Are you reading this column in the hopes to distract yourself from the homework you don’t want to do?
If so, I have one question for you: Do you love your major? Or at least, like it?
If you answered yes, then continue on with your day. You’re doing this whole college thing right.
But, if you answered “no” or you’re unsure — keep reading.
According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychologist, that feeling when you are “in the zone” while working allows for your ideas and creativity to flow more effectively.
Being “in the zone” won’t happen when all your homework is done the night before class — or you can’t find the motivation to roll out of bed for that 9:30 a.m.
Throughout the day I find myself “in the zone” more often than not. I by no means have the answer — as an art and journalism major — I don’t know that I’m the most qualified person to be giving anyone career advice.
I can tell you I wake up every morning excited to begin my day and tackle the next set of creative problems. And honestly, I love the majority of my classes.
Alex Brizee | Argonaut
I grew up constantly hearing that cliche quote “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life,” it’s a hopeful idea but I think with a bit of tweaking it can become a reality.
“If you do what you love, you’ll spend more of the workday happier than not,” might be a bit more realistic.
Either way, never having to work a day in your life sounds blissful. The reality is that you’ll have to work, and depending on future you may need a job that has a higher wage or allows you to have more vacation time.
You can still find a compromise and go into a field that interests you — let’s say you have dreamed of being an astronaut. Well, you want a family, and vacation time so maybe an astronaut isn’t the easiest choice. Why not help create advancing technology for space travel or teach rocket science?
Even if you got your dream job, no one is promising that every second will be blissful but getting passed the road bumps won’t be as hard.
What if it’s too late? So you’re graduating this year or even this semester. Consider applying for jobs outside of your area of study that you have more of an interest in.
Actually, only about 27 percent of college graduates find a job in their related major, in a study done in 2010 by Jaison R. Abel and Richard Deitz for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
College allows you to begin discovering who you are. But that process usually isn’t something that stops after four years.
So if you’re a math major who ends up loving English don’t let that go — chase after your dreams.
Alex Brizee can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @alex_brizee