About changing majors.

About changing majors.

  Statistics show that in the US, 76% of students change majors at least once. 50% change majors twice. 

​ There are quite a few students around who want to change their careers because they think that they are not the major they dreamed of and expected even after passing through the huge competition and entering the university.

 ​There are many reasons to change your major, but it is basically because the following the reasons work together.

(1) I do not like my current major.
(2) The major you want to go to seems good.
(3) There was a major I wanted to go to, even though I was forced into it because of the competition rate at the university or the recommendation of a parent.
(4) The major I chose was not the best option, but the next best option.

 ​First, keep in mind that changing majors is a very expensive option that requires reinvesting several years of your time. Therefore, since the cost is large, you should be very careful in choosing to change your major. Especially when you dream of changing into a major that has nothing to do with it.

  ​So was my case. I majored in nursing in college and worked as a nurse. Afterwards, I received a master's degree in medical informatics and worked as a researcher before moving to Germany. However, there was a turning point in my life in Germany. I made my debut as a painter, and no matter how much I thought about it, I was convinced that this was my path like fate. And for 10 years without thinking about anything, I only drew pictures, thinking about what painting really meant to me. After much deliberation, I decided to study again. Of course, this is a completely different major than the previous major.

  ​In my experience, it is not easy to ignore undergraduate majors. This is the very foundation of life, and it will follow you for the rest of your life. I am often given time to explain my major or field of expertise in the life of a person whose decision at that time was due to the illusion of my moment.

  I also hope that my undergraduate major and my current direction are somehow related. Even if there is no objective relevance, it is true that because I learned nursing, my understanding of human beings and life is deepened and it helps me to draw pictures.

​ However, this is an emotional aspect and a result that cannot be calculated with a visible indicator.

  ​But that doesn't mean you can't change your major to a completely unrelated major. It's a really cool challenge. And there should be no prejudice that the two paths are not related at all and only run parallel to each other just because they go on a different path that does not match the path they have taken.

  ​Just by looking at the well-known anecdote of Steve Jobs, we can answer the question of learning something completely unrelated to one's major.

  ​Calligraphy was the class that Jobs enjoyed during his school days. He said he liked the design of the letters of the alphabet in various ways. Jobs loved computers, but he also loved those humanities elements. That's why he pursued Bob Dylan's music and hippie ideas. However, most people just separate the two. Computers are computers, and humanities are humanities. Just like an office worker separates his private hobbies from his public work. However, the peculiarity of Jobs is that he tried to incorporate the visible parts of his life that had nothing to do with computers at first glance.

​ Therefore, various fonts using vector graphics were applied to the Macintosh operating system. These fonts made with direction values, not made with dots, look natural even when enlarged or reduced. So Macintosh users could enrich their lives with beautiful, cool fonts. This technology also changed the printing industry. PostScript technology that can print text and pictures on a computer screen as it is with a laser printer was developed. Since then, the Macintosh has created and led the electronic desktop printing (DTP) market. Almost all books today are predesigned on a computer and sampled on a printer.

  What if Steve Jobs had decided that he didn't need to take calligraphy classes because he was a computer student? Just by looking at this example, you can see that it is more helpful to learn something that is based on one's own attraction, one's own philosophy. They may not be of any help right now, but these things pile up and build up to create my own knowledge.  

  ​Another thing is that, in the end, whether it is a previous major or a new major, the fact that one can become an expert by enduring the learning process with a lot of patience does not change. In other words, you must have confidence in your own path and walk firmly on that path without being swayed by any temptation.