Tag Archives: Major

Fear, Accomplishment, and Major Decisions?

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I’ve spent the last few weeks obsessing about a project. It was very detailed and involved organizing a lot of very technical information. I’m bad at details, I was scared of making mistakes interpreting the technical details, and generally spent a lot of time freaking out in front of my spreadsheets. (Not to mention complaining to my sister, mother, significant other, bestie from high school, Scripps friends, etc…)

But the last few days I’ve been in a meeting at which the fruits of my labor, cards visualizing the development scheduling of different applications’ pieces of interfaces, are displayed all over the wall. My cards are driving the discussion, and as intended, getting moved around and edited. I’ll be updating the spreadsheet to keep track of key changes. Despite my fears of being known as the intern who messed up the big meeting, I’ve been getting a lot of great acknowledgement from my team and the larger project for my work.

This has become a bit of a pattern for me, both in my blog posts (sorry for the repetition!) and in my personal life. I think that I am not up to a challenge, but I am. I imagine every permutation of failure, work really hard, and then…don’t fail. This feels good. It might not be the most efficient or reasonable way to get work done (I wish I could skip the self-doubt part) but it does work for me. And this process, silly as it may sound, is actually an improvement personally from a time where I would get stuck in my worries and never overcome my fears.

I think I’ve gotten better at getting through my crisis worry mode because of practice. Successfully taking math, a subject that reduced me to tears in high school, has acclimated me to tackling the unfamiliar and challenging. I know how to work through the scary stuff, even though it still scares me. The way through is just lots of work, lots of time, and lots of questions. It sounds obvious, but it can be terrifying to do all of those things when the possibility of failure, and all that effort wasted, looms.

I’m a firm believer that practice makes perfecter (clearly I haven’t quite achieved perfection in grammar). Thinking about this habit in my work life and my academic life has helped me solidify my plan to major in Mathematical Economics. Economics fascinates me, and math both interests me and scares me out of my wits. But I want to keep on practicing working through that fear, because out in the working world, I’m going to encounter problems that seem unsolvable. I want the toolkit to face those problems down.

Major Dilemmas

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Hi folks! Spring courses are now up on the portal, and many of you, I’m sure, are busy deciding what classes to take. One of the main reasons I chose a liberal arts college is that I sincerely believe in the benefit of a wide breadth of study. But looking at the class lists, major requirements, and general education requirements can be overwhelming. As a freshman, I felt like it would be impossible to fit everything I wanted to do at Scripps into just four short years. For sophomores in particular, this is a stressful time. We are normally required to declare our majors by the end of the year (or sooner if you’re going abroad early!), and many of us consider spring courses our last chance to “experiment” and get a taste for the coursework in a major. The process of choosing a major was covered just last week by a wonderful fellow blogger, Jenny (read her awesome post), but I’ve just officially declared my major and wanted to add my own experience to the mix.

The way I saw it, I had two ways to decide: I could choose based on the academic and professional experiences I’d enjoyed in the past, and on the academic and professional future I wanted to have. Now, I understand that one’s undergraduate studies aren’t necessarily linked to one’s professional aspirations; even pre-health and pre-law students are free to major in unrelated fields. But for financial reasons, I’d like to be as well situated as I can for a job immediately after graduation. (I’ve also heard rumblings that 2-3 years of work experience are all but required before pursuing an MBA.) After graduation, I am debating whether to pursue a certificate in art appraisal studies or public accounting (maybe both?), or perhaps attend graduate school. For the purposes of this blog post, I’ll identify the most influential events related to my decision to major in Economics-Accounting and minor in Art History.

My Mom (Not an event, but my mom is always an exception!)

My mom and I visiting the Huntington Library in Pasadena.

My mother has always supported my education, and she has never tried to limit my freedom to choose an academic path. That being said, I was raised in a very money-conscious household, and I am expected to be financially secure and contribute to my family’s income after graduation. Entering the business world is definitely not the only way to make a living, but it is the path that is most familiar to me. My mother has worked as a payroll accountant at a large company for years, and one of my most vivid memories from middle school is of helping her alphabetize timesheets when she brought her work home with her. She also taught me how to balance a checkbook in third grade and brought me into the local Bank of America branch to learn the difference between checking accounts, savings, and certificates of deposit when I was thirteen. This practical upbringing, combined with my family’s expectations of financial independence, is the main reason I gravitated towards economics-accounting when I first came to Scripps.

