Lots and lots of decisions. I'm talking about my future, particularlywhere I work now, university study and where I will work in the future.
This all comes from talking with a very close family friend who came and visited last weekend. Before he retired due to health reasons about 5-8 years ago he was the third highest manager in the Commonwealth Bank, the largest bank in Australia. He is a very knowledgeable person who tells the truth and has a lot of insight into the running of major businesses. We were talking about my career direction and it got me thinking.
For all of you who don't know, I started a Double Degree this year at the University of Wollongong, a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce (BA BCom). It will take me 4.5-5 years to complete it, but I can choose up to 4 Majors. The question is, what majors to choose? I have to decide quite soon if I want to be able to complete 4, otherwise I'll either only be able to do 3 or have to spend an extra year at university. The majors I'm tossing up are:
Commerce
Economics- I loved economics at school and it seems like an interesting area for future employment. Every large business needs an economist to predict the way the economy will travel, even though they are about as accurate as the weatherman 
. However, I don't like mathematics and my lack of year 12 maths could hinder the degree. Chance of taking it - 70%
Management- A great, versatile major which can be used almost anywhere. Good if I was to work my way up the career ladder at my current employer (Coles) or if I was to work in any business. May be a bit lackluster in the quality, though, as many managers don't necessarily have a degree to manage well. Chance of taking it - 70%
International Business- I want to travel and work overseas. I'd love to go and work in Europe and America and this would be the way to do it. It is interesting learning how to interact with different cultures and it delves into different types of economic courses. However it depends on the Arts major I take, as it can overlap with European Studies and International Relations. Chance of taking it - 50%
Marketing- I have no experience in marketing, but I think it will be interesting. I'm doing a compulsory marketing subject next session, and seeing how that goes might buff this major up a level. Chance of taking it - 30%
Arts
European Studies- This is a little bit of history, a little bit of cultural studies and a language joined together. I have always wanted to learn another language and live in Europe for a while, touring round an learning about the history of th region. Chance of taking it - 90%
Politics- I love politics. I breathe politics and my blood runs Liberal blue. It'll be tough because universities are known as the "socialist machine", but I'll be a spark of blue amidst the red (Labour) and green (Greens). Seriously, I'm always interested in the workings of politics, and it could help in future career moves, especially if working in the government. Chance of taking it - 60%
Employment Relations- Great combination with Management or International Business, it gives a more law-based view to business which you don't get in commerce. Chance of taking it - 60%
Science, Technology and Society- I love science, I love technology, I despise society, so two out of three isn't that bad, right? I'll be taking my first STS subject next session so I'll see how it goes. Chance of taking it - 30%
So, four out of the above 8. Any help oh knowledgeable Gamespotters? Basically I'll be graduating in 2013 with a BA BCom. However I probably will do a honours for each, adding another 2 years to the total, meaning in 2015 I'll have a BA(Hons) BCom(Hons).
Now if I go onto post-graduate study there are two things I can do. Firstly there is a Master of Commerce, Master of Strategic Management or Master of Economics (depending on the major I choose). These will take one year and will give me a MCom, MStratMgmt or MEcon, respectively. There is also a Master of International Studies from the Arts faculty, which will give me a MIntlSt, and takes a year. I coulddo a PhD, but that would be 3 years and I don't see myself at uni until past 2020.
So, going about the route I'm thinking of, I'm at uni until 2017. 8 years I will be at uni, I won't be out until I am about 27 years old. I hate to think of it 
. All up, at current prices, it will cost me around $86000, which is a really scary figure.
I know this is boring for most, and I don't blame anyone for not reading this. I just wanted to get it typed out, so in 10 years time I can come back and see how different it all turned out. Heck, I was going through my yr 6 yearbook and I wanted to become a teacher. It could still happen, but I am striving for a whole lot more now...
Comments
They dont have American studies
?
@TristanH12 - There are a lot of majors I didn't list there, especially for Arts. STS is a broad major which delves into the impact of changing technology in society. It doesn't seem to have a lot of employment prospects (except maybe teaching or working in the government), but I find that sort of stuff interesting. Also, no American studies - they have Aboriginal Studies, Australian Studies, Asia-Pacific Studies and European Studies, but not American Studies ... you guys aren't important enough
Man you'll have to make a lot of tough decisions, I'm out of it, I can't help
..........May god help u in choosing the correct path..............
This was a very interesting read though, it makes me wonder about the decisions I'll eventually have to make. Good luck with this though! I hope you can eventually make the decisions which you think are best.
Still, you've obviously given each one serious consideration. For Commerce, Management sounds practical, and International Business could open up a lot of new options, no? As for the Arts, I personally found political science to be rather wearisome, but you may thrive on it. European Studies definitely sounds like the most fun major. Universities play host to a unique period in our lives, *blah blah*, but if I were you, I would consider trimming the majors to finish in the shortest amount of time possible. I took four years to earn my BA, but one year of that was dual-enrollment in my last year of high school. Even after just three years of full-time university, I was ready to be done when I hit that last semester. It's great to be a student for a while, but you start to feel like moving on eventually, and any method of cutting down on time and debt load is probably worth considering.
@Soulreavercross - It is government-funded, but it still costs us a certain amount in fees based on the course. For example, Commerce courses will cost me $8000 a year and Arts ones $6000 a year. Courses like education and medicine will only cost you $4000 a year. The government gives a lot of money to them though.
@horgen123 - Thanks
@pakhair - Sorry for boring you
. Thanks, I need all the help I can get @Platyphyllum - You don't need to make any important decisions in HS until its your second-last year. Thanks for the luck!
@Elraptor - I'm thinking of doing 3-4 majors as for the double-degree I'm doing I have to do 200 credit points, and as you can only do 24 credit points worth of courses a session (semester) it is going to take roughly 4.5 years. I'm cutting down on time by doing the double degree, as seperately this would take six years (3 years for commerce, 3 years for arts), but I do get what you mean.
@Darkmagcite - Thanks for the luck! Euro studies will be great if/when I go to Europe (when I get my Maltese citizenship of course
)
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