MarceloMartins Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 I'll try to make this as short as possible. I'll give some details about myself that would be helpful for someone willing to give some good objective advice. I'm 22 years old, currently halfway through my business major in college. I am from a family of businessmen, and didn't give much thought to my choice of major (it felt natural to choose business, not because I loved it, but because I never had a strong desire to do anything else, and I was very curious about it). I'm from a very wealthy family, and there was always an expectation from others that my brothers and I would eventually run the family business. In my first year in college I discovered Objectivism after reading Atlas Shrugged, and fell in love with it. It was the sum of everything I unconsciously believed, and it answered important questions for me. In the following months I read all of Rand's fictional books and some of her non-fictional. During these months, I was very happy with the knowledge I was acquiring, but eventually I started feeling a little depressed (where I am now), let me tell you why. Now, at 22 years old, I don't have any passion. In my childhood I was always very creative and loved to draw (had what people call a "gift"), and tell stories. But I don't necessarily love drawing or writing today. During my teen years, all I did was read self development, success and business books. And guess what? I`m also not very enthusiastic about my business classes either (i find them boring, despite of giving me useful skills to manage my money and raise my financial IQ which is fine). I have no interest in sciences, medicine or law. After a very long introspection, I figured that I would love to work in a creative job that is dynamic and creates something meaningful and beautiful. I thought maybe, just MAYBE, I may be interested in architecture (or civil engineering), screenwriting, and painting (given my interests during childhood). However, I am more than halfway through my business degree and in less than 2 years I will have finished it. I think that giving up the degree in order to try the other things would be stupid, since I`ve come this far already. What is your opinion? Should I quit the business school immediately and search for a true passion? Also, what is the best way to figure out what I really like? For instance, how will I decide between the 4 possible options I found above? I don`t want to waste more years in college just to find out that it isn`t for me. How can I experience a little from each, without wasting that much time and money? Thank you for reading, I appreciate it. (Note: my university only offers business classes - I don`t live in the US, where most universities offer a broad range of classes). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 (edited) You say that in your teen years you read self-development, success and business books. Sounds like you were interested in running a business? Is that so? Edited August 21, 2015 by softwareNerd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarceloMartins Posted August 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 Not necessarily running a business, but making money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_prompt Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 Having gotten both a business B.A. and MBA, I can very much appreciate your lack of inspiration from a business education. I think this kind of reaction/reflection is one of the reasons why business schools are seeing such a huge interest in entrepreneural programs. I have a friend who's an artist (primarily realistic oil paintings, but her abilities span the artistic gamut). She's a huge fan of Rand's work (The Fountainhead being her favorite) and she's even volunteered at an ARI event in the past. She doesn't really have any business experience but she's starting to create ideas for putting together videos to learn to paint. Perhaps you and her could work together to join your business knowledge with her artistic knowledge and create a business together. You could help her plan the videos (e.g., by asking her questions around how to get into painting, share the types of art you'd like to be able to paint so she could use those as guides for the video content) and then be a guinea pig to "test" the effectiveness of the videos. You could even video yourself applying the concepts which could later serve as a good marketing testimony to the effectiveness (and also provide improvement ideas). Doing something like this would make your business classes more relevant (because you'd be trying to apply the concepts), it would allow you to try out a potential passion (painting), and it would give you the opportunity to work with someone who shares some of the same ideals as you. If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you her email address. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecherry Posted August 16, 2015 Report Share Posted August 16, 2015 Would it not be possible to start exploring these other subjects without quitting your current business degree pursuit? If you can't start exploring other stuff without stopping pursuit of the business degree, could you perhaps take a semester off while leaving open the possibility to go back to pursuing the degree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninth Doctor Posted August 16, 2015 Report Share Posted August 16, 2015 What is your opinion? Should I quit the business school immediately and search for a true passion? Seems like you're prompting for the following advice: A cautionary tale: A friend of mine kept changing his major and ended up with a big student loan balance. For whatever reason he ended up having to finish a degree (any degree) by a certain date, and it wasn't in the field he wanted. It hasn't done him any good in life/career. I suggest (on admittedly limited evidence) that you finish your degree. Unless you have something specific, e.g. you have an idea for the next Facebook, drawing you away and it's something you have to do RIGHT NOW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicky Posted August 16, 2015 Report Share Posted August 16, 2015 After a very long introspection, I figured that I would love to work in a creative job that is dynamic and creates something meaningful and beautiful. I thought maybe, just MAYBE, I may be interested in architecture (or civil engineering), screenwriting, and painting (given my interests during childhood). However, I am more than halfway through my business degree and in less than 2 years I will have finished it. I think that giving up the degree in order to try the other things would be stupid, since I`ve come this far already. What is your opinion? Should I quit the business school immediately and search for a true passion?The reason you should go to college isn't to "be doing what you love". That's not the purpose of college. The purpose of college is to PREPARE you to do what you love, after you finish it. If you think your business degree will help you in your future career, even if it's in one of those fields you mentioned (I think it will, but of course you should go by what you think not what I think), then you should finish it. On the other hand, if you think you can just as easily go into those fields without a college degree (I doubt you can), then you should quit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarceloMartins Posted August 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2015 Thank you everyone for the advice. I really appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JASKN Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Here's my 2¢: Quit school and stop racking up debt, and start working. In between working, do stuff: learn stuff, go places, read things, DO things. Interests aren't made by introspecting, they're made by trying things out. If you're wondering what you're interested in, no amount of thinking is ever going to tell you. Try things over varying amounts of time, and you will know automatically if you like it or not. Repeat. But like Nicky said, spend your own 2¢, not mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William O Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 I'm just going to throw this out there: Have you tried computer programming? I'm bringing this up because it's a creative field, but it's also in demand by employers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.