AP Art History

A slide from my presentation. Delaunay painted work in series, returning to certain styles or symbols time and time again.

I took this course as a high school senior. After presenting in class on how Robert Delaunay’s personal experiences with war, traveling, and love corresponded with recurring images in his art, I knew I’d found a passion. For those of you who have never taken an art history course, it’s like learning about historical society, politics, religion, and economics, all through pictures, because each artwork’s style, iconography, and context tells a story.

Writing 50, Regulating the Emerging Art Finance Industry

This research paper (you can read it here) lit a fire under me; it has driven every decision I make regarding coursework, internships, and study abroad. Art investment is an exciting, new field at the intersection of art and business; my research helped me discover this professional niche, which incorporates my two strongest interests. My primary career goal is to help individuals manage their investments, with an emphasis on exploring art as an alternative asset class.

Core II: Economics of Gender and Choice

This course was team-taught by Professors Nancy Macko and Sean Flynn. We talked about gender constructions in the workplace and achieving a sense of equity in relationships. The main point I took away is the importance of balancing one’s financial and emotional needs. I don’t want to pursue a one-dimensional career purely in art or purely in business; through my final decision, I know I am being both practical and passionate.

Internship at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery

This summer was so passionately satisfying. To hear about what I did and what I learned, read here.

Boston University London Internship Program-Spring 2014

Okay, okay, I haven’t exactly left yet, but I’m bouncing on my toes!

I hope hearing about my experience helps you consider your own personal, academic, and professional context as you commit to a course of study. What courses, projects, or work experiences have you enjoyed so far? What pressures are you under, and how flexible are they? What makes you happy? If your only answer right now is “helping people”, be more specific. Do you want to help them attend college, manage their wealth, express themselves, or develop? Why? What kind of people–children, students, adults, or seniors?

Other sources to consult:

  1. Academic Adviser
  2. Juniors and seniors in your prospective major. Don’t know anyone personally? Ask your professor to put you in touch. It’s not awkward unless you make it awkward!
  3. CP&R- Set up an appointment with a Career Counselor or visit their library. There are titles like What Can You Do with a Major in ___? You may also want to take a personality test/career indicator, if you haven’t done so already.
  4. Peer Mentors/RA’s-Last week they sponsored an event called “Classes, Concerns, and Cookies”. They’ll have templates to outline courses and food. If you couldn’t make it, make your own template by drawing a 4×3 table on a sheet of paper: one row for each year; one column each for fall, spring, and summer. (Type A tip: write each class or internship/fellowship opportunity on a small post-it note and mark major/minor requirements with certain colors. You’ll be able to rearrange and visualize your future plans easily)
  5. Registrar- If your academic adviser can’t answer your questions, make an appointment with the Registrar’s office to count up all of your credits and make sure you can graduate on time.

Knowing (and Doing) What You Love: An Intern’s Tale

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I have just wrapped up the first full week of my internship! In one week I feel like I have learned a great deal not only about the world of nonprofit communications, but about how professional life works in general. As this is my first internship, I have not had the experience many others have had working in an office, donning business attire, taking “coffee breaks,” embracing the challenges posed by employers… but in this week I have done all these things and more. I have a few major projects my employers have entrusted in my care, namely a revitalization of the nonprofit’s blog, a long overdue website revamping, and an assignment that will call for me to work with California state legislators, academic specialists, and field experts dealing with environmental law. As I have just started working with my employers to negotiate these projects, I do not yet have too much to report about them… more details forthcoming!

One thing of which I am certain is my feeling that I will be in a position to gain the insight I so desperately seek into my desired academic future as well as my professional future, as this internship carries on. As an undeclared major with no real certainty about what kind of degree I’ll be holding when I depart Scripps in three years, I wanted this summer to be an opportunity to learn more about myself, my interests, and potential fields I am interested in that may translate into scholastic and career futures.

At this point, I have more certainty and faith in my current direction than I did in the spring, and that mostly can be attributed to the experiences I have had interning and the work I observe my employers and other staff members doing around me. I didn’t know quite how passionate I was about environmentalism, how much I relish any communications work that enables me to write and collaborate with others, and how exciting it can be to work in a dynamic place like Sacramento where things are always happening (even in an office setting!) until I was tossed blindly into this position. Despite the 6:00am alarm I set three days a week, the dwindling thickness of my wallet, and the sometimes-redundant responsibilities I face, this internship has been a blessing. I think I know where I’m headed, and I couldn’t be more confident in my commitment.

