haha, Minor is a pun! Because I’m talking about college! Get it? haha?
Okay, anyway.
First off, I just have to thank you guys SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO freaking much! You are amazing and give me such amazing advice! I really have no idea how to thank you. I need to stop being lazy and actually respond to comments individually. (Don’t worry, there will be plenty more posts of me freaking out about college and nursing and pretty much life in general, and hearing ya’ll words of wisdom are immensly helpful and encouraging!)
So, I thought I would ask your opinion on another matter.
I know my major is going to be Nursing. But I’m debating what I want my minor to be: Women’s Studies, Chinese, Spanish, or no major at all.
I was interested in Women’s Studies because feministness! woot! And I saw many posters in the nursing building for people interested in Women’s Studies. I would also like to go into Women’s Health/Obstetrics when I became a nurse, and obviously going into women’s studies ties in with it (one class you can take is Women’s Health- which I’m going to take whether I minor in WS or not). The downside is that I might get bored with the classes. I already know some of the stuff (yeah, I definitelly don’t know much) but I might get bored with it. It’s not like I’m a naive person who doesn’t realize that we live in a patriarchy and is shocked by what they find out. I already realize that. But still, I would think this would a good minor and I would find it interesting and probably wouldn’t be as memorization heavy as the languages (though maybe it is, I dunno lol).
Okay, so if you don’t already know, I love Asian culture. lovelovelovelove. My whole bedroom is Asian themed (and apparently messy themed as well)…
(Click on the picture once the page is finished loading to see full view- it gets cut off at the side… see? and my lovely DVD collection. The wide space would be occupied by my Ugly Betty season 1 if Emuhlee would not be currently in posession of it)
I’m more into Japanese culture than Chinese, but Chinese still interests me. I know this would be an extremely hard language to learn, but I feel like I really want to try. (not to mention, how cool would it be to be able to speak chinese?… SUPER COOL!). As I said, the downsides with this are that it would be very hard to learn and devote time to along with nursing classes, not to mention that it isn’t spoken very widely around here. Plus side being I actually want to take it. And who knows, you might run into a chinese speaking patient at a hospital (like on that one episode of Grey’s anatomy! tsch!), and I bet there wouldn’t be that many people who speak chinese (I would be TO THE RESCUE! XD lol.. sorry, I’m weird..)
Spanish, on the other hand, is spoken much more often than Chinese. Everywhere you go there are signs in English and Spanish and on product labels, etc. It is much more likely to run into a patient who speaks Spanish than one who speaks Chinese. Downside to learning Spanish is that I really don’t care for it. I mean, I might like it, I dunno. (I SHOULD’VE taken it in High School… Stupid German ><! why did I take that??) But I just don’t feel interested in it as of now. To me it’s one of the boring languages everyone takes (German, Spanish, Latin.. though for some reason French interests me…)… I dunno.. I figure I could always try and teach myself (out of Spanish and Chinese, I am assuming Spanish would be easier to teach myself). But everyone I asks says I should take Spanish, since it will be useful. URG! I wish I had enough time to take both…
Last Option? No Minor at all. (I would list Double minor, but I doubt I could handle it, seeing as nursing majors can barely handle nursing, let alone another minor). If I don’t minor in anything then I could just pick any class I’d like to take and not have to worry about fulfilling credits. I find this alluring because then I could take a few easy classes to lighten my load, and be able to take an art class or two, along with anything else I am interested in.
If I had to get rid of one I would get rid of Spanish, but that one would probably be the most useful >.<.. gah..
Blah.. I don’t know what to do. I wish I could take all three.
