• Home
  • About Me
  • Testimonials
  • When I Was 17
  • 4-Year Timeline
  • FAQ
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Testimonials
  • When I Was 17
  • 4-Year Timeline
  • FAQ
  • Contact
Colleen at Collegewise

When I Was 17: Weird Majors

9/14/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
As a classics major, I am very familiar with the comedic oeuvre that is mocking so-called impractical majors. Not to mention that half the people I share this detail of my life with think majoring in classics means learning how to read heavy books while wearing tweed blazers with elbow patches.  But after doing some research, I learned that classics isn’t even in the top ten of weird college majors, an honor that definitely belongs to University of Connecticut’s BFA in Puppetry, or Texas A&M’s program in nautical archaeology. Yes, some of these majors sound a little goofy, but if you scratch beneath the surface, it’s clear that they’re academically rigorous programs that teach people the essential skills they need to create things we all value.

Fermentation Sciences at Appalachian State University + Viticulture and Enology at Cornell University 

It seems obvious that there’s an enormous amount of chemistry involved in brewing beer and making wine. But these programs also prepare their students to run successful breweries and wineries with courses in marketing and business management. They also teach their students to think critically about these products, with a course on the “moral, ethical and legal aspects of alcohol production and consumption.”
 
Entertainment Design and Engineering at University of Nevada, Las Vegas + Theme Park Engineering at California State University Long Beach
 
You certainly don’t need one of these specific degrees to design roller coasters or develop the technological systems that drive a casino or a theater. But these programs combine a solid foundation in material science and kinetic structures with their respective proximities to Disneyland and Las Vegas to give students hands-on experience with the current issues in their field.
 
Recreation and Leisure Studies at University of North Texas
 
Okay, this one definitely sounds like a made up major, and I’m sure you’re picturing students lounging by a pool or playing guitar on a grassy hill. But in fact, someone had to design that pool and lay out that park, and that person might have majored in recreation and leisure studies. Students combine courses in human anatomy; facilities planning, design, and maintenance; fiscal administration; and inclusion and diversity to prepare for a career overseeing all the places we go to have fun.
 
Packaging at Michigan State University
 
While not the sexiest major on this list, packaging is quite possibly the one that impacts us all the most. Packaging technology plays a role in everything from child-proof containers for medications, to properly sealed food that prevents bacterial growth, to the absurdly large boxes Amazon uses to ship a single pen (true story). And beyond practicality, there’s an artistry to packaging that no one knew better than Steve Jobs, a fact I’m reminded of every time I lift the smooth, white lid of an Apple box and see a perfectly coiled set of ear buds settled in its own nook. 
 
...and in case you were wondering, underwater basket weaving is in fact a class you can take at Reed College, UC San Diego, and Rutgers University. It turns out, the reeds are actually more pliable when they’re wet.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed


    What is the When I Was 17 Project?

    When I Was 17 is a blog series dedicated to collecting the varied stories of people's career paths, what they envisioned themselves doing when they were teenagers and how that evolved over the course of their lives. I started this project with the goal of illustrating that it's okay not to know exactly what you want to do when you're 17; many successful people didn't, and these are a few of their stories.  

    Archives

    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015

    Categories

    All

​Colleen Boucher-Robinson  

​College Counselor

​Collegewise Bay Area - East Bay


Telephone

925-391-0368

Email

colleenb@collegewise.com