Changing My Degree

[grace18]

Hi all,

I've been having an existential crisis of sorts, and am not sure what to do.

I enrolled in university at the beginning of this year directly after high school, and I feel I may have rushed the process of choosing my degree (Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Writing and minoring in English). My dream is to be involved in the book publishing industry (and perhaps to one day publish a novel myself), or if not, to simply have a chill-ass administrative role. The problem is, most of my similarly-interested peers seem to have chosen a degree in Media and Communication with a major in Writing and Publishing. It's made me doubt my own degree and the jobs opportunities it will bring. Is that the route I should be going down? Not only does it have a more direct link to publishing, but it also seems to sound more academic.

Changing my degree is a tedious process, and as I've already almost completed a full year, I'm worried about transferring credit points. What do you guys think? Does Media and Communications sound better than a Bachelor of Arts? Which is more employable?

Sincerely,
a confused uni student.

[SammyB]

Hi Grace,

Welcome to the online forums. I remember going through a very similar experience in uni and understand how stressed you may be feeling from trying to figure it all out. Should we really be expected to have our future planned out entirely by the end of high school? I definitely did not. But I went to uni anyways and changed my degree within the first year…twice…like many others!

It sounds like you are concerned that your current degree will not offer you the opportunity to pursue your dream career of working in the book publishing industry. To relieve most of your worries, I would suggest connecting with an academic advisor at your Uni, who should be able to provide you with a clearer view of possible career paths related to your degree. In saying this, I wouldn’t be too focused on the fact that your peers have chosen a different degree or that other degrees “sound better”, as it is possible that different degrees can lead to similar if not the same career opportunities. One of the best decisions I made in uni was asking for help. I’m sure many of your professors would also be open to offering their advice as they often have a range of work experience and wouldn’t be surprised if they have published a book or two!

I wish you all the best in your studies.

Sammy

[AnxiousS]

Hi Grace!

Welcome to the forums. I'm a first year uni student as well, with my own share of anxiety about uni and my future. The first thing to know is that you're not alone in feeling doubtful about what you may have chosen to do - but knowing where you want to end up is a good start! From reading your post, I definitely agree with Sammy that it would be worth going to see a careers advisor. I can see the merits of both degrees for what you want to do, and a careers advisor is going to be able to tell you about which one is better for you/has better job prospects in your field.

Don't worry about falling behind if you change degrees, or this year being a waste - many people change their degree at some point, and in the end it's about doing what's best for you. In the grand scheme of things, a year really isn't that long.

Good luck with your studies!

Sarah