Tag Archives: College Major

Majors, Careers, Trajectories

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I was recently speaking with a friend about majors and careers.  She was feeling a little down because she was worried that what she might end up doing won’t actually relate to her major.  She’s not sure that the typical path for her major is the one for her but at the same time she is not sure what she wants to do besides that.  Is the time that she is spending on this major going to be worth it?  After all, we’re spending quite a bit of money to be educated at Scripps.  No matter what kind of background you come from, there are still people back home that are counting on you to make the most of your time here.  People have hopes, dreams, and expectations for you.  And that can be a huge burden at times. 

When I first decided to be a Media Studies and Theater double major, I wondered if it would really be a good use of my time.  I didn’t know what I ultimately wanted to do after college.  I felt that I got a lot of strange looks from people for doing the “easy major”, and I wondered if I should have done something more intense like STEM or other social sciences.  Now people don’t question it as much because there is still a direct correlation to what I want to do after college.  I have come to terms and strongly believe that the arts isn’t necessarily easier, it just takes a different skill set.  And although the above is a gross oversimplification of the conversation I had with my friend it did make me think a lot about the pressures others put on us about majors and careers, but more importantly the pressures we put on ourselves. 

Because of my internship experiences this summer, I am extremely passionate about perusing a career in the arts and entertainment but it really made me remember that not everyone has found what they want their trajectory to be just yet.  And that’s ok.  Maybe it’s my mislaid optimism but for the sake of sanity I have to believe that every step on the journey is going to mean something.  You’re going to learn something from everything experience, good or bad.  Because even if you look back and maybe feel some time was “wasted” along the way, you might never have gotten to where you are now without that winding road.  Keep rocking, you’re awesome!

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Yes, I’m a Media Studies Major: Part 2

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09Part 2: Defending the Choice

“Hello!  My name is Claire Pukszta and I am a Media Studies major and Theater minor at Scripps College, in Claremont, California.  Nice to meet you!”

A fairly standard issue introduction.  Perfect for the professional setting.  However there are a few key parts of my introduction that usually warrant some confused looks, raised eyebrows, or this response…

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I will forever be explaining where I went to school as well as what I majored in.  Scripps College, while highly ranked and well esteemed, is not a college that slips off people’s tongues like Berkley or UCLA.  And I in coming to Scripps I expected to be forever giving the speech, “Well Scripps is a small, women’s liberal arts college….” You probably know the rest.  It would be a lot easier too if I could just say I was a Psychology or Business major in addition to going to Scripps.  These are fields of study that are fairly consistent in content across institutions.  After becoming enthralled with and deciding to be a Media Studies Major, all I could think to myself was “one more thing to explain”.

Despite how no one fully understands what I’m majoring in (including my parents), I am content with my choice and the questioning looks that come with it.  As a liberal arts student interested in social studies, to a certain degree it doesn’t matter what my major is.  I am here to learn how to think critically and will get that from whichever major I pick.  I am not majoring in Economics or Accounting where I need to learn specific analytic processes.  This is not to put those majors down in any way.  Simply the kind of administrative positions that I am looking for after college are places where I will learn specific responsibilities on the job.  I am fortunate to have that kind of flexibility.  But for those who are not set on specific paths that require a knowledge bank, I would encourage you to explore.  It may lead you in directions you never would have expected! 

I like how my major choice invites further conversation.  It allows me to describe my passion for the intersections of mass culture and social justice and how I want to provide opportunity for individual’s stories to be told.  So even if my major is a little unique, and occasionally indescribable, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  If I am going to sit through 4 years of classes, then they might as well be interesting to me.  I wanted to spend my college career in classes that I will truly enjoy.  So to those out there that want to pursue the major of their dreams, I say why not?  When will you have this opportunity to dive into a field so deeply again?  Take advantage of the time you have here instead of being so worried about the future.  Things will fall into place because you are a hardworking student who will succeed at what you put your mind to!

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Yes, I’m a Media Studies Major: Part 1

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Part 1: The Explanation

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So what is Media Studies you ask?  I’m hoping that by laying out, once and for all, what my major is I can finally help people understand that I am NOT just sitting around watching TV for my college major.  While that is true I watched Parks and Recreation for class once, it is not what I spend my entire day doing.

At its most basic definition, Media Studies is the academic study of culture and mass media.  So while this does include talking about and analyzing TV’s and Movies, this is not the only thing in the field.  We talk a lot about news media, social media, and evolving forms of “new” media.  Basically any form of communication in our rapidly evolving world is up for grabs.

But what is more important than any one media form is the academic part of the definition.  We are constantly grappling with what does media mean in our daily life?  How does media reflect what we value as a society?  How are political, economic, and historical systems affected by media?  How does the media reveal inequalities and gaps in social consciousness?  How can media be a force for change?  It is so much more about psychology and philosophy than people would expect.

