Free Advice
Meet the Intern
Matthew Doherty
University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign.
Senior, Advertising / Business / Architecture
Many of you might be asking yourselves, “Who is this kid? Majors in Advertising, Minors in Business and Architecture? Who does that?”
Well, I’m pretty sure I was the most indecisive person out there when it came to figuring out what I wanted to do with my life (In fact, I still don’t know, but at least I have my Undergrad figured out). Hence the vast array of minors associated with my degree. Many of us, I think, are so stressed that everything has to be a certain way and everything has to follow an exact time line. Trust me, this is not true.
Long story short, I came to UIUC in Industrial Design (The people who make the ipod and razr look super sweet) but I didn’t realize I’d be going through two years of art school before I even got my hands wet in the major. This caused me to use my backup plan of Architecture. After all-nighters in the lab four or five nights a week and talking with TAs about their internships and potential jobs as being professional Costco parking lot planners I couldn’t stomach my future (or sitting in front of a computer all day).
I still love Architecture and Art & Design. But one day I just wanted to do something different, something that could blend creativity, art, business, research and practically anything and everything. That is when I fell in love with advertising.
So here I am going into my senior year with a major and a couple minors under my belt and frankly, I still have no idea what I want to do. Do I want to jump into law school or go t work for awhile and complete my MBA? Who knows! But in my last three years as an undergrad I’ve learned to stray away from the, “this is how everything has to be done” mentality.
If you still have the time and your major doesn’t exactly appeal to you, change it. It’s OK. Heck, I changed mine three times and I’m still going to get out of college in four years (My Mom and Dad still don’t know how I pulled off that one). If it’s too late, don’t worry about it. Finish up with what you have. There are so many different routes you can take once you graduate, the possibilities are endless. So from one student to another who’s practically been there and done it all, we’re all in the same predicament and life has a funny way of working itself out in the end.