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Students search for majors that suit them

Sophomore Ariel Weinburg is auditioning to become a music major. This is the third time she has switched her major since she came to Cal State Long Beach.

“I think my ultimate passion is singing and music,” Weinburg said. “Every major before this, I wanted something that was creative but still safe and I think at this point, I am realizing that my true passion lies in music.”

Weinburg is not alone in changing her mind.

According to Gayle Fenton, senior director of advising at CSULB, most students change their major up to three times while they are in college.

“It is very important for the university now to help these students find the real major they are going to graduate in as early as possible,” Fenton said. “They don’t want them to take a long time, like two to three years trying to find a major because they racked up all these units, they’ve had all this time, they paid all this money, and then they change their major and have to start all over again.”

Such a process is all about “self-exploration” that students should go through in order to find the major that they love, according to Fenton. There are some students who come to college and know exactly what they want to do and follow through. But some have no clue what they want to pursue.

Fenton advises students to find out what they are interested in by visiting the Career Development Center.

“They have all the wonderful resources and tools, and this is not a short process,” Fenton said. “It takes [students] through a process that helps them learn about themselves, where their interests are, where their attributes are, where they would do well, and then help them find majors that lead to careers that they are interested in for which they could become successful.”

The idea that a major leads directly to one career is true only for a small number of majors, such as engineering, nursing and accounting, according to Fenton.

“Usually all the majors can lead to 20, 30, 40 different careers,” she said. “It’s just that students are not aware of that.”

The University Advising Center and Career Development Center are hoping to establish a collaborative university-wide advising plan to help students find their direction as early as possible, so they can graduate in a timely manner.

One Comment

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    WTF. That is not at all true with engineering. Learn to do some research before you start making up facts.

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