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It’s bad enough that kids have to decide what they want to do with the rest of their life at the ripe old age of 18, but these days they are face to face with another difficult choice-the choice between following their hearts and listening to their minds, the choice between going after money and doing what makes them happy, the choice between passion and pragmatism.

Choosing a major is an all-important decision that every teenager headed to college is expected to make. And what is the right thing to do when it comes to choosing a college major? That’s the question at top of their minds.

Unfortunately, there is no universal right or wrong as far as choosing a college major is concerned, but there are certain dos and don’t that you can follow, which can help lead you up the right path. The purpose of this article is to debunk some of the myths associated with choosing a college major and in the process, share some tips on how to choose one that’s right for you!

Myth 1: Passion will not put food on my plate

Wrong, wrong, absolutely wrong. While it’s wise to look for degree programs that offer excellent job prospects, it shouldn’t come at the cost of your passion. Unless you are passionate about what you’re doing or at least a tad interested in it, there’s little point in doing it, because it’s likely you’re going to do a shoddy job of it anyway.

Gone are those days when there were only a handful of jobs that would pay decent wages. These days, it’s possible to follow your heart and still make enough money to keep you happy. Want to become a gardener and work amidst nature? Believe it or not you can earn up to $ 25.47 in hourly wages for this job!1

Myth 2: Non-engineering and technology degrees are not marketable

That’s probably the biggest myth and one that threatens the future of liberal arts programs. Such liberal arts degree programs may not lead to a specific career, but they do provide important skills that have application across industries.

Let’s take the example of English major. Those who have a love for language and want to make a career doing something related to it may be persuaded by others to give up their dream because the degree does not train them for a specific job.

What these “well-wishers” probably don’t realize is that a degree in English will provide graduates the skills for a variety of jobs instead, which include professional writing, editing, corporate communication, advertising, public relations, research, and more!

Myth 3: All computer jobs are outsourced

While it’s good to know the fields that are in demand when choosing a college major, the worst thing you can do to yourself is pay heed to hearsay.

That’s what has been happening with information technology majors. One random search on the Internet and you’ll see tons of discussions on the worthiness of computer degree programs, as there’s a pervasive belief that all tech jobs are moving overseas.

But while a lot of them are still being off-shored, a significant percent of technology jobs remain in the states and are up for grabs by talented and qualified people. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, eight out of the 10 fastest growing jobs between the years 2000 and 2010 were computer-related.2

Myth 4: Healthcare careers require extensive schooling

How many years you want to spend in school is an important factor in choosing a college major, so you should know that the healthcare field currently offers a plethora of jobs that can be broken into with two-year associate’s of science programs.

Some examples of entry-level healthcare jobs that can be secured with an AS degree include nursing, respiratory therapy, medical coding and billing, pharmacy technology, and medical assisting.

Myth 5: Anyone can pursue business degrees

You will do a great disservice to yourself by believing that some fields can be pursued by everyone. Each field has its unique requirements. In some you need to be good at math and science, while others require excellent communication skills and leadership qualities.

The same is true of business courses. Certain qualities and skills are expected to be inherent in candidates who enroll for business programs. It’s vital that you are aware of your own strengths and limitations when choosing a college major!

Sources:

1. payscale.com/research/US/Job=Gardener/Hourly_Rate
2. bls.gov/opub/ted/2001/dec/wk1/art02.htm

It is my firm conviction that nothing – absolutely nothing! – is more important in child’s upbringing than inculcating in his/her little sensitive heart and soul an insatiable desire to read. No movies, no computer games, no soccer, no chess, not even theater or classical music can, in my judgment and experience, compete with the powerful magic of the printed word.

Children develop diverse temperaments, characters, and propensities. Some of them are eager to start reading on their own at the age of five or six, despite obvious lack of reading fluency. But with Jenny it was quite different. When she was six, then seven, and even eight, all my incessant efforts to make her open a book were in vain; she liked very much to listen to my reading, she constantly begged me to read aloud to her, but she never expressed any desire to read herself. I tried every approach, every trick, every means, and every method – but no, nothing helped, she silently but stubbornly resisted. I was literally in the state of total despair. I was gloomily contemplating an imminent failure of my teaching/reading enterprise.

