College students should be encouraged to pursue subjects that interest them rather thanthe courses that seem most likely to lead to jobs.

Many college students feel confused between choosing a major that is more likely to lead to better job prospects and choosing a major that they interested in. I recommend that one’s interests and talents should be the primary factor in deciding one’s field of study, since it is where the student’s passion lies in. However, the information of related career prospects can also be a supplement in decision making.

First of all, a student’s interests drive he/she to explore deep in the subject and talents enable he/she to excel more easily. History is replete with examples of how some extraordinary individuals succeed by persistently following their passions and working hard to realize their dreams. Charles Darwin, the English naturalist in the 19th century, developed a fascination towards nature at the mere age of eight – he spent a lot of time doing bird-watching and collecting beetles in his father’s garden. Such a childhood passion leads him to become a renowned systematic naturalist. It is generally accepted that interests and talents are critical in one’s success in any fields. So does college education. Without interests, a student has no motivation to work hard on his/her subject; and without talents, one has to struggle with the onerous research works, which may further frustrate him/her. In universities, I often see students who study simply for passing exams. They copy others’ homework in order to submit it before deadline; or perhaps more egregiously, they cheat on exams so that they can earn a diploma, in spite of barely obtaining knowledge and learning professional skills. As a result, they could have at best average performance in the courses they choose, which negatively affect their employabilities subsequently. Therefore, student should not choose majors they are neither interested in nor good at, just because of the promised potentially lucrative jobs.

However, a student must also be aware of the unemployment rate of his/her chosen majors. If one chooses a subject that is interesting but unfortunately leads to very bleak jobs, he/she might suffer a lot after four years of hard work. For example, parents might tell children that they cannot get a job with an English degree, might advise them that a practical degree is the safe bet in a rough economy, might crack jokes about them working at Starbucks while writing a novel in the basement. This is quite indeed hurtful for students who have passion in literature. Of course, those students with wealthy family do not need to worry about this problem. However, for the majority of students who come from middle-class families or even poorer ones, it would be utterly cruel to encourage them to learn those esoteric Shakespeare’s works, while knowing that they might end up earning meager wages. Also, the recent continuous increasing college tuition fees are exaggerating this situation, as many students have to bear a heavy burden of loans as much as several hundred of thousands dollars. Thus, it can be said that students should not choose subjects that might lead to unemployment and financial difficulties after graduation. This might seem in conflict with my first point.

In fact, the scenario of unemployment is not so extreme as discussed above that a student should weight it more heavily than interests and talents. This is because the job market is constantly changing and usually unpredictable. When one says that students should focus on the availability of jobs, one overlooks the fact that the job market can be affected by a myriad of factors, such as the development of related industries, the number of job seekers and the advantageous and disadvantageous policies issued by the governments. Consider the computer science major. Ten years ago, the number of students choosing this major surged due to the booming computer industry; then suddenly this figure dropped because students were worried about outsourcing to India as IT engineers; but now with students’ awareness of the potential of network and artificial intelligence, such number climbed up gradually again. If a student bases his/her major choice on job availability, he/she would be at a loss when this field changes fiercely after four years’ college study. It is even more insecure than following his/her interests and talents. For some students major in subjects that are to some extent less demanded by the job market, such as literature, there is always a way out. For example, those students can double majors so they can land a job with the second major and wait until their dream jobs come.

In a final analysis, I would encourage students to pursue where their interests and talents lie in, rather than blindly going with the current job trend. As mentioned above, interests and talents serve as motivation that can guide a student to be diligent and persistent, and it is hard to foretell what kind of jobs will be profitable in the future. So I believe that keep chasing our dreams and we would lead a self-fulfilling life one day.