Question: i just wanted help to figure out what kind of major i want to go into but I’m not really sure what i have in mind.

Hello,

Choosing a major can be a daunting task. First you need to understand the criteria on which you might base a decision. Do you choose what you are good at? Do you decide on the careers that are possible from a particular major and look at future employment predictions in those careers? Maybe you need to focus on what you are passionate about, or maybe there is a lot of pressure from parents or family members to choose a particular direction and you are trying to decide how to factor this in. How do personality preferences, such as wanting everything well planned versus enjoying going with the flow, fit into the equation? What if you don’t have a lot of experience on which to base your answers to these questions? …And here comes another zinger…even if you know the answers to the above questions, how do you sort through an ever expanding list of career possibilities to make a decision about your education?

I’m glad to say that there is a great way to begin your decision-making process. When a student is not sure what they have in mind, attending a Career Passion Workshop is a great start. This is a three hour workshop, offered for free through Student Counselling Services, that guides you through a series of questions that help you to begin to develop a sense of your criteria and what you want to keep in mind as you consider your options. Then it offers resources about the next steps in the process.

Once you have moved toward identifying a major, there are additional steps you can take that give you more confidence about your choice (or that help you to shift your focus if needed. Additional resources for this might be Career Services for  information about gaining work experience, identifying paths to jobs, supporting you in developing a resume, and so on. Academic Advising can help to clarify what it would take to complete a particular program, and what courses you have already completed count towards the programs you are considering.

If all of this seems like a lot of work I remind students that years studying something you later find out you really don’t like, is time-consuming and expensive. That being said, taking diverse courses in your first year, might be an important step to learning about yourself. So I appreciate your question. Many students share your dilemma and it is very common for students to switch majors once they begin a course of study.

I wish you well as you continue your educational and career decision making process. You can register for the Career Passion workshop online through the Student Counselling Services webpage, or attend at our desk in Wellness Services, U216. We will have a new list of days and times for 2017, but you will see there is one more chance to do the workshop this year on December 16, 2016.

All the best,

Mirjam Knapik

I really want to set up an appointment as soon as I can just to talk to someone. I think I am reaching my breaking point here at MRU.

Hello,

I’m very sorry to hear you are feeling like you are reaching your breaking point. I’ll take this opportunity to clarify the many ways you can get in to see a counsellor.

You can make an appointment by calling 403-440-6362 or attending at our desk at U216A. Depending on demand and cancellations, we may have appointments that day or farther into the future. However, we offer many other timely ways to access a counsellor. We have drop-in times daily on a first-come first-served basis, but will make time to see students who are experiencing a crisis. Since there are many issues that students share in common, (e.g., like stress, conflict, coping strategies, motivation, sleep, etc.) we also offer a group consultation hour with one of our counsellors every Monday at 3 pm. We will be opening more consultation hours if there is a demand. You can drop by for these without an appointment. We also offer workshops on topics that students most often identify are challenging: Anxiety and Worry, Career Decision Making, Procrastination, to name a few. We support students in distress but also focus on student development and building resilience. Our Happiness and Resilience workshop and the Strengths and Virtues workshops are examples of this.

Some students use our service early on in their time at MRU to help in the transition to university, a challenge many people (including parents) underestimate. With this approach, students improve their ability to manage the demands of school so they can enjoy and make the most of their time here.

So please do come and see us now, and we can explore with you how to make things more manageable and help you expand your ability to achieve the goals you have for yourself, your relationships, and your education and career.

Sincerely,

Mirjam