College Majors/Minors
 

The what do you want to be when you grow up thread over in the AKA forum got me to thinking based on some of the responses. I am sure many of us majored in similar things and for those of us who are out of school, we might be valuable resources for those who are still in school finding their way.

Questions:
What is/was your college major(s)?
What is/was your college minor(s)?

FOR THE GRADUATES/WORKING FOLKS:
What are you doing now professionally?
How did your major(s)/minor(s) prepare you to do your job?
What internships did you do to get ready for your profession?

FOR THE CURRENT STUDENTS
What do you plan to do with your major?
What internships have you pursued to better prepare yourself for the working world?

Major: Criminology/Criminal Justice
Minor: Psychology

Other questions: Don't know, won't touch (yet :cool: )

major: print journalism
minor: French

i'm a copy editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer

i think my major did help me a lot to get where i am but

i had a few internships/jobs while in college that helped even more.

My major is elemnetary education
My minor is Psychology

Well, I have changed my major many times, but I think I should probably stick with this one because I'm gonna be a junior and if I change it again I will be in school way too long!

Major: Family and Consumer Science with a Teacher's Certification

So I am gonna be a home ec teacher!! Who didn't love their home ec teacher?

Were we separated from birth? ;)
Me too.

Field of Study: Structural Engineering

i guess for grad students it's not a major anymore.

i didn't, i think my home ec. teacher was a guy.

Major/Minor
 

My freshman year my major was Spanish and my minor was secondary education. I was going to be a high school teacher but once I had to work in a school I changed my mind. So the summer before my sophomore year I changed my major to Criminology and Criminal Justice with a minor in Management Info Systems. Luckily, I stuck with that because I will be graduating in May 2003. Next on my list is grad school so I can receive my M.B.A.

Currently I am working at the U.S. Secret Service here in Syracuse as a Stay-in-School Clerk. So I plan to hopefully find a job with them or another Federal agency in the Washington D.C. area when I graduate from grad school. :)

Major: Business Administration
Minor: Finance

Other stuff: Most people know that, at this point, ClassyLady does not know what career she wants to pursue. I have already had an internship (I'm still there actually) at a financial services firm. Right now, I am kind of leaning towards something on the human resources end of business but I'm not quite sure about that yet.

Major: Mass Communications - Advertising

Minor: None, because they didn't allow them until recently, but it was marketing unofficially.

Re: College Majors/Minors
 

Major: Computer and Information Sciences
Minor: Business

Right now I'm working as a Computer Systems Analyst and I'm looking into a Masters in Information Science or Management Information Science (MIS).
I feel that my major definitely prepared me for my profession....I only wish I would have paid more attention in the programming classes. :(
:D

Re: College Majors/Minors
 

My Major is Journalism

My minors are English and Internet Technology


I plan to go into the field of Public Relations. Now what I want to do in that field I'm still deciding :rolleyes: . I have it narrowed down to three areas within that field; media relations, image building, and event management

As far as internships I worked on a talk show as an intern, a newspaper, during the summers I intern at an intelligence agency in DC doing PR with them and during the school year I intern at a PR firm in NY.

Major:Broadcast Journalism and Political Science
Minor: Didn't have one because I had a double major.:D

Re: College Majors/Minors
 

Chemical Engineering -the depression maker major :mad:

I want to have my own line of cosmetics (street and stage make up included), personal care, and hygiene products. My boyfriend and I was talking recently and he said I should include house fragrance (candles,linen spray, room deodorizer, etc.) to the products to sell. They will be other products that will be made and sold to aid the market I am targeting (home and salons). So pray for me to get my degrees so I can be a step closer to my dream job.

I have done one internship. I worked with the government, specifically the Department of Defense at Picatinny Arsenal, in NJ. I was working in a lab on a machine called "Twin Screw Extruder". Well that is all I can say about that, I could have said too much :D
But I had a real good experience and it made me feel good about my major.

So Sorors and Sisterfriends alike pray for me that I may fulfill my dream career that I have had since I was 9 y/o.