Any thoughts/opinions/advice? (XD or comments about my room lol?)
please don’t take spanish because people say you should. you’re the one studying, so you should study what you really want! true, spanish would be very useful for your career, but it depends on what you want to do.
chinese is very difficult. i’m a chinese, and i can’t speak it! (english is my mother tongue.) since you said it’s the japanese culture you’re really fascinated with and not so much chinese, don’t take up chinese because of its similarity to it. if you really want to learn it, take up classes by the side, not as a minor. however, it’s not true that chinese will not be useful for your career. over 1 billion people speak chinese, and if you want to work in asia, knowledge in chinese will get you plenty of high-paying jobs in this region (china, hong kong, malaysia, singapore).
women’s studies could be a good minor. i doubt it’d be boring, though, ‘cos i’m sure there is more to women’s studies than what you’ve researched on your own, at a tertiary level, you know what i mean?
if you really want to enjoy your learning experience, i’d say don’t take a minor. this way, you get to pick the best or most interesting classes out of the 3 minor options. if you want to take the opportunity to add something substantial to your resume, then pick a minor that you’d like best. if you’re the sort who can study something she doesn’t really like, then pick spanish (better career opportunities in the us).
i must say though that when it’s time to look for a job, it doesn’t matter so much what you’ve learnt than what they think you’re capable of learning if you’re selected for the job. that is to say, your personality and maturity can trump other job candidates with better qualifications but less character.
By: sulz on April 14, 2008
at 5:34 pm
Deciding on a minor is fun! Or not. I picked mine by taking classes, and history interested me the most.
On another side note, which dialect of Chinese? Cantonese or Mandarin?
By: zephyrgirl on April 14, 2008
at 7:52 pm
First off, I love your bedroom. Especially the bedspread. And I love medical shows, too!
Minors are basically irrelevant. No one cares what you minored in, so it’s a good place go with your gut and study something that you really enjoy. Foreign language skills are definitely useful, no doubt about that, and they could help you get a job down the road. But for now the job market in nursing is so wide open that you don’t really need an extra advantage there.
Another advantage of doing a foreign language minor would be that you could probably knock out a good chunk of the requirements if you did a study abroad program for a semester or even a year, assuming that’s something you’d be interested in.
All that said, I would take classes in all three, get a feel for the departments at your school, and see which one you like best. At both the colleges I attended, the departments I was interested in varied a lot. (I ended up dropping my English major down to a minor after I transferred because I didn’t think the department at my new school was as strong.) For now, just remember that it’s not something you need to have nailed down right this minute. I guarantee you at least half of your classmates next year, if not many more, won’t have any idea what they want to major in, let alone minor.
By: Diana on April 15, 2008
at 1:39 am
LOVE reading your blog. Stand tall girl, stand tall!
As for minors, truthfully, I would go with Spanish. I think it would benefit you in the job market (listen to me getting all “motherly”) but I have a friend that is fluent in Spanish and she is so much more marketable than her counterparts.
I agree that Women’s studies would be nice, especially if you go into OB/GYN, but truthfully – you’re a girl. You know about women.
Go with the Spanish. Kick some ass there girlie!
By: Ginger on April 15, 2008
at 7:46 am
I’d suggest staying minor-less for now and shopping around in the departments once you’re actually on campus. Wait til you can meet the professors and know whether you think you’d enjoy learning from them. Then pick up the minor that most interests you–or just stay minorless. You’ll have to determine for yourself how worthwhile a minor will be in your future. Nobody cares if you minored in Spanish unless you can actually converse with the patient. Likewise in any language.
My specific advice: Take a women’s studies class your first semester, along with whatever nursing’s got lined up for you, and see how it goes. If you like that prof, ask her/him what other classes would be good. Figure out what it is that you’re most interested in about women’s studies and ASK! Seriously, the professors should be dying for students to show up at their office hours. It’d make their day if you had questions, were looking for advice, etc.
And see if there’re any Japanese students interested in tutoring you. You can check out the organizations on your campus, but I’m betting (depending on how big of a school it is) that you’ll have some kind of Asian Student Union. You should be able to get some contact information from someone, be it the admissions office or online, and ask them about tutoring. Who knows, they may offer it for free through the university, as a way of getting Student Association funding for their club. If that doesn’t satisfy your initial interest, then check out what classes are available. Your college will likely have some kind of online program available if there aren’t actually Japanese language classes on-campus.
