Chloe
Does anyone have any advice on how to pick between majors?
For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to pick a career that makes a difference. I personally struggle with issues related to mental health and I'm very passionate about advocating for help for people with similar struggles. Right now, I am choosing between becoming a psychologist and an actor. Although these two potential majors may seem very different, I truly believe they are both careers that will allow me to make a meaningful differences in the lives of people who are looking for support and comfort. Going down the route of psychology will allow me to interact directly with people in need of help. I truly love talking to people and helping my friends and family members through hard times. I do believe that this is the safest and most steady career option out of the two and it is definitely one that I feel incredibly drawn towards. However, I have always had a love for the performing arts and worry that I would feel a certain amount of regret if I did not at least consider pursuing it professionally. If I went down the path of Drama, my biggest dream would be to make art that allows people to feel seen. I would want to contribute performances that are honest and genuine and make people feel less alone. Art has been a critical factor in helping me understand myself and heal. As arbitrary as it may sound, I truly believe that seeing your personal struggles portrayed through the mediums of film and theater by actors who truly care and understand the issues at hand, provide a unique sense of comfort that cannot be replicated through other sources. I also believe the act of performing is an inherently therapeutic in and of itself and a big life goal of mine would be to reach a place of enough security and influence in my own career to fund programs for therapy through art.
I have gotten into my top specialized choices for both drama and psychology and a few schools that offer good programs in both. Right now it is just about picking and finding a program I can afford, especially if I chose Drama which is significantly more expensive.
Let me know if you have any advice!
Thank you!
#Spring25
1 answer
Heather Cowan
Heather’s Answer
you discover adjacent pathways that intrigue you. IE Career Services, student services, mental
health nurse, community service, child & youth worker, organizational behaviour, human
resources, spiritual leadership, and even marketing are all related to human psychology.
Ask yourself the following now & again when you are considering for post-secondary jobs,
co-ops & education:
What interests me about psychology or acting
What interests me about working as a psychologist? Ask the same for acting.
What would an ideal workday include?
What kind of challenges do I want to work towards solving in the world?
What kind of environments do I want to work in? (1:1, groups, education, employee support,
hospital settings, outdoors, inside, rural, urban, tropical, frozen, traveling, never needing to
travel, family doctor's office)
Do I like the idea of freedom, extra hours & responsibility of entrepreneurship or would I prefer
the structure and perception of stability as an employee?
What people groups do I want to work with? (Children, families, teens, seniors, people in crisis,
spiritual influenced work, businesses, people with mental or developmental and learning
disabilities, people with physical disabilities)
What are the other goals I have for my life? (to travel, to have a big family, to avoid having
children, to make a difference in the world, to make a lot of money, to move to farm, to move to
a big city)
Once you have a better idea of how income earning fits into who you are and what you want,
then start finding people who do the work in the places you want to live, or who work with the
people groups in any capacity, who work in the environments you want to work in. Ask them
questions about their workday, the requirements to maintain status in the field, what the hours
and income are like, what the challenges and joys are of their job. And ask them who else they
suggest that you talk to. Here's a free resource for what is called an "informational interview":
https://www.cowancareercoaching.ca/resources-to-get-you-started#h.vwqsq0lsq1sq
Understanding more of what you're looking for will help you to know what path to go in, and then
you can start matching post-secondary programs to your goal.
You can use online tools like career cruising and Holland Code as well, but they’re best used with a trained interpreter.
Most schools in Canada will
meet with prospective students to help you know what courses and grades you need in high
school to get into their programs. Typically math/stats is involved in Psych so you can learn about
psychometric assessments and anything related to human interactions. If you are interested in
organizational psychology then business classes are helpful foundation to understand your
audience, if you're interested in the physiology of humans then biology and chemistry.
Maybe you do one as a hobby and the other as a paid profession.
Finally, keep your options as open as possible. If there's an option where you are for a broader
discovery version of education, I'd highly recommend that. You don't know what you do not
know yet, so any program that is likely to introduce you to as many options as possible before
forcing you to choose a specialty is likely to improve your career satisfaction.