Major: Special Education (Varying Exceptionalities)

Minor: Afro-American Studies

Internships: Each fall and spring since my freshman year at an Elementary School (I'm a junior now)

Future: It's hard to say, I want to either teach special ed students (obviously), be an advocate for special education, or go to medical school to be a Pediatric Oncologist. I'm waiting on God, because right now, I'm confused.

Double Major Anthropology / African & African American Studies

I have an internship working with a nonprofit organization who (to make the long stroy short) works to promote cultural diversity.

I plan to go to grad school and earn a PhD in Anthropology and I guess I will be a college professor. I would like to apply my knowledge to the real world though through a nonprofit or something. :D

Aaight! I feel the criminal justice majors!
 

Major: I think we know(look up)

Minor: Women's and Minority Studies...

At the moment, I think I'm going home to enter into police academy after I graduate, and then work for 2-5 years, get my Masters in criminal justice, and then hopefully move into the DEA(drug enforcement agency) or the ATF (alcohol, tobacco, and firearms bureau).
I'm also very troubled with the amount of battered women who get harsh punishments for killing their abusers, but I don't know what to do about that...

Re: College Majors/Minors
 

Questions:
What is/was your college major(s)? Political Science/ Criminal Justice

What is/was your college minor(s)? American Politics

FOR THE GRADUATES/WORKING FOLKS:
What are you doing now professionally? I am a felony, Adult County Probation Officer. I am also completing my thesis, to obtain my Masters in Justice Studies, then it's off to law school.

How did your major(s)/minor(s) prepare you to do your job? I learned the criminal justice system, but honestly, I didn't REALLY learn the ins-and-outs until I started actually working in the field.

What internships did you do to get ready for your profession? I did my internship at a law firm, which was more of a intro. to the field of law.

My Major: English (with a concentration in Literature)
My Minor: Sociology

I'm graduating in May of 2003, after pushing it back from December '02.

I plan to teach high school with my degree. I'm toying around with going back for my Masters' in English, or maybe start looking into Higher Education. I think I could make a good Administrator!

Re: College Majors/Minors
 

What is/was your college major(s)? I majored in Psychology and English after dropping the Sociology and replacing it with English. Initially I wanted to be a child psychologist after teaching high school for a while. It has been 4 years and I enjoy the heck out of snow days, June/July/August, and my students.:o

What is/was your college minor(s)? I minored in education which for Wittenberg qualified me to teach secondary education. I also minored in Women's Studies because I took so many classes in the Humanities that a Woman Perspective and my English advisor was the chair of the Women's Studies department. I was ONE CLASS away from being a sociology minor. :(

FOR THE GRADUATES/WORKING FOLKS:
What are you doing now professionally? I teach high school English in Columbus, Ohio. Prayerfully, I will be calling Charlotte, North Carolina home at the end of the month. :D

How did your major(s)/minor(s) prepare you to do your job? Honestly, I learned a lot but not as much about actually teaching English and grammar to high school students. However, my field experiences and student teaching assignments gave me that real classroom experience that helped me tremendously.


What internships did you do to get ready for your profession? I served as a tutor counselor for Upward Bound and after graduation, I taught a creative writing class. I also served as a camp counselor one summer. Then my field experiences and student teaching were the most valuable experiences overall.

Re: Re: College Majors/Minors
 

What is/was your college major(s)?
Business Admin w/ concentration in Accounting

What is/was your college minor(s)?
Didn't have one

FOR THE GRADUATES/WORKING FOLKS:
What are you doing now professionally?
Financial Analyst for a non-profit health system. Before this, Commodities Trader

How did your major(s)/minor(s) prepare you to do your job?
My degree did prepare my, but honestly, so far I probably only use 40% of what I learned in college and the other 60% is what my employer has shown me in regards to how they want the job done (which at my last job, conflict with GAAP principles, SEC regs, etc.)

What internships did you do to get ready for your profession?
I didn't intern is my profession, which is my only regret.

My Major was Psychology
My Minor was African American Studies

I wanted to counsel teenagers in the inner city.

I currently work for an organization that recruits minority students, puts them through corporate development training, then matches them up with a Fortune 500 company for summer internships. The interns stick with that company doing various tasks(?) related to their college major.

