I'm currently a second-year journalism major. I do like my strictly journalism-related classes, and I do pretty well in them, but there are a few reasons why I'm concerned that journalism may not be the right thing for me to be pursuing. First of all, I hate sociology. With a passion. Sociology blows. The reason this matters is because all the history and ethics classes we have to take blow, as well. I really, honestly abhor them. On the other hand, these classes are theoretically fleeting things, and wouldn't matter much once I got into the actual profession - but right now, blahhh, in a major way. Secondly, at the moment I'm not a big fan of the whole interviewing aspect of it (which is obviously a huge part of the deal). I don't see myself as the type of person who calls up Mr. Random Stranger and bugs him until he tells me something he doesn't want to. I'm just generally not that intrusive of a guy, you dig? Of course, I haven't had to do any really substantial interview work yet, and so maybe I'll turn out to not hate it so much... but if I do, that's really something of a major handicap for a journalist, wouldn't you think? Thirdly, a good chunk of the journalism students I know are egotistical cockflounders, and if that's required to succeed in the business then I'm not sure that I want to. My professors, though, are all really cool guys - so maybe the assholes get weeded out at some point. That'd be cool. I'll certainly stick it out until the end of this semester; by that time I should know a bit more about whether I'll be able to deal with the aspects of it that I don't like. But if I do switch majors, well, I'm not sure exactly what's out there in which I wouldn't have to deal at all with crappy sociological stuff. I was thinking something in the sciences (astronomy?) or maybe language, but heck - I dunno. Thoughts?
I second that. But seriously, do Economics. It's fun, I'm liking it. And you can write your thesis about baseball.
Chemistry! Biochemistry! for a little less biased point of view, wasn't there a thread a few days ago - "any journalists here?". There might be some on the bbs who can tell you what it's like. But pick a science major anyway.
On Sociology: suck it up. On interviewing: I could see how this could be a problem. But, I can't really tell from here. When I started working a real office job, I had to call people for information relating to my work. I hated to do it, being the introverted person I am. But, because I had to, I did it anyway and after a while it wasn't a big deal. That might be your only problem. However, I also had taken a job previously as a salesman and I hated trying to sell people stuff. This wasn't something I could just 'get over.' My personality is flat-out wrong for the profession. I think I'd likewise suck at interviewing. But, it does seem like a lot of writing requires more of the information-gathering call-work I was successful at than the more intense social interaction interview work I would suck at. I'm sure there is a niche in the industry that will suit you; I don't think you need to give it up. On cockflounders: Don't know what it is, but I like the word. I think you need to ask MadMax what it is like to be a nice guy working in an industry full of jerks. If you can handle it, you might be able to do your small bit to redeem the profession. On alternatives: You really sound like you're all over the map, deciding between journalism, astronomy, langauges, etc. What do you want to accomplish with your degree? Are you hoping to get some job skills, trained for a profession, or just make yourself a better person through education?
I'm a little thrown by the wack at sociology. Where is the relationship with journalism? My wife has a masters in sociology and I'm not sure if she ever took a journalism course. Right now, I'd say to just get a degree in something. Anything. Oh, and have fun. (I know, not very good advice. Not the fun part, but the "anything" part.)
the NIMF would like to reward Zac_D with a certificate of excellence in the field of using an obscure cuss word. Cheers ****
JV: Cool. I'm not exactly sure what I want out of my degree - I suppose eventually I just want a job that I enjoy, more than anything else. The reason I'm all over the map, as you say, is that there's a lot of stuff that trips my trigger. But if I don't pick something and stay with it pretty soon, then I'm gonna be here for more than four years, and that just won't work too well, I don't think. Deckard: Sociology stuff may well not be a part of every journalism program. It's just that here, sociology and culture are in the curriculum for many degree programs - an aspect of liberal arts schools? I'm not sure. B-Bob: Verrrrrrrry interesting. Hmm.
A fine example of the type of standard the NIMF holds its members to. I salute you ZacD. Cheers, ****.
I understand. It's interesting how some degrees get used. My wife is a Texas state executive for a legislative agency. She's never actually been a "socialogist", but the degree(s) have been very useful. B-Bob had a good idea about your journalism minor. You should consider it.
Get a Bachelor of Science degree in something easy and broad like Biology then go to law school. Become a patent lawyer and rake in like 300K a year. Problem solved, next issue.
Hey, that is not a nice way to talk about DVauthrin like that, Zac! Seriously, I changed my major from chemical engineering to mathematics, mainly because I didn't have to change my whole schedule around, I hated the designing, building, drafting type aspect to engineering, and I always wanted to take calculus (I know, I am a sick b*stard, aren't I?). I flirted at one time with a double major of math and chemistry but that didn't last because even though I had enjoyed my chemistry lecture classes, I abhored the chemistry labs (Quantitative Analysis was my undoing - I never could go through in taking that class). So, I got my B.S. in mathematics, and guess how often I use my math training in my everyday job, Zac? Zero. I really think that places don't care what your degree is in, as long as you have the bachelor's degree because it signifies to them that you have the discipline to start and finish a program, regardless what the major was. You have proven to them that you can be "trained", and let me tell you, most of the stuff you have to do on the job is stuff you never learned in school but stuff you learned from OJT or On-the-Job Training. Just pick a major in something that you enjoy taking the classes in and realize that just because you got a degree in journalism doesn't mean you have to get a journalism job. There are people in my HR department that have degrees in political science and music!!
If I could go back and do it all again, I would go for a degree in Geography. Unfortunately, I never discovered how interesting it was until well into my fifth year, when I had nearly all my credits completed. I ended up finishing with a major in English.
Gotta agree here. Science. You could always become an editor of a scientific journal. But then all the other scientists would be mad at you all the time.
Many people here are saying that it doesn't matter what your major is; they just want the piece of paper. My husband has a bachelor's and master's degree in geology; he blames all his job search problems on this and the fact that people want to hire other backgrounds. I know geology isn't the easiest field right now, but I know lots of people with majors like sociology and music and even they come up with jobs. Is he just making excuses? (this is not a rhetorical question... I'm interested in an outside perspective) What exactly are these jobs that you can get with any college degree?
