2 - Analytical Essay: Major Selection

Major Selection

        “When there is scarcity and choice, there are costs.” - Robert Schenk (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1977)

As each major offers a specific amount of seats, i.e. they are scarce; and if we have to choose our major, we have high cost in selecting. Especially for me who don’t have any special interest, it is much harder to select a right major.

        To lower my cost of selecting, it’s better to eliminate some options.

Department of Chinese Translation and Linguistics and Department of Asian and International Studies are of no interest for me, so I can simply skip these choices.

Department of media and communication, the most competitive major in this college, can fulfil (only) one of my interest - making videos; but I don’t think I can handle things other than that. And for Department of English, surely, I enjoy speaking English; but I don’t like reading literature. I can hardly understand one sentence, let alone understanding the whole passage. These two departments need an awful lot of creativity, but that is what I am lack of. So let’s skip these options.

Now, there are only two departments that I am “quite” interested in. By that I mean “quite” is not so sure, still in doubt. These two departments are: Department of Public Policy and Applied Social Studies.

Before the final decision is made, I would like to tell more about my personality.

I studied Economics. (That was my only interest.) This subject provokes analytical thinking and critical thinking. It also teaches me how to present our idea clearly. So I like arguing. If anything passes through my ears are found nonsense, I will probably point it out immediately and start arguing, no matter what standpoint I am in.

I enjoy debating, as well as counter arguing. With that personalities, politics may be the right choice for me. Politics needs critical thinking, analytical thinking, and expressiveness to convince others to stand on my side. In Department of Public Policy, there are three possible subjects I am majoring in: Environmental policy, Management and Administration. All requires some basic knowledge of economics, since economics includes several topics about government policies. I believe this would be my advantage.

 Yet, I like analyzing how people make choices. This is also a major topic in economics. As such, Criminology or Psychology may also be the right choice for me. It is interesting to find out how people think. By studying Criminology and Psychology, it feels like I can predict what people will do. Criminology and Psychology are very interesting topics. They analysis people’s behavior, explain why they would do so, and predict what their next steps are. This fascinating stuff does catch my eyes.

One factor I don’t consider much, is the future income. Earning a living is important, if not essential. But it is not as important as our interest. Happiness is invaluable. If I am given a chance to choose between a low-paid but interesting jobs and a high-paid but boring jobs, I will probably choose the former one. I put “interest” my first priority when choosing major; “ability” the second, and “future return” the last. Doing things you like will provides you motivation. Motivation encourages us to do better. Without any incentive, our works may end up in chaos and frustration. I experienced this in secondary school. I studied physics but then I lost my interest. I gave up living up to my classmates. (Actually I don’t have any interest on this subject initially.) So my performance on this subject was a disaster.

The question is still here: Which one is my interest?

I am facing a dilemma here. I won’t make any decision for the time being. It is just the beginning of the first semester. I still have a year to learn, to understand, and to explore my interest. After all, I hope I can make a “least cost” choice.