Have you been to the college? Done any classroom visits? Think about setting something like that up before May, since most university classes end in May. It’d be a good way to check out the classes. Also, many colleges offer a prospecive-student-sleepover program, and they’ll find a college student for you to stay with if you want to go for a visit. I highly recommend that. Ditch a couple days of high school if you have to (you’re almost done, what will they do?) and try to get in on a women’s studies class or two. Your admissions offfice will probably be very helpful if you ask them about this, and if you can’t stomach calling them, shoot them an email.
By: Michael T on April 15, 2008
at 8:25 am
If you truly can’t make up your mind, and it’s all the same to you, I would suggest learning a language. With a language you can travel to other countries. If you decide nursing it’s for you you can teach English to whatever nationality that you decide to take the language in. It will look very impressive on your resume if you stay in the US.
Trust me, as someone who couldn’t find work in her chosen field when I graduated, a foreign language, no matter which on it is, makes you twice as desirable to just about any employer.
By: Atuin on April 15, 2008
at 10:24 am
Why not take Japanese? I am rather obsessed with Japan, so I took a year of Japanese language courses, and a class on Japanese History. They were some of my favorite classes during my entire education, simply fascinating, and I loved them!
But yeah, for classes that aren’t in your major, or classes that comprise your minor, you should take things that aren’t so difficult that they’ll distract you from your harder courses that are a part of your major, or add stress to your already overloaded brain and schedule. Seriously – don’t take electives or choose a minor that’s going to kill you.
And make sure you’re really, really interested in the topic – because as these classes will be “extras” in a way, any additional amount of dedication and interest on your part will help you stay dedicated to them.
By: Arashi-san on April 15, 2008
at 11:49 am
WOMEN’S STUDIES! Even though its college, you’ll find some pretty messed opinions in academia. Racist, sexist stuff that is taught all the time, under the guise of “neutral” or “non-bias” academics. Women’s studies, or any other critical social theory major (af am studies, etc) as a respite and a way to feel sane when your brain is freaking out about how messed up the rest of the world is. Its totally inspiring, and amazing pedagogically- it teaches sharp analytical skills and critical thinking you won’t get in other majors
By: weedivine on April 15, 2008
at 12:50 pm
“Asia” is a lot broader then just China and Japan and studying one language does not give that much insight into a particular culture if one does not also study that culture’s history, social structure and politics. It might be fun to study a language but I would pay careful attention to cultural appropriation and your use of themed rooms when discussing “asian” culture. It’s a slippery slope that a lot of people are not aware of when discussing other cultures.
I would suggest you take Women’s Studies as women’s issues will come up a lot in a Nursing degree. Although I think you know more about feminism then the average highschool student, WS is a lot larger then women sitting around getting shocked by all the evil things the evil system does! You won’t get bored with WS. I agree with weedivine that a WS degree will teach you amazing critical thinking and analytical skills more so then another degree – certainly more then a language minor!
Good luck! University is an amazing experience that I thoroughly enjoyed! Remember, you can always change your mind if you decide you don’t like a subject after a few semesters.
By: Caralyn on April 15, 2008
at 3:38 pm
By the way, I like your room. Particularly the traditional dress-looking ceramic(?) figure on the wall, and the bookish red box and the folding screen on your dresser(?).
Just wanted to let you know. Also I love red rooms. Good choice.
Looks like you got the attic room, huh? Lucky! Must be hella hot during the summer, though..
By: Michael T on April 17, 2008
at 1:01 am
I vote for Asian Studies/etc! I minored in Japanese and now speak Spanish. My major was science and people LOVE to see the Japanese on my resume. It is totally useless for my job (which is why I ended up learning Spanish), but it shows that you are well-rounded, know something about other cultures, are good at something besides science, and it’s just plain interesting. All, it helps a lot with small talk during the job interview. And I loved studying it, even though I never use it anymore.
Now that I’ve had to learn Spanish, sure, I guess a Spanish minor could have been more useful. But I loved Japanese. And learning any langauge helps you be better at learning languages overall.
I would recommend, if you can, taking at least an intro to Spanish later on in your college career–they need nurses who know at least some Spanish. But do what you love first!
Women’s studies is very dense. I much preferred having a language class as a break from all those science classes. I do read feminist papers and such on my own, and there are always book clubs and discussion groups and such for self-study.