An English major and environmental analysis minor, I have decided, is, for now, the path for me. Side note: as a shout out to any other English or humanities majors who, like me, may have felt qualms at one time about the practicality of such a major in this world that puts more and more of an emphasis on vocational training, I encourage you to read this article by a Pomona alum that a peer of mine recently shared.

If you’re reading this and have no idea what kind of degree you hope to pursue, I say don’t worry—such wisdom will come with time, and I dare you to jump headfirst into different interests to find your niche. If you’re reading this and know what you love and have an idea about what you want to do, I say good for you, and stick with it! No matter your major or your interest or your decisions regarding your future, I think that before leaving Scripps it is imperative that you test out working in the field for a time or two, be that in internship form or otherwise. Chances are you’ll learn at least a few things from such a connection, and at this point in our lives any experience is good experience!

Have a good week all!

Introductions and First-Year Assumptions

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Greetings! My name is Stephanie. I am a current first-year and an excited new CP&R blogger. I am really looking forward to share my experiences and my knowledge about all career-related things through this outlet in the coming months. In this first post, it might make sense to offer some background about where I come from and what I have been up to in my time at Scripps.

I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. As I came to understand the fast-paced way of life in the cultural, social, and political hot spot over time, I also quickly determined how I hoped to one day contribute and fit in to this engaging society.  Very early on I was drawn to the art of communications.

In August 2012, Claremont became my new home. With a naïve, yet determined, belief that I knew exactly how my future would turn out, I resolved that English and Media Studies would be my intended fields of study, as these subjects seemed to correspond with my interests in journalism.

As the weeks went on, I became more familiar with the opportunities offered by Scripps life and less confident in my initial decisions regarding my major. G.E.s, cocurriculars, and a plethora of interesting people have a way of wedging open narrow mindsets. It did not take long after interacting with these engaging influences to determine that my interests span across a wide variety of disciplines; this both excited and worried me.

By the end of my first semester, I was unsure of what I wanted to study and more anxious than ever before about not knowing what could happen in my future. Upon registering for spring classes, I decided to continue with my G.E.s so I could keep dipping my toes in different subjects without committing wholly to one field. Politics, environmental analysis, anthropology… is it possible to study everything? My expanding brain unwittingly relinquished the control I once felt I had over my future, and I ended up where I am now, in this spring semester, on unsteady feet. How is it possible that I will be declaring in one year?

Despite my wary attitude towards The Great Unknown (as I have since renamed my future), I have found that the mind-stretching quality of college has been a great blessing.  Without awareness of all the paths, the ideas, and the opportunities that are out there (to which I have become somewhat privy in my short time at Scripps), how could I have ever known what I wanted to do?

So what have I learned? You do not need to know exactly what you want to do with your life before entering college; an open mind is actually extraordinarily helpful! Part of my college experience has been learning along the way, and because of this I hope I will have confidence in the path I decide to follow… as I figure it out. This summer I am pursuing an internship with a nonprofit organization around the Bay Area with the intention of better gauging and understanding potential career options. I will be detailing all these experiences through this blog in real time! With the help of CP&R, I look forward to making The Great Unknown a little less daunting and a little more tangible without losing any of the excitement.

Some Memes to Lighten the Mood

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Hello all! This week instead of getting into anything too heavy, I thought I’d get creative and make a memes for your enjoyment. Those of you who are Middle Eastern Studies majors, who applied to fellowships, or who are in a similar point in their career search will understand especially well. I’ll let the crying lady, successful kid, and grumpy cat do the talking.

Edward Said, who’s monumental work identifying and unpacking the concept of Orientalism, hugely important to Middle Eastern Studies among other disciplines, comes up again and again in essentially every class I take. You can’t get away from Said, and by sophomore year it had become a joke between my Middle Eastern Studies friends.

Anyone who used the Fulbright Embark Online Application has to understand grumpy cat’s frustration.

And anyone who’s ever had a resume understands how darn time consuming it is to get them formatted perfectly.

That’s all for now folks. I hope my memes made you smile! I’d love to see any of your memes related to the job/internship hunt or anything else. If you’ve never made one before, try it–it takes all of 30 seconds. Have a great week.