TL20041108_001 "Baltimore's #1 College Paper - Published Twice-Weekly - www.thetowerlight.com Monday, 11/8/04 Democrats urged to remain active 5 TU accepts bids for building design 8 Alum publishes war-related book Aquarium offers diverse activities Departments Opinion News 5 Nations 6 Paw Prints Arts 13 Entertainment Briefs 14 Sound Bites 15 Now Showing. 16 Sports 20 In this corner. 20 Punt, Pass, & Pick 18 Classifieds 16 Students weigh major decisions With Spring semester registration beginning, undergraduates face career-altering choices Joshua Brown The Towerlight Registration for Spring semester courses begins today - and along with it comes the busiest time of year for academic advisers. Students will attend meetings, plot out future classes and apply for (or switch) their major. This semester 2,022 students, 11.4 percent of the campus' undergraduates, are listed as """"undeclared."""" That statistic does not include pre-majors who are waiting to be accepted to a program of study. Declaring a major is a weighty decision. The fear of making the choice, especially the fear of making a bad one, can be paralyzing, according to TU academic adviser John McKusick. """"College majors are just part of the process that leads to earning a degree,"""" McKusick said. """"They are designed for academic purposes rather than for career purposes. This is why the link between many majors and specific career fields is often unclear."""" McKusick explained that majors like education or nursing lead to very specific career paths, but students studying in departments like history or philosophy may have trouble defining a specific employment goal. Or, as first year experience adviser Kim Lauffer put it: """"A lot of people don't even work in a field their degree would seem to imply."""" Lauffer advises students to select a major based on a number of factors. """"Know your strengths,"""" she said. """"For instance if you're not good at math, then maybe engineering isn't such a good choice? That is, of course, unless you want to work really hard."""" Former Towson student Joseph Mettle said he had a hard time making up his mind and went through a major change every semester. """"My first major was mathemat- Viva Espana promotes Spanish culture Lisa Johnson/The Towerlight ABOVE: Amity Kollar (left), age 8, gets food alongside her mother Clara during the Viva Espana event in the Susquehanna Terrace Friday night. LEFT: Nisha Shrestha, a senior international business major, samples some Spanish cuisine. The event also included dancers and speakers promoting the study abroad program. See full story Page 5. ics and secondary education and I dropped it because I got frustrated with the high level of math courses that I initially thought I could handle. Then I changed to history and secondary education because I liked history and thought I could do well,"""" he said. """"Then I switched to business with a minor in political science because I took a business class and a political science class that semester. Finally I changed to economics, but by the end, I left realizing that I hadn't actually gotten much work done in any major. I'm taking some time off of school right now to sort things out."""" Lauffer said students should remember education is not necessarily a ticket to a career. """"The college process is something that transforms you into a being that can think critically,"""" she said. Despite the uncertainty that arises in choosing a career path, McKusick explained students should be confident in their decision-making and take advantage of the resources on campus. """"Visit an academic adviser, the Counseling Center or even an aca demic department, they can all help. Take gen-eds first, and see which ones you like. That's part of why they're there,"""" he said. It's also important to remember students don't have to stick with a major. Clarissa Peine, a junior EMF major, switched over from her original major, mass communication. """"I lost interest in the department when I had a bad class there. I also found [the student radio station] XTSR and had a great experience there, so I switched,"""" she said. See CAREER, page 7 Today High 51 Low 31 Tuesday High 49 Low 27 Wednesday High 46 Low 30 Thursday High 54 Low 39 Friday High 49 Low 37"
