We all know that there are certain majors you should just avoid in college. Underwater basket weaving has yet, to the best of our knowledge, landed anyone that must-have job. And I’m pretty sure my degree in Urban Studies (does anyone even know what that really is?) has yet to be in any way useful in my post-college life aside from helping me navigate the occasional subway map.
Psychology. History. Gender studies. Military history. Do any of these actually get you anywhere? And exactly what majors are useful in real life for real military spouses looking for real work?
We often hear about degrees in education and the ensuing back-and-forth between milso teachers who say it’s either really, really difficult or really, really doable. But since not everyone can be a teacher, we want to know: What works for the rest of us?
Lori, an Army spouse in North Carolina, stresses the success of her accounting degree. Why? “Because there are banks at every base, and you can get a job during tax season no matter where you are stationed.”
Trish, a Navy wife in Norfolk, says that her nursing degree went miles for her. “I’ve had a great job for the last two moves,” she says. “Good pay, good job, good coworkers. I love it.”
Wendy, an Air Force wife in Texas, touts her degree in dental hygiene. “Laugh all you want,” she jokes. “But I get work with a bright, white smile!”
So is your degree working for you? Or did you hit the job market and wish you’d studied something else? Let’s invoke the comments section for discussion. What has worked for you and your friends? What have you seen that hasn’t? Tell us. We want to know the ins and outs, the why's and why not's, and - most importantly - what you wish you'd known when you selected your major in the first place.
(I would have avoided urban studies, for instance. Turns out it's little use on a military base.)
