The majority of SCCC students are Liberal Arts & Sciences: General Studies majors for one of two reasons:

  1. They aren't yet sure what they'd like to major in.
  2. They prefer to have a more open and flexible major here at SCCC (that is, more electives where they have a choice of what to take), and then they can declare a major after transferring to their four-year college or university. 

These are both valid reasons to be a general studies major, although research suggests that once you do feel fairly confident about a future major or career focus, the sooner you move into that major the more likely you'll complete a degree in it. 

For this week's assignment, then, I'll ask you to complete the following. 

1) POSSIBLE MAJORS

Given the readings for today in the Class Schedule ("Light, Truth and Whatever" as well as "In Defense of the Liberal Arts"), you should be more aware now of how college should not be viewed as two, four, or more years of glorified job training. This is not a place where you view classes as obstacles to "get out of the way," where your focus is to merely collect a series of grades that you'll pass in for a sheet of paper at the end. 

College is a place to learn, to grow, to open up your thinking and your perspectives on issues that matter. Each individual class should be embraced for all the ways that the work involved can make your brain a bigger, better place. 

With this in mind, even if you have declared a major other than general studies—try the following "what should I major in?" type quizzes, and write down the top 3-5 majors, disciplines, or fields of interest suggested for you. 


2) POSSIBLE OCCUPATIONS

After completing the above quizzes, I'd like you to peruse some basic facts about the top 5 careers you are currently interested in or considering in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook.

You can search by median pay, projected growth rate, number of new jobs, level of education required, etc., and/or you can browse occupational groups in the left column or in the A - Z index.

Write down the 5 that you are researching (they may or may not be from your quiz results above).

3) POST YOUR DISCUSSION

In the Week 5 discussion forum, post your answers to the following:

  1. What are the top 3-5 majors that resulted from your quizzes in step 1 above? Did any of them surprise you? Have you currently declared a major and/or are you thinking about changing your major? 

  2. What 5 occupations did you research for step 2 in the Occupational Outlook Handbook? Did you find any surprising or interesting information these occupations? Do any stand out to you as ones you are particularly interested in pursuing or at least considering? Identify at least two possible occupations for you at this moment in time and explain why you are considering these.