In a world post-2016 election, I think is imperative to understand the role that media plays in our society.  We saw its massively powerful impact firsthand.  I want to study media because it seems to be a gap in our consciousness.  We spend large chunks of our day consuming media.  Since it is so integral to our daily life, I think that it really warrants further study to know how it is impacting us.

I have been asked before if my degree will be obsolete in 5 years because media is changing faster than academia can really keep up with.  But I don’t feel that is the case.  A Media Studies degree is giving me a valuable analytical toolkit.  As I prepare for a career in entertainment, I will be able to understand the current state of affairs and hopefully predict where the media world is going.

I am a huge media consumer myself.  To be a part of the conversation and to understand how this world that I love works will be invaluable going forward.  I never thought that I would be able to combine my passions for media and analytics in a degree but here you have it!  I just hope that I can continue to be an ambassador for the field and its value into my professional career.

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The Big Picture

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When I came to Scripps College, I had a vague understanding of what I wanted to study [politics]. Some people have a clear path [pre-Med, pre-Law] and I think I took my friends’ steadfast career intuition a little too seriously my freshman and sophomore year. While most people at age 18, especially those who choose to attend a well-rounded, liberal arts college, do not know exactly what professional field they want to pursue, I felt like I was the only one who did not have a concrete plan of action. If you’re feeling like this as an underclassman – DON’T! Screen Shot 2015-06-26 at 3.11.47 PM

During my hiatus on “finding the perfect career and major”, I invested hours in trying to discover my perfect career and major. I became obsessed with personality quizzes that claimed to find your one-true job. I pestered all my upperclassmen friends with questions on how to pick a major/career. I looked at CEOs and world leaders’ Wikipedia pages to find their majors and previous jobs. I went to a ton of CP&R career-info sessions [even one on the CIA!]. I looked everywhere to find answers to these questions when in fact, they don’t have always have concentrate answers.

Yes, by sophomore year students have to declare a major. But your major by no means determines your career. So while majors are not the-end-all-be-all, still you should not make this important decision based solely on an online quiz, or what your friend thinks they see you doing. If anything, these quizzes and friends will reinstate the qualities and personality traits you already know you have. So take outside viewpoints into consideration, but really think about what classes excite you and what classwork interested you the most. I chose Public Policy Analysis because the most interesting class discussions surrounded public policies. I found that all my papers [in CORE, Economics, even Spanish] focused on how social and economic policies affected people. When looking through the course catalog for the upcoming year, the classes that sparked my interest the most were all in the Public Policy Analysis Department.

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In regards to a career, my extensive research showed me that there is absolutely no way I can formulate a definite career path at age 20. Careers take twists and turns, hit bumps, and are fast-tracked. My internship experience has told me a lot more about what type of career I want than quizzes or friends’ opinions. I enjoyed the exciting pace of legislative work, and how it was always tied in to relevant events. I also enjoyed working in all-women environments, which I have been able to do for the past two summers [and at Scripps]. I also learned that it’s good to have long-term goals, but it might be more practical to have short-term goals [i.e. where do I want to be right after college, not where do I want to be before I retire]. So if you’re unsure the answers to life’s “big” questions, do. not. panic. By focusing on what I’m interested in at the moment [public policy, women’s rights, labor economics] and beginning to formulate short-term plans [researching graduate schools] I do not feel overwhelmed, but I do feel productive!

When Life Gives You Lemons…

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When you’re trying to make lemonade, life doesn’t always give you lemons. It’s great if you do get lemons and make lemonade out of them (which you should), but it doesn’t always work that way. Success is hard to achieve. Some people make it look easy to be famous, or have cool jobs, or do really well after school. But for many people, it actually took a long time to get to that place.

Buzzfeed posted a list of people who are super successful now, but weren’t in their twenties. I guess that’s reassuring to know that people like Oprah weren’t always the superstars they are today. But is it really? It’s still terrifying to think about not having a job after you graduate from college, or not having any success with things you’d like to do.

We all have dreams and hopes for ourselves, especially college students after graduation. We’d all like to think that we’ll be doing exactly what we want once we’re out of college. As a first year, I know I shouldn’t be worrying about my future self in four years, but I can’t help it. I feel like as much as you set yourself up for success, it’s all up to whether or not life wants you to have those lemons. I definitely want those lemons, so I’m going to try to start early on my success after college.

What do I think that entails? I think that means going to career fairs, thinking about goals you want to achieve while still in college, making connections, applying for internships… Everything that they say to do in college. And ultimately I feel like even though you can try really hard to get those lemons, sometimes it doesn’t work out right away. But I do know that if you keep trying and stay motivated, you are a lot more likely to get to where you want to be. For some people, life requires more work to earn your lemons.