I would persuade my parents to accept my decision to change my major from computer science to finance.

Most people equate purpose in life with job ambitions or the different benefits that can be obtained through the journey of a career – wealth, status, and a sense of belonging. (1) (Aharon) This is, by far, one of the truest and most fundamental needs of human life in the twenty-first century. Career choices are critical because they frequently involve dynamic interactions between abilities, occupational stereotypes, expectations, areas of interest, personality, risk tolerance, status, ambition, chance opportunities, and family influence. That list pretty much encompasses all life has to deliver as a kit. With the above realization, I am plagued with the basic problem of making a massive career decision and also seeking support from my parents for going through with this decision. There are many variables that influence the career decision-making process of students. However, the variables that influenced most prominently were family, academic potential, job opportunities, and socio cultural factors (Abrahams, Jano, Lill, 211). Hailing from a family of many computer engineers, my parents were very fascinated with the idea of me treading the same career path. One – because it is a career that pays handsomely well. Two – After it’s advent in the late 80s, there is an unparalleled prestige attached to this career as the computer engineers are known to be super intelligent. Three – The boom in the Information Technology industry brought into being many private organizations that made their presence in several countries, even the developing countries. This factually meant that there was more manpower needed in this sector than any other sector in the world. The IT industry was always in shortage of manpower, making them employ even the untalented goons, leaving in an opportunity indiscriminately for one and all. For my parents, this meant that I could never be unemployed and that I’d always be minting money. While the entire rumor was true until the first decade post the year 2000, things have started to go downhill in the IT industry since 2010 or so, making it increasingly difficult to find relevant jobs in the industry. However, after 2010, you could find a good IT job if you had the required skill sets to match the requirements of the job role. So, the natural course of action for me was to enroll myself for the course in Computer Science. My parents were the happiest as they also had a major role in convincing to opt for this career. After all they had taken tremendous efforts for exemplifying my cousins and uncles who were all employed as IT professionals and enjoyed a good life. Although I had been pursuing the Computer Science course for a while, a side of me always kept a tab on the finance related news. I would always scout for companies that are doing well in the market and the companies that were going downhill. I would keep a tab on their share values and other products like bonds, derivatives, and mutual funds. Also, it is no news that the financial services sector has grown enormously during the last 30 years. While it was at its peak in 2006, the financial services sector contributed about 8.3 percent to US GDP as against 4.9 in 1980 and 2.8 percent in 1950. This dramatic growth was not experienced by US alone, but also by relatively small economies such as Switzerland and other English-speaking countries like the Great Britain and Canada. Speaking of the remuneration factor, graduates from the Stanford MBA program who entered financial services during the 1990s earned more than three times the wages of their classmates who entered other industries at the time. (Greenwood and Scharfstein, 1). This is a steep rise that cannot go unaccounted for. I was naturally impressed by these statistics as I followed them quite closely. The more I read about the financial services sector, the more aware I was of the power of the financial services sector. On the flipside, I learned more about the Information Technology sector and its not-so-lucrative position in the market. The IT industry like the stock market trends of bullish and bearish has had its time of bullish and its natural culmination now would be bearish. It became a matter of concern for me and I have to do something about this.

Another notable consideration here is the work–education intersection is particularly salient in the wake of the ongoing global economic crisis, which has dramatically changed prospects for the future working lives of young people. Students are turning to universities in increasingly vocational terms, dramatically altering social understandings of the meaning and purpose of higher education. (Lair and Weiland, 425). Students have a fixed notion of the idea of a “real job”. What is this so-called real job? It is nothing but a marriage between their education and work. One job profile that is fulfilling for one individual, may not be fulfilling for another individual as it does not bring him fulfillment in the way that he or she expects it to, even if it pays tremendously well. Consider a person who has artistic talents and aptitude. To break it down further, a person with tremendous talent in creating music not just in his free time, but all the time, may never be fond of a desk job. He may pursue a career that entails a desk job as a means of survival, but not for living each day to the fullest.

For me, earning a good remuneration is as important as helping others earn a good remuneration. To learn the art of imparting such niche knowledge would require me to major in a niche subject that teaches me the nitty-gritty of finances. Money is something that can never go out of fashion or out of need. It is what the world functions on. Even if earning were the only factor to be considered, an IT job would pay me; however, a job in the finance sector would bring to light how I earned what I earned. It would open up all the myths, means, sources, and knowledge pertaining to the financial sector; a dissection of sorts that breaks down a rather scary looking subject into its very basics.

If my parents are investing in my education, I’d rather be sure about whether I would get worthy returns on the investment. With finance in picture, I definitely think that question is eliminated. After majoring in a subject and entering a career, there comes the formidable factor of promotion sooner or later. The mental well-being of a person is majorly associated with whether or not one is excelling at their career. Performance at a career is also linked to the engagement factor associated with that career. The more I’m interested in the career that I pursue, further are my chances to increase my productivity and bag a promotion consequently. It will naturally promote mental well-being as I wouldn’t have much to complain about besides unfavorable work environment, which in my opinion can also be changed, if I were to change my workplace. What goes with me every organization that I go to is my unparalleled interest in the subject finance and a will to work hard for excelling at my career.

After all, a major in any subject is never the end result. It is the journey which is of utmost importance and that journey is nothing but the career made out of a major in a subject. I am determined to convince my parents for letting me major in the subject finance as I see more reasons and sense than ever in taking this decision at this point in life. My conviction in this matter is unbreakable as I now live, breathe, and sleep finance. While that may sound a bit dramatic, I know in my heart that my parents will definitely see my passion toward this subject and consider my request.

Works Cited

Abrahams, Fatima, Rukhsana Jano, and Burger van Lill. "Factors Influencing the Career

Choice of Undergraduate Students at a Historically Disadvantaged South African

University.” Industry and Higher Education, vol. 29, no. 3, 2015, pp. 209-219. SAGE

Premier, doi:10.5367/ihe.2015.0253

Greenwood, Robin, and David Scharfstein. "The Growth of Finance." The Journal of

Economic Perspectives, vol. 27, no. 2, 2013, pp. 3-28. JSTOR, doi: 10.1257/jep.27.2.3

Lair, Daniel J., and Stacey M. B. Wieland. "“What are You Going to do with that Major?”

Colloquial Speech and the Meanings of Work and Education." Management

Communication Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 3, 2012, pp. 423-452. SAGE Premier, doi: 10.117.7/0893318912443776

Tziner, Aharon. "The Influence of the Parent Offspring Relationship on Young People´s

Career Preferences." Revista De Psicología Del Trabajo y De Las Organizaciones, vol.

28, no. 2, 2012, pp. 99-105. Academic search complete doi: 10.5093/tr2012a8