How NOT to Choose Your College Major- Learning about Learner
- Tari Kinsey
- Jun 15, 2017
- 3 min read
Some life events are planned, some are planned around, and some are planned on the fly. I would like to say that my time in high school was spent with some planning and thought given to my future and college, but it wasn’t. I made decent grades and focused on what I was doing at the time. I would also like to say that while in college I spent time looking for a career path that interested me, but I didn’t. I considered college to be just an extension of high school and decided to commute and attend the local university. My two goals were to graduate in 4 years and have no debt. I studied, made good grades and focused on working various restaurant jobs to pay for my classes.
Two years later I found myself a college junior, all general classes completed and no degree plan in sight. I had worked all along and had acquired no debt, however, I also had no direction. I knew way more about what I didn’t want to be than what I did. The university advisor said I had to choose a major before I was allowed to register for my next semester of classes again. Realizing it was crunch time, I hunted down the only department that was open that evening, and a random professor for advice, and voila’! After 10 minutes of impromptu “advising”, I became a communications major.
In exactly 4 years I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and I had stayed debt free. After spending some time working in the field of communications, I learned I did not like sales. That led me back to college and with about 10 more minutes of college advising I decided to become a high school Math teacher. This is where I finally realized that I love and believe in the field of education. I love teaching and learning and learning about teaching and learning, why people learn differently and best teaching practices to help people learn more. The learning never stops. Continuing my own learning inspired me to eventually
earn my doctorate in educational research.
I’m sharing this story because years later, when I took the Clifton Strengths Finder, my top talent turned out to be Learner. It gave me clarity. I’ve always loved learning, especially random things like how to sew a quilt, how to make a fondant-covered cake, how to install a ceiling fan, how to play piano, how to use a spreadsheet, how to get more topspin on my forehand, how to use jumper cables. I get so caught up in the moment of random learning opportunities that I don’t always have a goal. Even though Steven Covey advises, “begin with the end in mind,” Learner isn’t going to naturally set goals for the learning. We are busy enjoying the process. However, with two parts of learning your strengths, plus a sprinkle of direction, all wrapped up in a degree plan and you have learning goals!
Based on my experience I have two great pieces of advice for you,
The first one is to learn yourself. Making decisions, plans and life choices for your future will be soooo much easier if you know yourself. A great place to learn about yourself is with the Clifton Strengths Finder and a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach like me helping you! So give me a call and we will get started!
The second thing is to read the great article by Brandon Busteed. He can help you make your college experience start off WAY better than mine did. http://www.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/211796/ways-college-success.aspx?utm_source=genericbutton&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=sharing