There was, however, one thing that I was instinctively sure of at the time (as I’m sure of it now): it is prohibitive and counterproductive to force child to read. Forcing her/him to read, and especially violently forcing, would in all probability result in child’s visceral and everlasting hatred of books.

Jennifer was already eight when I brought home The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Relying on the magical power of Mark Twain’s famous narrative, I decided to try a new way of persuading Jenny to open the book and read.

I put my granddaughter to bed, sat down next to her, and began reading the story. She was listening, completely enchanted. To tell you the truth, I felt enchanted myself, although it was probably the fifth time I was reading about Tom’s adventures. In three bedside sessions, we went through Tom’s friendship with the homeless vagrant Huck Finn, his futile attempts to put together a band of thieves, his fake funeral, and his love for the pretty Becky. Finally, we came to the scene where Tom and Becky found themselves alone in a dark cave, with no way out, and with a killer lurking somewhere nearby. That was the moment when Jenny became very excited. And that was exactly the moment when I abruptly stopped reading.

“Enough for tonight,” I said, kissing her. “Sleep well.”

“Grandpa, don’t go away,” she begged. “I don’t want to sleep. Read, please.”

“No.” I said. “Good night, my dear. It’s already late. Tomorrow, we’ll continue.” And I left.

Within the next week, I was busy inventing all kinds of excuses not to continue with our bedside readings about Tom’s adventures: I faked mysterious headaches; I worked long overtimes; I even talked my boss into sending me on a short business trip to Dayton, Ohio…

Whenever Jenny saw me coming home, she immediately rushed to me, the Tom Sawyer’s book in hand, and beseeched me to read. She became excessively sweet; she snuggled up to me; she was even ready to do the dishes after dinner – all in the vain hope that I would return to our bedside reading routine. I responded evasively: “I’m sorry, I cannot; I have a terrible headache. Please, finish this chapter on your own, and then do the next one. Be a good child.”

Finally, after a week of hopeless struggle, she gave up. She went to her room, closed the door, and immersed herself in Tom’s and Becky’s love story, and in their frightening adventure in the cave. In three days, the Mark Twain’s wonderful novel was finished, and I brought her the next one — The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

That was the beginning of Jenny’s life-long reading journey. We continued with books of adventures, travels, and mysteries: Treasure Island, Children of Captain Grant, Sherlock Holmes Stories, The Count of Monte Cristo, Last of the Mohicans… No child, I believe, can resist the magnetic power of these books penned by Robert Louis Stevenson, Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, Alexander Dumas, and James Fennimore Cooper.

It was the greatest joy of my life – to watch how Jenny traveled relentlessly through the vast ocean of world literature. As she grew up, we talked for hours about biographies of great writers; we recited poetic passages from the Bible’s Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs of Solomon; and I recalled my encounters and conversations with literary personalities in Russia and America.

I had been constantly in search for some new experiments in our reading voyage. Once, when Jennifer was fourteen, I brought her The Young Lions, a novel by Irwin Shaw. I deliberately removed several pages at the end of the book where the story reaches its dramatic culmination, and then waited patiently until Jenny reached the end of the novel. Jenny, visibly upset, came up to me and complained:

“Grandpa, can you tell me what’s finally happened to Noah and Whittaker and that abominable Nazi beast? The last pages of the book are missing, you know? I’ll go to the library, and get another copy.”

“Wait, Jenny, wait a second,” I said. “What do you think should happen to them? Put yourself for a moment in Irwin Shaw’s shoes. Two American soldiers and one German found themselves outside of a Nazi concentration camp in May 1945, at the end of the war. What fate would you assign to them?”

“I think,” she said hesitantly, after some reflection, “that Irwin Shaw probably killed that Nazi murderer, right?”

“Maybe. But what about the Americans? Look, Jenny, why wouldn’t you sit down and write your version of the final episode? And then we’ll compare your version with the writer’s.”

So, Jennifer sat down at her desk, opened a notebook, and in two days of hard work wrote the culmination scene. In her interpretation, all three soldiers remained alive. “I couldn’t kill anybody, Grandpa,” she said. “Now, tell me what the real end of the story was?”