By: Veganlicious on April 17, 2008
at 11:55 am
@ Sulz –
Honestly, I do like Chinese culture as well as Japanese. The writing system fascinates me, and I like to hear the language spoken.
Out of Chinese vs. Women’s Studies, I’ve come to the conclusion that Chinese would be easier to fit into my required classes thing (lol, whatever that’s called) and I think if I had to, I could try and learn Spanish on my own (out of the two, Spanish seems the more likely for me to be able to teach myself).
@ zephyrgirl
Mandarin
@ Diana
Thank you! (I <3 me sum medical shows!) I think I will definitely take some of each, I’d like to anyway. I swear I am going to want to take wayyyy to many credits!
@ Ginger
(^^ thank you!) This is what it so hard! Spanish would be very useful for me to know! I’d really like to take atleast a basic spanish class, to try and know a little. I dunno if I could go through with it if I don’t like it- it would be like German all over again.
@ Michael T
I think I’ll just take a class of each, then decide what I want. I don’t really understand how you pick you minor, I kinda assumed that you picked it from the start? But I guess I was wrong. I don’t know how they do this stuff. Like, do I fill out a paper with the classes I want, how do they schedual stuff, I have no idea! I’m guessing it won’t be like high school, where we fill out a form to choose our classes.
I will have to check that out when I get there lol
Still have a few months.
I’ve been to Bloomsburg 3 times now, once was an open house, once was to buy a shirt, and once had a meeting with the nursing people and then walked around too. I’ve been to Cedar Crest 2 times, once for the open house and once for a sleepover (though I’ve pretty much decided on Bloomsburg now anyway). I have no idea whether Bloomsburg does the sleepover thing, one person said no, another said yes, and another said no. I’ll have to find out about sitting in on a class, who wouldn’t want to miss a day of school?
@ Atuin
My mom would beg to differ. When I wanted to major in Japanese she shot me down from the start (my English teacher thought it was a great idea lol!) But that was 2 year ago and I’ve kinda gotten over it. But I agree with you, knowing a language is definitely an advantage.
@ Arashi-san
. If I was a millionare I would enroll at Elizabethtown College and major in Japanese, but that ain’t gonna happen.
Sadly, they do not offer Japanese at either of the colleges I am accepted too, so that’s not going to happen
That is the one thing that worries me- that Chinese will be difficult and might add more stress than I need, not to mention destroy what brainpower I have…
I think I am ruling out Spanish, because I honestly have no desire to take it other than that it would be helpful for future career opurtunities. I do want to take an intro course on it though, maybe teach myself, but I really don’t want to take a class on it. If I change my mind I could probably go to a communitiy college and take a few classes or something.
@ weedivine
“Women’s studies, or any other critical social theory major (af am studies, etc) as a respite and a way to feel sane when your brain is freaking out about how messed up the rest of the world is. Its totally inspiring, and amazing pedagogically- it teaches sharp analytical skills and critical thinking you won’t get in other majors”
@ Caralyn
I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend at all. I’ll have to watch myself on that, I never realized how that could offend someone (probably because no one has ever told me it could). I do apologize again for that. What would be the correct term for me to use in the future (sorry if that is a dumb question, but I would like to know so I don’t do the same thing). I guess I’m just trying to say that in general I find many ‘Asian’ cultures fascinating, not just China and Japan.
@Michael T (number 2 lol)
Thank you! Yeah, our house is like a Cape Cod (I think that’s the correct term?) so it has those windows that come out of the roof.. Well, I got one of those rooms lol. UGH kill me during the summer! I can already tell it’s getting warmer because of the temperature in my room.
@Veganlicious
I am hoping to be able to take an intro to Spanish later in college (^^ Hopefully I won’t have too many credits…)
“Women’s studies is very dense. I much preferred having a language class as a break from all those science classes. ”
I didn’t think about it that way… I do like having breaks lol.
It seems like I’ve pretty much narrowed it down to Women’s Studies vs. Chinese… I probably won’t decide till I actually get to college anyway lol.
Thank you all so much again
!
By: lovemeformexox on April 21, 2008
at 4:09 pm