How to Navigate Through Career Path Pivots
Hi there! I’m Sydnie, a current Director of Design for UCA. As a fourth-year Sociology major and Digital Humanities minor, I have overcome many pivots in my career path – and I’m still on the journey to discover what I ultimately want to pursue. Entering UCLA straight out of high school, I was eager to dip my toes into every possible opportunity. But often, I found myself stuck in my comfort zone. Through changing my major numerous times, facing multiple rejections, and fearing the uncertainty of my purpose at UCLA, I have navigated through various changes in my career. Now, I hope to help others find the courage and confidence to do so too. As I’m wrapping up my final quarter at UCLA, I want to pass on some of the lessons that I’ve learned.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO TRY NEW THINGS
This may sound like a simple statement for some, but for me personally, pushing myself out of my comfort zone has been a challenge that I am still working to overcome. Shifting through five different majors at UCLA has led me towards some tough obstacles. After multiple failed attempts at finding a major that fit my interests, I felt greatly defeated, and at times, wanted to abandon the idea of discovering my path during my time at UCLA. Here’s what I learned…
Don’t get discouraged by unappealing major requirements. While you shouldn’t be completely uninterested in the courses you are taking, oftentimes the most interesting classes will be in the major’s upper division courses where you can choose a more curated plan for yourself.
Don’t always rely on your peers opinions of classes, try them out for yourself. Although many people form opinions of certain professors and classes, don’t let opinions push you away from classes that you think could be interesting. Take advantage of the timeframe to drop classes if you are uninterested in them and they aren’t a requirement.
Join different organizations and get involved! There are tons of organizations at UCLA and oftentimes the Activities Fair can be very overwhelming. Do some research online and look out for events on campus that might interest you even in the slightest. They could lead you to meet people you really enjoy being around and provide amazing opportunities. If certain organizations don’t end up being the best fit for you, you’ve at least learned more about what you do and don’t enjoy.
2. IT’S ALWAYS GOOD TO HAVE A BACKUP PLAN
I have definitely learned this lesson the hard way. You want to be very confident when pursuing a new school or career path. And although confidence is key, it never hurts to prepare for the worst and have a plan to fall back on when waiting to hear back from an application.
Enroll in classes and apply to majors that sound exciting. Despite the pressure you feel to have it all figured out because some of your friends may seem to, don’t get discouraged if you’re taking a little longer to find your place. Try out classes from all different majors that sound interesting to you and go from there! Also, when planning your schedule for the quarter, have plenty of back up options as some classes may fill up quickly.
Don’t get too discouraged if your plan doesn’t work out. If you’re unable to get into a certain class or major that seemed extremely interesting to you, it doesn’t mean you have to give up. There are so many organizations on campus that represent a wide-range of groups, it’s likely that you can find something that aligns with your class/major interests!
3. SOME FAILURES LEAD TO GREATER OPPORTUNITIES
It is important to find success in your failures. When navigating through major pivots in life, it is often difficult to see that the greatest potential exists even in the worst situations. Some of my major achievements at UCLA have occurred during times of fear and uncertainty. Despite feeling discouraged, I have learned that growth is on the other side of fear.
Use your connections to your advantage. Developing and maintaining connections with your faculty and peers is something that can advance your UCLA experience. Although networking can sound intimidating at first, there are endless resources on campus such as the Career Center and organizations like UCA that can get you started.
I hope some of you find this to be helpful. I would love to connect with anyone that wants to chat more about their experience of uncertainty during some career path pivots. Feel free to connect on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydnieso/) or email me at sydnieso@gmail.com. Best of luck to everyone!