For somewhere between four and six weeks at the end of first grade, I wanted to be the Yellow Power Ranger when I grew up. Shortly after that, I wanted to be a teacher, an actress, an Olympic figure skater, the voice of a Disney princess, a marine biologist, and President of the United States. I’ll always have a fond place in my heart for the now all but abandoned aspirations of my younger self, but there’s one particular aspiration that will be sticking with me much longer than any of the others, like it or not: Around the time I was applying for college, I wanted to be an industrial engineer.

Four years have passed since that time, and a lot has changed. Much of the initial appeal of industrial engineering has worn off - I actually know what they do now, and the process of becoming a certified Six Sigma Black Belt isn’t as dangerous or romantic as the name might lead you to believe. I’m not at all thrilled by the amount of calculus I’ve had to cram into my head over the past few years (or by the small amount I still have left to go). Still, my major remains the same today as what I had displayed on my nametag the very first day of Orientation Week.

It’s not that I haven’t considered switching majors (see “John and Mike’s Major Experiment”). I’ve entertained the idea very seriously on several occasions, as a matter of fact, but I’ve always stopped short of going through with it (see “Actually Switching Majors”). For one thing, I do like a lot of things about industrial engineering. It’s not the dream job I may have envisioned while I was filling out applications for RIT, but there are enough redeeming qualities to the field that I can stick with it at least for a little while. It’s not a perfect fit, but it’s good enough.

For another thing, I’ve heard that switching majors at RIT can be a pretty hellish experience. Although the Institute is working to remedy this, it’s sometimes easier to drop out and transfer into another university altogether rather than trying to transfer into another program at RIT. I don’t want to deal with that. Lastly (but most importantly), the particular field that I end up getting my degree in really isn’t as important as some people might think. Poll any of the alumni walking around this weekend during Brick City Homecoming, and I think you’ll find this to be true: After graduation, almost nobody does exactly what they studied to do in school. It helps to get that first job, sure — but from there? It’s all up in the air. You can go any direction your heart desires.

The workforce we’re entering upon graduation is a very different workforce from the one that our parents and grandparents entered. We’re not going to have one job from graduation to retirement; more than likely, we will have several jobs. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a really good thing.

If things have played out exactly the way your first grade self pictured they would, well, good for you. (In my case, I’m glad they didn’t... although I’m sure those Power Daggers could have come in pretty handy as Editor in Chief.) If, however, you’re like me and still debating what it is that you actually want to do when you grow up, take comfort.

There's still plenty of time to decide that.

Laura Mandanas
Editor in Chief