With so many majors and minors to pursue at UO and career options to consider, being an exploring student can feel overwhelming. Before you feel you need to answer the big question and declare a major, take the time to think about some smaller, more manageable questions. And discuss your answers with your advisors.
Identify your abilities, values, interests, and goals
- In a conversation, what are the most important things I want others to know about me?
- What are my strengths? In school? In the community? Within my family? Within my group of friends?
- When I reflect on my past jobs, volunteer experiences, and internships, what did I like the most and what did I like the least? What sort of skills did I enjoy using or learning to use?
- Which school projects, hobbies, or activities are so fun that I lose track of time?
- What drives or motivates me to do my most meaningful or important work?
- What are problems or issues in the world that I wish I could solve?
Investigate college majors, coursework, and careers
- Which majors does UO offer? Which seem most interesting?
- What skills do I hope my favorite majors will teach me? Do these match what I am seeing in the course titles and descriptions?
- What are the daily tasks in the careers I am considering? Am I interested in doing them?
- What is the work environment like in these careers? Energetic with lots of people interaction? Quiet? Always changing or relatively steady? Which might motivate me to do my best work?
- Will I be working mostly with people, number and data, ideas and theories, or material things? Which one do I most prefer or what is my best mix?
Network with students and career professionals
- Who do I already know who is working in my major(s) of interest? Can my parents, relatives, or friends help connect me with someone they know in my fields of interest?
- What companies would I like to work for in the future?
- If you were to interview someone within your major of interest, what are you most curious to know that you have not already found out online?
- If you were to interview someone working in your career field of interest, what questions would you ask them?