door in any field once you get your bachelors degree. Of course it is all circumstantial but when you think outside the box the world has so much to offer.
Get a book called Strength Finders 2.0. It comes with a test you take online. This will show you your strengths and things you like. It was part of freshman year where my daughter went to college. I’ve given it as HS graduation gifts then and it seems to be helpful and well liked.
Ultimately, what you want to do doesn’t matter as much as what you do. I’m 28 and I felt akin to you in deciding what to do for my masters. I waited ages to commit to a path and now that i’m finally accepted into gradschool I STILL see 5 other paths I think I could take or would like to have taken. The thing is, I would never had learned of these new paths had I not decided on my first path. Additionally, I always feared regretting my choice but now that i’ve made it, what think is worse is looking back at the time in which I did nothing because I was ‘deciding.’ Time time does not wait for us to make decisions. Eventually, there is no more time. So, it doesn’t matter what you choose in that respect, the only thing that matters is that you DO choose.
I would think about all the things I’ve tried in my life, especially things I didn’t like. You might think you like something but reality presents itself differently or your expectations set you up for disappointment. Then I would see what choices remain. Also think about ROI. Unless if you have support and mobility in choosing, go for it, but if you don’t, think about the future. Also, you can wait another five years then pick again… No shame in that.
“How to tell if you don’t hate a field?” This literally just answer so many things in my life thanks
Genuine question: I don’t love social work or teaching, but I’m planning on going into one of those two fields because I like it most of the time and I’m good at it. Is that a bad idea? My theory is if you like something 70% of the time that’s good enough, but now I’m second guessing myself.
Lol when I literally get bored of studying anything for more than an hour 
If you don’t stick to your natural skills, you’ll likely get stuck in a profession that you aren’t gifted at and be destined to a life of mediocrity. Even if the job you start with you like (initially), eventually you may not. This is why it’s valuable to pick a career that pays well enough to have that option later on.
Can you dwell a little more on this because it seemed contradictory to me.
Pick what you’re good at, only to burnout and hate that field 10 years down the line, or choose something that pays the bills, while pursuing your interests as hobbies, while living a life of mediocrity.
Is this what you mean? I couldn’t understand. Sorry.
I’m definitely keeping this close to me good advice !
What if I’m literally not good at anything?
omg this is amazing thank you
Neither are the streets
part 2/2
Training:
There are two types of training to think about:
- Training to be functional in your job
- Continuous education
Whether it’s high school, college, certification courses, on-the-job training, a tech school, whatever, once you’ve figured out your target (i.e. the job you want), you’ll need to get trained up for it. Companies aren’t looking for the next Michael Jordon superstar, they’re looking for someone to fit the role they need to hire for ASAP so that they can fulfill their business requirements. Your job is to get trained so that you can function effectively in order to meet that demand.
For me, that type of clarity really helped knock down some anxiety barriers for me, because I was just there do a job. The quality of the job I did & the enjoyment of the job I do are solely upon me; companies simply seek qualified employees.
In addition continuous education is, for me, a key part of the equation. You risk getting outdated if you don’t stay on top of your field. When I got into IT a couple decades ago, the dot-com boom had just happened, high-speed Internet was become commonplace, and everything was pretty straightforward hardware-wise.
Fast-forward 20 years later and we’re talking about high-speed encrypted VPN’s with 6 monitors at home for doing DCC work, cloud servers, company-wide chat services like Slack, HD Zoom video calls with meetings held all over the world, virtual servers, etc.
I would not be nearly as effective in my job as I am had I not kept on top of continuous education, including classes, certificates, advancing my degree, staying on top of news, keeping an updated homelab, etc. I’ve seen more than one friend get pushed out of this job because their knowledge stays static & their skills become irrelevant over time, meaning their value to the company lessens over time to the point where they’re not longer needed.
Creating a simple personal continuing education plan doesn’t have to be difficult, in most cases nothing more than spending 15 or 20 minutes a day staying on top of news & advancements, digging into learning more about specific topics, and maybe taking an online class here & there, because that kind of iterative approach really adds up over time, but if you don’t do it, then you risk getting left behind in the dust of progress!
Advancement:
I’m not talking about ladder-climbing, I’m talking about two things here:
- Your value to the workforce
- Your financial remuneration, commiserate with experience
Most jobs have 3 levels:
- Noob
- Pretty good
- Guru-status
The pay levels usually match what your status is within the job. Lots of sites out there can tell you the financial payscales based on the area (as the “cost of living” in each area is really important to consider). The better you get at your job, the more valuable you are, and the more worth you are to the various companies within your field, which means the better you can get paid.
This is a key part of lifestyle planning, because once you’ve defined what you want from life, you can create a plan to get trained for the job, get the job, and then level-up in the job from beginner to well-trained to expert. And this is where continuing education comes into play: the more valuable you make yourself, the more valuable you become, and the more you can get paid, the better job opportunities you have, and more fulfillment you can get.
By default, we’re content to take what comes our way, whether it’s education or job opportunities, and while it does require some effort to define what we want, it’s not really too hard in practice, we just have to do it! Imagine going into the workforce armed with this knowledge:
- A clear idea of your desired lifestyle & required financial future
- A defined set of personal fulfillment requirements
- A selection of specific jobs to pursue that meet your various requirements
- A willingness to create a plan & put in the effort to pursue training to achieve the job you’re interested in
- A commitment to continuing your education (in small bites) on a daily basis in order to increase your value & stay relevant within your industry
None of this stuff is rocket science; it’s just that the world lacks a tool or service to help aid us in this simple yet critical path forward. Guidance counselors are great, but defining the rest of your working life isn’t a single 10-minute meeting once a year you know? So everything in the post above is what I tend to walk people through when they get stuck in life & need help figuring out what to do.
Until these critical requirements are met (defining your financial requirements for your desired life, defining what your personal fulfillment requirements are, selecting several jobs you could be happy with long-term, and creating a plan for becoming qualified for said job & then staying plugged into the state of the art in order to stay relevant & move up to expert status), then it’s really easy to get lost in the motion of life & stay on the treadmill of stasis, instead of getting on the path & hiking towards real progress & real results from a course that you personally define & chart yourself.
Good news is, it’s pretty easy! It’s just a checklist that you can chip away on! You don’t need an instant answer, but you do need the right of questions & you do need to make progress on it every day so that you can slowly build up a crystal-clear picture of what you personally want. I compare it to being a sculptor & being given a block of marble…it’s not an overnight process, but once you’re done, you’ll have a pretty clear idea of how you want to life your life professionally!
you are an incredible human thank you for this
What moves did you make when you found the psychology degree to be unhelpful?
What major in health you choose, and what did you do before?
I was thinking neuroscience or physical therapy for health and IT , data science for tech
I have interest in the arts but I might as well do it on the side for fun or build a business around it