I first began to think about my future when I took an online survey to see what major best suited me while still in high school. That major turned out to be engineering which also turned out to be one of the only majors I was interested in or even knew about at the time. I looked more into the major and discovered that it had been and still is, one of the more financially secure majors out there. I did a few more research on other majors but nothing really interested me at the time. My other options were becoming a homicide detective, a chef, or a professional poker player. The choice I ended up making seemed to be the wiser and more secure choice. I had been pretty set on attending UIUC since middle school since being exposed to it by my math teacher as well as being attracted to the big sports teams and school spirit. While researching schools I also found out that UIUC conveniently had a top 5 engineering program in the nation and also ended up narrowing down my major more specifically to Mechanical Engineering. That decision was based on the idea that once graduated, that major would have a wide variety of companies to work for since it is pretty general in the things you can do with it. There weren't many limitations like an aerospace, industrial, or electrical engineer would face. That was my thought process.
I ended up getting accepted to the program in high school and had that same thought process since being accepted. That being that ME would offer the most stable financial future. So there I was coasting along taking all the general education courses required which presented slight challenges but were still completely doable. It was not until junior year first semester that I started to come across courses actually related to what I'd really be doing as a mechanical engineer. At that point I started to realize that what I was doing was not really what I wanted to do but it was just something that I thought would present minimal risk in my job seeking opportunities. That along with my head not really being fully committed to these new tougher courses such as thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and materials is what ended up causing me to reevaluate my future and major.
My brother did not end up going to college and decided to join the construction work force. He worked for many years gaining experience and not until a few years ago he decided he had had enough working for someone else and decided to become his own boss. He ended up creating his own company and is the primary worker/brains of the operation. Whenever I have breaks I help him and have been learning more of his craft (ceramics) as well as business management. Although it started off really risky, he managed to get through it and has even seen his company make decent profits in his first year. Seeing him take that risk is of creating his own business from relatively no experience with business is what caused me to change my major and ultimately pursue an MBA with an economics degree. I now hope to one day start my own business or to help small businesses, like my brother's, to become more efficient and productive to increase their profits.
Although it seems a bit counterintuitive as to what my plan initially was, my head is now more invested and dedicated in order to soon achieve that goal. It seems like a good choice to me and it is what I'm rolling with now.
This sentence appears without any additional explanation in your first paragraph:
ReplyDelete"My other options were becoming a homicide detective, a chef, or a professional poker player."
These are each quite specific and different from the others as well as being quite different from engineering. If you are going to say this, you really should expand on it. Where did these choices come from? Were any of them seriously entertained?
Now, turning to the rest of your story, it turns out that there are several students in the class who started out in Engineering but ended up in economics. I doubt there is any flow of students in the opposite direction. What do you make of that?
I can understand the lure of being in business like your brother, possibly in working with him at his company. But there is some advantage to getting a different sort of job after graduation, working at an established company that hires many graduates who were Econ majors, and getting a sense of how that world works, even if you are not your own boss then. You might enjoy it in its own right or learn some things that would be useful to you if you do start up your own firm.
Also, you should know that the MBA may be in decline. I saw a piece just yesterday that said the University of Wisconsin may be shutting down its MBA program, because enrollments have been on the decline. So two things. First, graduate professional education probably is more useful if the person has been working for a while - 5 to 10 years is the usual recommendation. Then the education is more real and blends with the work experience. Second, there are many other Masters level professional programs for people in business. You should investigate them at the appropriate time. It might be that an MBA still wins out. But it may be a more niched program is suitable for you and will be a better work credential.
I think what's most interesting about this post is how it serves as the antithesis to risk-averse behavior. While you made the extremely safe choice of going to college and majoring in Mechanical Engineering, you ended up changing your decision halfway through college after an unexpected distaste for ME. Your brother, however, made an extremely risky choice of starting his own business and now appears to be doing very well for himself. It's funny how things can turn out the opposite of what you'd expect.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that many people in this class started out in the engineering program. Obviously, the rationale for doing so makes sense. Did you have a contingency plan when coming to school, or was the plan hard set on mechanical engineering?
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting and relatable how different your initial career paths were before college. I think most students would agree they thought of very different choices to pick from that did not relate to the field they chose to pursue.
ReplyDeleteI found that most students switch majors at least once during undergrad. I switched from math to econ and like you had no intention or knowledge about an economic major at the time. I think economics can also provide a variety of possible employers like you mentioned that mechanical engineering could do. The more possible employers definitely helps to anticipate future income risks because there are more opportunities to be employed.
I think your other career prospects such as professional poker player is quite random compared to the other careers. Interesting though. It sucks that you had to put in so much work at the beginning of college but its good that you were able to figure out what your true calling was. I think it's really interesting that you want to pursue an MBA. Do you plan to work at your brother's company until then? What schools are you interested in? Also, what kind of business do you want to start?
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