WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THAT ?
Eventually, Grace realized that she needed to make a change in her studies, but she did so painfully. She felt like she had failed. Moreover, she was unsure as to what her options now were. Grace is still not a history major. Instead, she is studying a field that I would classify lies somewhere in between STEM and the humanities/social sciences. I write this article hoping to speak to the Grace’s of the world. What many fail to realize is that majoring in the humanities does not mean being a free-spirit-still- mooching-off-your-parents-at-35. It means that you can pursue a career that you love while still paying your bills. It is great if a more traditional path points you in a career direction that you are passionate about. But, if you're like me and that route doesn’t excite you, or you’re only pursuing it because you feel that's what you should be doing, then I encour- age you to dare to look elsewhere, to dream a little bigger, and to look for an alternate path that works for you.
Kath-
leen is a Political Science and Spanish & His- panic Studies dou- ble major at Union Co
by Kathleen Sinatra
lege from Bridgewater, CT. Kathl interest in utilizing student vo create social change
What are you going to do with that?
I don’t think that these messages are uncom- mon.We invest so much time, energy, and fi - nancial resources into a college degree that the result is a mounting and inescapable feeling that you sure as heck better have a plan post- graduation. And, traditional routes towards finding a job (and more specifically, one that ensures we are not eating ramen noodles for the rest of our lives) seems safe. We all want security. My friend Grace was always pushed towards engineering and STEM fields. She was con - stantly told by those around her that this was right path for her, and that a degree in what she loved, history, would be useless. So, Grace went to college and began taking the courses for en- gineering. And she struggled. A lot. So much so that she wasn’t even sure if the college she was attending (or college at all) was right for her. But, it wasn’t that she was incapable of excel- ling in this field, she just simply didn’t enjoy what she was doing.
This is a phrase I used to hate. As a Political Sci- ence and Spanish & Hispanic Studies double ma- jor, I haven’t decided to follow the educational or career path that was continuously fed to me- throughout my life. Get a biology degree and be- come a doctor, they said. Study computer science or become an engineer, they said. Well, my experience in AP Biology proved that bi- ology was not the course for me, and I placed last when trying to create a contraption that would win the egg drop competition.
Kathleen was a Political Science and Spanish & Hispanic Studies double major.
began Kathleen is a Political Science Spanish & Hispanic Studies double maj ion College from Bridgewater, CT. Kathleen’s interest in u ing student voices to create social change began her first year at Union College when she par - ticipated in a class that led her to co-author the book “Generation Now: Millennials Call for So- cial Change.” She has since assisted with the editing and writing process of subsequent volumes of the same series and co-authored an article on 4Humanities called “Social Change I am studying Political Science and Spanish & His- panic Studies and I am excited by the endless oppor- tunities that I have as career options. I feel as though the world truly is my oyster. I continue to try to expand my skills, taking tatistics courses, graphic design courses, and continuing to find extracurriculars that support what I am interest - ed in. I don’t know exactly what I want to be “when I grow up,” but that's okay. I know that I will be suc- cessful and that my studies are preparing me for jobs in a variety of different fields. If anything, I have s many avenues I can’t wait to explore further. All I can ever hope for is to find a career where work doesn’t even feel like work. Instead, I hope to find a career that allows for constant learning, excitement, and a continuous exploration of my passions. Kathleen’s interest in using student voices to create social change began her first year of college when she participated in a class that led her to co-author the book Generation Now: Millennials Call for Social Change (available on Amazon). She has since assisted with the editing and writing process of subsequent volumes of the same series and co-authored an article on 4Humanities called “Social Change through Storytelling.” During her years as an undergraduate, she also spent a semester as a legislative intern for Congressman Paul Tonko in Washington D.C. and a semester in Seville, Spain. She graduated college in June 2020 and has recently began her first job working at a healthcare advertising agency in New York City. She continues to write and explore her interests and passions as a young professional.
I knew what I didn’t want to do, but I still wasn’t sure of what I did want to do. And, this was scary.
You'll notice in my previous comments I use the word "they." Contrary to what you may have as- sumed, the "they" doesn't reference neither my parents nor my teachers. Rather the "they" re- fers to acquaintances I met in passing, or my third cousin, or, most consistently, me.
College is hard, and investing time into some- thing you don’t like only makes it harder.
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Arts & Humanities
Don’t Leave College Without Them
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