Some people believe there are very few majors that people can build a stable future with. However, many uncommon majors offer alternative pathways to success, including senior Edith Chang’s intended major of art technology and the business of innovation, which she will be pursuing at the University of Southern California, Chang said.
“For all my other schools, I chose cognitive science, but for this, I took a shot in the dark because the academy only takes 50 people a year,” Chang said. “It was a great opportunity. I love how interdisciplinary it is, so I get to work in aspects of art and explore computer science and technology.”
Chang is planning to minor in cinematic arts while focusing on artistic design, she said. In the future, producing and focusing on artistic design are career options, she added.
“My mom actually introduced me to this major, and I thought it would be a good fit for it,” Chang said. “I’ve always been a rather indecisive person; settling down on one major just didn’t really suit my style. And, again, getting to explore all these different aspects of learning and working through challenge-based learning instead of taking handwritten tests is really what I’d be interested in.”
Senior Zoe Ynzunza is majoring in cultural anthropology, she said. Ynzunza eventually wants to work in a museum for Latin American art, and with her major, she can become a museum curator, she said.
“I was mostly looking at different ways to become a museum curator, and when I found out about the major through Google searches, I learned more about it (Cultural Anthropology) and I thought it was really interesting because a lot of it is to do with the history of humanity and how that has sort of impacted us to this day,” Ynzunza said. “It’s obscure, so only if you have a really deep interest in learning more about human culture should you really do it.”
Senior Linda Zhao was accepted into UC Berkeley for environmental sustainability design.
“At first when I chose Berkeley, I didn’t really want to go, so I just chose a random major that has the word ‘design’ because that’s what I applied to at all my other schools,” Zhao said. “I just searched for design majors in Berkeley and applied.”
Zhao plans to switch from Environmental Sustainability to Cognitive Science, she said. She is very interested in the human brain and computer languages and plans to focus her career on design-oriented jobs, she said.