How to Eliminate Career Anxiety

By Evan Solis Staff Writer

“What do you want to do in the future?”is the dreaded question that the average college student is faced with. There are plenty of career paths to choose from, and although that is a blessing, it can still be a curse. One of the toughest choices a student has to make is what career they want to go into. I know that I am very confused about what major I want to go into, flopping from things like music to filmmaking every other month. The same question of “what do you want to do” pains me, and graduation is around the corner. I also know, though, that there are other students here at HCC who face the same problems. What you should know is that there are ways to be confident about what you want to do in life, and that it is also natural to be confused.

The uncertainty of career choosing is not exclusive to just students here at HCC. A study conducted by Ellucian, who works with colleges all over the world, says that as of October 14, 2019, 51% of students were “confused and anxious” about selecting a major. What this tells us is that it’s a mutual problem that affects all college students. It is another stress that piles up with many of the other responsibilities handed over to students.

Two other people who graduated here at HCC can also testify to this as well. My sister Lucia Solis is a graduate who was confused as to what she wanted to major in. “I didn’t know what I wanted to major in at first, so I took general studies.” She was not confident as to what career she wanted to major in.

Another graduate, Shane Veras, agrees. “I was very confused about choosing my major,” he says. The thing is, it is okay to be confused, like all things in life.

Something to keep in mind is that you will eventually find what fits in with your interests. All it takes is exploration, positivity, and aid. To really find what career suits you the best, one thing you can do is explore. As Veras advises, “...find a general subject or field where your passion lies and try out everything possible in that field.”

My family has always reassured me when I’ve been anxious about my career choices that it takes time. It doesn’t matter how many times you go to school to study different fields. It is not time wasted; it’s an adventure exploring yourself. The anxiety unsure students feel comes from the preconceived notion that you must find who you are before you graduate high school. It is a common topic you can find on social media like Twitter and Facebook, where students generally discuss their concerns about the future.

Still, you should remember that there is urgency that comes with choosing a career. Anisha Thomas, the director of Career Services here at HCC, gives great advice on what a student should and shouldn’t stress about.

“Your credits that you take in college involve money and time. So the sooner you can get a major that you are comfortable with and you feel could possibly lead to something is a good thing because you don’t waste time and money, she says.

It is good to be ahead of the curve when choosing your career, and as Thomas puts it, “I always say the sooner you can make those contacts and learn different majors and find out what you like and don’t like, what you’re good at, what you’re willing to get good at, the sooner you can make a decision that you would be interested and want to grow in.”

The choice of what career you go into doesn’t always have to be absolute, although there are some that do require a lot of commitment. In regards to the flexibility of some careers, Thomas explains that some careers like “medical assisting and surgical tech,” while needing a lot of preparation, “can open up a lot of other opportunities” as well as “being stepping stones for other bigger careers.”

If you want to know more about what paths you can take, you can set up a meeting with the Career Services department and meet with Thomas and the rest of the staff. They have gotten hundreds of students who certainly did not regret meeting with them. According to Thomas, she has heard from alumni who say things like “thanks for helping me with my resume, thanks for showing me this career I’ve never thought about, thanks for leading me to the assessment.”

Thomas actually guided me to the same assessment called Focus 2, which guides you to careers based on interests, skills, and many other areas. Focus 2 is a website that lets you take assessments and leads you to careers that you might be interested in. These assessments range from “Self Assessments” that, according to the website, let you

“You will eventually find what fits in with your interests.”

“discover majors and occupations that match your personal attributes,” to others which test evaluate your career readiness and academic strengths. Signing up for the site myself, I feel like it really informs me on what careers are out there and details the specifics of what majors a student should be chasing if they are going after a preferred career.

The HCC website, specifically the Career Services page, is another source of information which both the graduates and Thomas recommends for good information for career seeking students. On the Career Services page, there are other links that also provide other ways to see what majors would be good to chase. You can find the page along with ways to contact Career Services in the following link:https:// housatonic.edu/career-services/exploring-majors-areas-of-study

An HCC student can utilize their professors for advice, as both Lucia and Shane Veras did. Lucia states that she “went to her professors and advisors for help” to determine what career she would choose. Now, Lucia has applied to the School of Visual Arts at New York with confidence in what she has always wanted to do, be an animator. Even though Veras has not decided what to do yet, he also recommends asking your professors for help.

It takes confidence to choose what you really want to do. Before coming to HCC, I never had the guts to chase a music career. Negativity surrounded me and I felt embarrassed to even mention my passion for music. That was when I finally stood up and signed up for a guitar class, thinking “this is my chance to try out something new.”

Now, I have multiple instruments, play guitar with a passion, and am interested in chasing music. It takes only a small drive and a push, like signing up for a class you’ve never imagined yourself in or were too scared to do, to spark up self-esteem. Photo by The Creative Exchange, via Unsplash The stress of the future sometimes makes a student tired.