When applying to college last year, first of all, I had no idea where I wanted to go, second, I didnāt know what to study which could have ended up dictating my whole life.
Sounds like everyone.
As a 19-year-old, I thought life already flew by quickly but if I will have to decide upon a career to spend 5x that amount of time in, buckle up.
When I asked my peers in school what they were interested in concentrating on in college, they gave me a detailed spiel of exactly what they will do and also what rockband they will join.
They had it at the tip of their tongue as if they were teens and that was the only question they rehearsed in case relatives came over.
Eventually, I decided to stay close to home because I knew I would be distracted studying in warm climates, schools in the middle of the country didnāt suit me, and big cities worried me.
The prestige and name didn’t play a crucial role.
I looked at colleges for the main reason everyone else didn’t: the people and environment not the cost.
I wanted to be close to home while gaining exposure to innovation, creativity, and exploration.
Iāve very grateful for my decision to be at NYU, not only because Iāve found a great community and found a supportive team but also because I get to be close to home, a subway and a few trains stops away from Grand Central to be exact.
But before getting accepted, I had to go through tedious paperwork, application due diligence, all of that information you donāt want me to remind you of.
I took it seriously because I knew I wanted to make a good decision. As diligent as Iām already, I knew gap years would be a waste of time, and Iām glad I ended up deferring that decision because COVID hit and I wanted to make sure I wouldnāt have to re-apply to another school sophomore year if I was unhappy.
That is a pain students still go through becuase we are picky creatures.
Through this process, I needed to consider my major.
I was asked what I was intending to concentrate on and which specific department to spend all my sweat and tears in.
Fresh out of high school and I need to know the trajectory of my career already?
I thought we are allowed to shape our path hundreds of times and explore?
I guess thatās not what education is about, I forgot.
Business/finance and technology interested me. I did Khan Academy boot camps learning how to code since middle school and weirdly wanted to watch Jim Cramer scream his top bids on TV after piano at 6 pm daily after school.
Anyway, I knew the business was innovative, constantly changing and evolving and technology is all behind that.
I didn’t decide that early on, I evolved into enjoying it and wanted more.
How did I notice?
That is a hard question to answer for most of us.
In school, we take required classes practically until senior year where we have 2-3 choices on AP classes that require us to take a test so they arenāt that explorative anyway.
So I knew I needed to venture out.
I utilized the internet and took online courses, joined and initiated clubs at my school, learned to meditate and met people in these groups who talked about their interest, and joined women finance clubs to help break the gender gap in the STEM field.
I believe that is what NYU saw in me.
They saw I was able to become my own entrepreneur and be able to discover myself more than follow others. I didn’t need to have a business established by 16 or run a 501c non-profit.
Just like with a job, they wanted to make sure I was as happy here as they were accepting me.
I knew I needed to establish where I found my happiness and through that, I was open-minded.
I could never imagine myself working a 9-5 job, come home and watch TV.
Iām not wired like that and that is because Iāve adopted a growth mindset of constantly seeking opportunities because the worst day to start is tomorrow, the best one is today.
Time is of the essence and because of my curiosity, I chose to endeavor entrepreneurship.
If I had chosen a specialty major let’s say information technology or mathematics, that is terrific but certainly not satisfying to me.
I didnāt see myself in a specific department and niche at all in my entire life.
Although Iāve felt I was the only one in school who was never able to answer, āwhat is your favorite subject or what do you do best in?ā
I knew a bit about all subject and accepted it becuase I made that decision.
The worst thing I could have done was pressure myself to enjoy something.
I could have been upset but I didn’t waste my energy on that becuase having a hollistic scope on the world is the best view.
Until I got into the real world through seeking internships, summer jobs, and traveling, I understood that we are all in the same boat. We don’t know either and we are paddling our way through life.
I didn’t want to take the most common, easiest even though it could be challenging but a rudimentary path forward.
As a result, Iām considered a liberal arts student who studies FinTech & Entrepreneurship not solely one area of interest.
And yes, it is allowed and be proud of it!
Study the meaning of the color red and be thrilled about economics!
We want more of you!
For pre-professionals and most importantly, students because Iām surprisngly worried about you the most since you have a better grasp on what your dream job is for some reason than graduates, it is okay and even better not to know!
It shows you’ve accepted uncertainty and that is life.
There is so much we cannot control and we need to prepare ourselves for that.
Yes, you donāt have to know the answer but you do have to know how to try and ask for help.
Raise your hand if your not comfortable, test your limits trying new classes, and listen to your older self telling you that the number one thing we have in life is sticking and unwillingly convince ourselves to believe we should do something.
Now, this sounds like the exact opposite of what a consultant or analyst would do yet it isnāt.
I joined a liberal arts school inside of my university to take on that open-minded approach and not be single-minded in my major.
What good does that do you may ask?
In primary school, we were instructed to learn all subjects and in life as well.
We donāt solely focus on one thing in our lives, so why should we at college?
When you are specialized in something, you have practice, experience, and expertise in that field.
You can certainly be an asset to the team but only to one.
As a business technology major, donāt undermine students at liberal arts institutions studying finance.
In fact, most CEOs at Fortune 500 firms have liberal arts degrees. They expose you to different areas that you would normally never have heard of if you were close-minded and you have a hollistic approach to writing, reading, some close-minded students have forgotten about since pre-K.
Whether you are applying to college, getting ready for a race, or saying your prayers in the evening, understand that life is not a race and you do not have to have a set plan becuase others do.
Being the turtle in the race is okay.
You are weighing options and exploring.
Get back to the root of why you joined college, not for that degree but truly to develop your curiosity, make mistakes, and graduate as a better person than when you applied.
In my case, business is a crucial part of everyone’s world.
From the daily transactions we make to writing and researching investment reports on recommended stocks, having a diverse, open-minded background will put you ahead of anyone who is in the weeds of only sticking to a single major in the long run.
Letās make the world a more interesting by adding you with a new spin on where you studied and where your skills come from.
There is always time to change paths and shoot for being a generalist because that means you know more about how to help everyone, anywhere and we all need that.