“Noah was wounded (he died later), and then Whittaker killed the German soldier.”

“Probably, Shaw was right,” she sighed. “But I do not have the courage to put anybody to death even on paper.”

****

Some people might say: “Well, reading certainly is good and necessary, but it’s not everything. There’re a lot of other things in children’s life which are not less important than literature.”

Maybe, they have a point – love for books is no substitute for hard work, excellent education, and burning ambitions. But that’s not the purpose of reading at all; the purpose of it is something else — it’s the enriching and everlasting education of child’s heart and soul.

When Jennifer was twelve, I decided to get her acquainted with the best novellas of love – with the amazing Spring Torrents, First Love, and Asya written by Ivan Turgenev. She started with Spring Torrents, a dramatic story of overwhelming love that ended in unexpected and cruel betrayal. Three hours later, I suddenly heard sounds of sobbing coming from Jennifer’s room. I came up to her, hugged her, and said: “Don’t cry, honey. Don’t get upset. It’s just a book.”

“No,” she whispered, wiping her eyes. “No, Grandpa, you are wrong. It’s not just a book; it is life.”

****

Not long ago, I got an e-mail from Jennifer who is now a student at one of California universities. Among other things, she wrote: “Remembering your obsession with reading, Grandpa, I sometimes think it’s a pity that you and Grandma never had pets in your house. It would’ve been extremely interesting to see how you would teach your dog to read.”

Throughout human history myths have been recounted, in story, paintings, sculpture and simple playtime. We pass on what has been and was once new and great to our society. Leaders are promoted and glorified one generation after the other; this is part of the practice of the myth itself. Traveling a path to find ourselves, we find allies and teachers who assure we face life, thereby showing the means and giving support for the journey. But it is as an individual we must give life to the morals and objectives we hold to. The myth process transforms a consenting consciences mindset to something more, we are expected then to not just help ourselves but others as well. Reasoning alone will not make the journey; it can only be done by using and developing our inner most core. Thus the individual evolves obtaining enlightenment to be brought back for all to share in. A leader is born or fails to be created all dependent on the individual actions from a core of ideas and thoughtful processes.

Seeking experiences in life we grow, our inner self develops beyond the standards we were taught and currently hold true, new ones are created. Identity to God, nature, and our surrounding society is found, our individual importance in the eternal cosmos we exist with. But the journey shows how this identity must also change us, we sacrifice to gain or evolve. Sacrificing the individual’s old mindset and regards makes the new life possible, a new consciences mind and sparks of creativity are started. Notoriety or public acclaim is not needed for the sacrifice to take place, only action and the willingness to act. Thus help is gained from sources seemingly hidden and sacred to the ordinary individual. We can find ourselves, both as an individual and as a whole, to be not at the end of exist, but at a turning point where continuation exist. Thus the leader is introduced to those willing at take action and follow, or one’s deception is revealed to take power from the masses.

Participation in life can not be ignored, awareness of things around us and the relationship of how we fit in must be known. The myth process addresses a model developed from this new awareness in to the actions of our lives. Teaching and repeating the myth to others allows teaching of the new. Corrections are made to society, living conditions, religion and life in general. But what we still do not know will support our society, we do not have to lose everything to evolve only give that which is already holding us back. The leader does this to find the path we must take from this point on, but the false leader gives nothing and gains nothing in return. Thus the society is either benefited by this exchange or has wasted time and resources it can not afford to do again.

Any individual going through this process addresses changes in a personal mindset but is expected to present the same new mindset to others. Thus sharing the new mindset and consciences will enable more to move forward, the ritual of the individual bound to aid society and society bound to support the individual. By this process we create the life, concepts and society we want, one with a either a demon of hell or a personal paradise to enjoy. The ego of our nature determines how our center is found and if we hold true to it. The individual must be willing to walk alone to find this center, although the path is shown it takes more than knowing to get through to this center. Courage and inner strength must be found to achieve the ritual of sacrifice needed to complete this journey. If one is willing to and able the rewards for supporting such a journey are meant to be great. But this is an investment, as with all investments some are more worthy than others to invest in.

