One of the springtime rites of passage of every Dartmouth sophomore is picking a major. In spite of the mercurial nature of our recent selections, a major question has since festered in my mind: What says more about a person -- their major, or the reasons they choose that major?
In order to alleviate your "anticipating columnist cliche" pains, I will get my hackneyed but applicable dose of cliches out of the way early and rephrase my question at the same time: Do your means justify your ends, or do your ends justify your means (perhaps more idealistically, can your ends ever truly justify your means?). An overdue explanation will now follow.
As far as my sophomore eyes see it, the major scenario plays out to three general schools of thought.
First, there is the anal-retentive career-oriented bunch who choose their major for the sole purpose of inflating their grade point average (the most over-heard, over-emphasized words on any Ivy League campus) to the brink of its 4.0 boundary.
Second, there are the premeditated pre-professionals whose tunnel-visioned folks have scoped out the most accommodating job market. Consequently, they major in the discipline geared specifically towards that six-figure minimum salary path.
Last and, yes, (probably and unfortunately) least, there are those who choose their major based on where their genuine hearts and minds direct them; major in what they love? Perish the thought!
The key difference lies in the fact that the love/interest factor is near the cellar of the first two groups' priority lists, while it fulfills the sole decision-making criteria for the third group. The first group is disenchanting, the second group is disheartening, while the last group is resolutely pregnant with inspiration and hope.
If you are hard-pressed to find many in the GPA group, you missed one of the several "Deciding Your Major" panel discussions led by our deans, in which the speakers' disconcerting message rang: "If you can't find your calling, major in something in which you'll get As." If you refuse to acknowledge the vast majority with hasty visions of Goldman-Sachs plums dancing in their heads, just link the very visible increase in Economics majors with the very visible annual take-home of Wall Street's elite.
Smirk at my overly-idealistic notions, scoff at my quasi academic naivete, but my ideals are not the half of it. I consider my father (pay no attention to his investment banking vocation for the sake of this article), who is an alumnus of the Big Green, a very sage man. The reason I heed him as a source of reliable life-leading input is because he has been successful, not necessarily in the business aspect, but more importantly in the living-life-to-its-fullest category.
His words of wisdom to me: What you major in pales in comparison to majoring in a given discipline for the right reasons (namely, the reasons I mention!).
The fact is, we will not leave Hanover with a bushel of tangible job skills tucked under our arms. Rather, our goal should be to secure memorable experiences which will lead to more meaningful lessons than a few unavailing job skills -- like learning how to actively think for ourselves and knowing what we have to offer, as well as how to relate to those around us. We need to learn how to live life by our rules, not by Dartmouth's, Harvard Medical School's or our parent's configurations.
To that end, Warren Buffet (again, ignore the fact that he is one of the world's most highly successful businessmen of our time for article reading purposes), gave a speech to the same effect I speak of now, about what he seeks out when hiring new employees. Buffet announced, "The first thing I do is throw away their transcripts and resumes. All I want to know is if they are reliable, if I will enjoy their company, and most importantly, if they can relate well to people." Granted, Buffet's utopian scheme is not the undying hiring technique adopted by most companies, but it is reassuring to hear at any rate.
For some, the major dilemma may come down to a mental battle between aiming for half-hearty practical knowledge or passionate wisdom. I mean not to belittle the practices of banking, engineering or medicine. Instead, I mean to discourage the practices of these fields for diluted and tainted reasons. I imply not that a philosophy major gets more out of his college experience than an economics major. Rather, I imply that those who look forward to their classes get more out of their college experience than those who cling to Vivarin to survive their major-class lectures.
Do not be led astray by the stranger's candy, namely future material wealth or job security that may or may not come to fruition. Instead, delegate more importance on a major that propels you by intellectual desire, not dollar signs. The wrong reasons may end up being an albatross around your neck.