I LOVE my job.. I travel to different universities talking with kids about their goals and the steps needed to get there. In a round about way, I'm kinda counseling them about how diff. experiences can influence them. Some students still call me even though they are out of the program. Also, for my current interns, I have started a parent support group which is really active.

Currently pursuing my MPA.

Got a Question...
 

CT4, I wanted to ask you something, since you're doing what I'm aspiring to do. I didn't minor in Education, so I won't be getting any real classroom observation/experience. However, I was initially a Middle/Secondary Education major before I switched over to English, so I do have some courses under my belt. Do you think that will help when I go out here? Or, should I try persuing a masters' in Education?

Oh, I'm really confused! But, I want to be as prepared as I can when I start looking for a job, which is almost right around the corner.

MAJOR: Political Science (pre-law)
MINOR: Business Administration

Interships. None so far, they were to many states away.

Re: Got a Question...
 

Well @ Wittenberg, my English major classes did not teach me how to teach my students and my education classes were general teaching methods but again did not teach me about teaching English.

I contemplated and continue to contemplate getting my Masters Degree in English Education but then again I do not want to be in the classroom forever.

What I would recommend is talking to professors in the Education department because my minor was pretty much a Wittenberg thing. Most of my cohort (English teachers) probably majored in English and Education and were able to learn specific teaching methods for English teachers in the secondary setting. I do recommend, internships or volunteer opportunities that will keep you entrenched in the education field.

NYHune, I like what you are doing. That sounds right up my alley. I want to help prepare students academically. So I might venture into Upward Bound type programs later on.

Mine is : Sociology/Social Welfare
What I am going to do with it:confused: :eek:

Re: College Majors/Minors
 

Questions:
What is/was your college major(s)? Business Management
What is/was your college minor(s)? No minor

FOR THE GRADUATES/WORKING FOLKS:
What are you doing now professionally? I'm working as a product technical support representative for an accounting software company.

How did your major(s)/minor(s) prepare you to do your job? I had to take some basic accounting courses for my major, which helped me with the lingo, but other than that, my major & what I do don't really correlate.

What internships did you do to get ready for your profession? Didn't do any internships.

Thanks
 

CT4, thanks a lot for your response. I feel you, I have been in college for a minute :D and I'm still thinking about the Masters' thing. A lot of my fellow English majors are wanting to get into teaching. Unfortunately, our English department phased out the Secondary Education concentration, so I missed the opportunity to get into that. You now have to apply to what's called the TEEMS program (on the Masters' level) to get something similar. That program includes more work on your undergrad degree as well as get the methods/student teaching courses, and when you finish you get a Masters' in Education AND start off on a higher pay scale. I'm thinking about applying to that next year instead. Choices, choices.

Thanks again!

Re: Thanks
 

Yeah most colleges have that now because a lot of districts will begin to require that teachers have a masters degree off the top.

Wittenberg is now doing a master's program as well, AFTER I LEFT :( :mad: but after 5 years and $100,000 I had to ROLL OUT. :D

Keep striving and rising to the top.

ST's education
 

Major: Print journalism.
Minor: Sociology.

My major completely prepared me to be a journalist. I'd written, but mainly short stories, so I had to learn from ground zero as a journalist.

Today, I'm a healthcare and biomedical business reporter for a weekly newspaper.

My internships included summer ones at the Arizona Republic and the Los Angeles Times. I also completed a summer journalism training program at UC Berkeley in 1989.

My Major was Electrical and Computer Engineering. I worked during the summer but failed to seek internships in my field; as a result, I did not work in my major until almost 10 years out of school. Now that I am, I am making BANK; hindsight is 20/20.

Lesson: Do those internships! Try INROADS or the local chapter of your professional organization (NSBE, NDPA, Black MBA, etc).

My curriculum dictated that we were required to complete x number of Humanities credits; I chose English (composition, literature, etc). That decision turned out to be an excellent choice because my writing skills have opened many doors for me. I submit to several organizational newsletters including my district newsletter for my VP. Most of my corporate recognition awards are for writing (process documentation, reports, etc.).