Individuals must trust and develop characteristics that lie inside, using them as a developed resource to get through the process. This shows a deep concern for being aware of our surroundings and the relations we have to such. All our concepts and passions for life come from the myth process we have developed in the past. Any future must be created through the same, as it binds us both to society and society to the one presenting a future. The characteristics developed in the individual then must be based on the rules of society which are understood by the society’s mass population.

Our leaders come and go, what they leave behind shows well the lives they lead and what concepts they imagined were to be kept to, the elements of their lives on display. But some were never leaders at all, waiting until they are dead to find this out is a waste of time and resources. Deception on the part of many to encourage false leadership is a process to promote those who just take power not authority from the public. Power should rest in the hands of the people; authority from them can be used but not that power. A true leader does not take power, we grant this investment because we see in this one the evolved life and desires we need to continue our existence.

COMMENTARY | Kodak is bankrupt. It filed for Chapter 11, as announced in a letter to customers today by Antonio Perez, Chairman and CEO. Kodak’s moment is now, and it is not smiling.

As the star of films — photographic films, that is — Kodak was bypassed by the digital imaging age. Slow to take up with technology, Kodak saw the likes of photo masters, Nikon and Canon, abandoning the darkroom for a complete reinvention of the imaging process. Capturing an image would still require a camera, but converting and viewing the image would require digital electronics, not film.

In the innovation business, we call this jumping to a new S-curve, also called a learning curve. It is the place and time where old companies die because they have learned all there is to learn about their own products, while new companies are born because they are learning fast about something new. The new product is similar, maybe even looks the same, but the process by which it functions is entirely new and different.

Kodak clung to its old S-curve, producing pictures on paper through film for image capture and processing chemicals for developing the image. The new S-curve changes all that, taking images — from start to finish — into the domain of electronics.

Kodak’s R&D labs in Rochester were among the first to actualize the idea of an Office of Innovation. It was the late 1980s when Kodak scientists scoured their collective inventiveness for new ideas and new directions for products. Others saw the coming of “electronic photography” but Kodak didn’t, preferring to stick to what it knew best — the chemistry and materials science of films and film processing. It monopolized the domain of film photography and perfected that technology to be all it could be.

But, companies like Kodak face the assault of change that challenges its core competencies. A quandary presents itself in that painful place between S-curves. This is the place where companies do what they do well but are being usurped by completely new ways of doing the same thing at much less cost. While the new technologies are expensive at first, costs reduce dramatically in time. So, we can still take pictures on film, but oh so much cheaper to go digital. In the meantime, companies that cling to the old technologies simply don’t make it for the lower cost and greater convenience of the replacement.

Kodak says it is poised to move into the digital world and will continue to serve its customers. Kodak may even continue to serve die-hard color-print film photographers like me. But, Kodak had decades to get on board with electronic photography and didn’t.

I’m wondering whether I’ll ever have another Kodak moment again. Kodak had its moment and chose — or couldn’t — move on.

The number of people who are officially listed as missing has tended to fluctuate between 16 and 29, depending on the source. At this point, rescuers and divers have managed to blast new holes in the hull of the ship that they hoped would grant them better access to the lower deck levels of the vessel. A second “black box” data recorder was also located and officials are expected to analyze all the information from the boxes in the coming days to determine exactly what happened.

Several stories have surfaced as to what may have caused the captain of the ship to veer from a pre-programmed course and get dangerously close to the shoreline. One account says the captain wanted to get especially close to the shoreline as a favor to a member of the crew, whose parents lived in the scenic coastal town where the boat was visiting.

Survivors of the ordeal have described utter chaos on board the ship and panic among passengers and crew as people scrambled to try to get off the ship by any means necessary. Some passengers have accused the crew of being untrained and unprepared for the accident.

Data from the first black box recorder indicates that a distress call was not sent out until at least an hour after the ship made impact with the reef that ruptured its hull. Analysts believe that the delay was a result of the captain of the ship trying desperately to maneuver the ship off the reef and out of danger. The cruise ship company has openly accused the captain of human error and it is certain that the company will face massive liability claims as a result of this tragedy.