[Rhombus]

My parents are divorced, I live with my mom though I have a much better relationship with my dad.

So when I was 18 I went to college X and dropped out, well for a lot of reasons. When I was 19 I went to college Y - the local community college. After dropping out, I thought hard about what I wanted to do with my life, and settled on engineering. However, as I remembered quickly math is not my forte, I dropped to a less math intensive route, and decided on food science, which is basically the chemistry that goes into food production.

I then transfered to college Z, large state university, in March. Uh oh, big problem, turns out I suck at chemistry too. I switch to linguistics (spanish minor), but I don't tell my parents. Why? Because I've changed my major probably over ten times, and they are starting to get fed up with me.

The only reason I didn't do linguistics from the beginning is because I know there are no jobs with a bachelor's in it, and my parents are career-focused. I don't know what to do, people always say it's never as bad as you think it will be to tell them the truth, and I think these people have never met parents like mine.

I am so stressed about this, especially since I live at home. I'm also super stressed I won't be able to find a job, and my only hope is being nearly fluent in Spanish will help me get something.

I feel like such a failure and a letdown because I always had the best grades, I was supposed to be the scientist, I was supposed to be someone. I feel stuck between languages, the only thing in my life I've ever been competent at and the thing everyone thinks I'm good at.

[lynn P.]

Maybe you should speak to a guidance counsellor and get an objective opinion. I think there are quizzes you can take to see what education/carreer options are best for you. When I was in University I took business and never did end up finishing and I to felt lost - not knowing what to take. There are always jobs in the medical fields especially with the baby boomers becoming elderly now. Speak to your university counsellors. Good luck.

[salukigirl]

Being fluent in spanish will get you a lot. The US is moving more towards being 50/50 when it comes to english and spanish. A lot of gov't agencies now require that you are bilingual in something because we are such a globally involved society.

On the other hand, having a BS now is almost equivalent to a HS diploma. Companies just kind of expect you to have one so, especially if you're not 100% on the exact career you want, you might to think about a generalized BS (like linguistics) and then go on to your masters when you are finished.

P.S. if it makes you feel any better, here is my list of majors since I graduated HS in 2005:

Video Production
Journalism
English/Education
Zoology (in which I went from pre-vet to pre-med, now I'm just a Zoo major)

Hardly anyone finishes in 4 years with the original degree they started with. And at the end of the day, you need to do what makes YOU happy. Your parents aren't the ones who will be in that career and doing that job for the rest of their lives. If you're still not sure, the best thing to do is probably to be undecided, take as many classes as you can in as many different subjects and find the one that really clicks with you.

Hopes this helps!

[VickiesPath]

Originally Posted by Rhombus

My parents are divorced, I live with my mom though I have a much better relationship with my dad.

So when I was 18 I went to college X and dropped out, well for a lot of reasons. When I was 19 I went to college Y - the local community college. After dropping out, I thought hard about what I wanted to do with my life, and settled on engineering. However, as I remembered quickly math is not my forte, I dropped to a less math intensive route, and decided on food science, which is basically the chemistry that goes into food production.

I then transfered to college Z, large state university, in March. Uh oh, big problem, turns out I suck at chemistry too. I switch to linguistics (spanish minor), but I don't tell my parents. Why? Because I've changed my major probably over ten times, and they are starting to get fed up with me.

The only reason I didn't do linguistics from the beginning is because I know there are no jobs with a bachelor's in it, and my parents are career-focused. I don't know what to do, people always say it's never as bad as you think it will be to tell them the truth, and I think these people have never met parents like mine.

I am so stressed about this, especially since I live at home. I'm also super stressed I won't be able to find a job, and my only hope is being nearly fluent in Spanish will help me get something.

I feel like such a failure and a letdown because I always had the best grades, I was supposed to be the scientist, I was supposed to be someone. I feel stuck between languages, the only thing in my life I've ever been competent at and the thing everyone thinks I'm good at.

Get a double major by doing a teaching block. All secondary schools require language. My major was Spanish/Education, with a minor in Music. I can teach anywhere. I can also be a sub.

[VickiesPath]

OH, and if you are not lucky and do not have a native speaker like I did (my professor was Cuban) you can get a Rosetta Stone package or something to listen to for accent and timing. Fluency takes practice. Most graduates do not have it. But don't worry. Most public schools don't require it for their first and second level classes.

[Yoda]

I attended a university for two years and every semester I had a different major. From applied music (trumpet) to chemical engineering. I had no idea what I wanted to do so I dropped out and worked at McDonalds for four years. At first I thought, "Oh I have wasted two years and lots of money" because I had no degree. But when I finally decided to pursue nursing I found that my two years of chasing different majors had fulfilled all my core classes for a BA.

You aren't wasting your time by switching majors; you are trying on different "clothes" until you find some that fit you.