Lesson: Use those credits outside your major to make sure you are well-rounded. Many 'technical' people cannot write, a lot of 'artistic' people are lousy in math. Step outside the box and you will be rewarded.

When I go back to school, I will be pursuing an MBA. A technical baccalaureate is a good, strong foundation for a professional business degree.

Soror McCoy is an excellent writer. She edited a document for me and made my verbiage more concise. ;)

Congrats on your writing awards. You gave really good advice.

Aw, shucks! Glad I could help; thanks for remembering.

College Majors/Minors (My turn)
 

Questions:
What is/was your college major(s)?
What is/was your college minor(s)?

Well, that depended on the school I went to:
At Kent State (my freshman year) while it technically was Undecided, my goal was to major in Aerospace Flight Technology (or piloting planes).

At Columbus State, I just received a basic liberal arts degree for a 2-year program--so I didn't have a major there either

At Central State, I had a double major--Accounting & Economics for the one quarter I was there

At Capital, my major was accounting, but it was taking me too long to finish, so I got a General Studies degree with concentrations in Management, Accounting, and Economics

At Franklin, I was an MBA student--they just started adding concentrations there when I graduated.



FOR THE GRADUATES/WORKING FOLKS:
What are you doing now professionally?
How did your major(s)/minor(s) prepare you to do your job?
What internships did you do to get ready for your profession?

I am an accountant/auditor with a Black-owned CPA firm

I got my first accounting job at a CPA firm after I took only one accounting course. From there I have amassed a lot of accounting eperience at various jobs in various industries. I have a total of 7 years combined accounting eperience, four of them in public accounting. My major(s) prepared me in that I didn't take specialized courses per se, so if I wanted to move to a different area of my "major", I could do it with minimal difficulty.

I was selected for INROADS talent pool in '94 and I hated it. I have called all my accounting jobs I did as an undergraduate internships in part b/c they functioned as such and because it eliminates a lot of "nosy" questions later.

I am currently taking the remaining accounting courses needed to sit for the CPA test (which I plan to take and pass ONCE!!!)

Don't ask me if or when I am getting a doctorate (JD, PhD, etc.) I have been in and out of the classroom for 11 years. If I am not smart enough as I am, well I am out of luck.

RM

**fixed yo stuff**

INROADS
 

I noticed that a couple of you mentioned INROADS, and that's my employer...Rain Main, I'm sorry that you hated Talent Pool, but lots of my students are thankful for all they are taught during that training session...

Soror Mccoy Red mentioned correctly that INROADS will provide internships and help you prepare for the workforce. It also gives you hands on experience and in some instances, I have had students tell me that they switched their majors after actually doing the work.

I suggest to undergrads in the business, accounting, engineering, IS and marketing field to look INROADS up and speak with someone about securing a summer internship...

Mass Media/Communications

I'm a political science/pre-law major. I plan on going to law school after undergrad, but my ultimate aspiration is to become a judge. As we speak, I'm interning at East Texas Legal Services - y'all see how hard I'm working. :p

Re: College Majors/Minors
 

My BA is in Political Science with minors in Economics and French. I have a Masters in Legal & Ethical Studies and am currently working on my MBA with a concentration in Management.

Since graduating from undergrad I've been working with an investment management firm and I'm loving it. I don't think my major helped me learn the skills I needed to actually do this job, but havign a degree got my foot in the door.

Peace & Blessings!:D

While in school (Graduated June 01 from THE Ohio State University):
Major - Finance

Minor - 1 Class away from Economics... I was hardly gonna stay in school one qtr longer to get a minor, and that's real.


Working:

Nowhere! I did work for a consulting firm, but hated it. Consequently, I am currently looking for new employment. Preferably, I'd like to be a business analyst/financial analyst at a bank, or retail organization.

As far as internships, I was an INROADER. I have found that people either loved or hated INROADS. Inroads gave me preat opportunities to get experience in the corporate finance sector. I had that insider stuff...I never had to hustle for a good internship..all I had to do was say where i wanted to go, and there i was. I received scholarships, a great network of people, and a nice job offer, which i respectfully declined. :) So it's all love.