Using Journaling to Determine a College Major
Writing Activities That Reveal Past Interests and Future Dreams
Sep 22, 2009
College applicants, who are stuck on picking a major area of study, can use journaling activities to reveal their interests. Individuals should find a quiet spot to work through the journaling activities. It isn’t necessary to answer all the questions in one sitting. The person answering the questions should avoid sharing their responses with someone else right away.
How to Journal
Teens and adults should avoiding treating a journal like a school project – don’t worry about grammar or spelling. Write with pen in a journal. This way the writing looks a little more casual and relaxed. Responses typed on a computer look finished as opposed to being part of a discovery process. If the first time through the questions, the individual records responses that would only impress teachers and relatives, he or she can answer the questions again until they feel true.
Recording Responses to Journal Questions
The following questions are taken from, or inspired by The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron [Penguin Group, 2002] and Creating a Life Worth Living by Carol Lloyd [HarperCollins Publishers, 1997].
- What do you think would happen if you followed your dreams? I would _____. My friends would_____. My family would _____. Other people would _____.
- If I knew I had one year to live, I would ______. If I knew I had one month to live, I would _____. If I knew I had one day to live, I would _____.
- List your dream. “In a perfect world, I would secretly love to be a ____.”
- List ten (possibly) crazy, impractical occupations you would like to sample – spy, monk, fashion model, astronaut….
- What tangible goal would tell you that you’ve accomplished something significant in your life? If you followed your dream and were wildly successful, where would you be in five years? Ten years? What could you do this year to move you closer to your goal? What could you do this month? This week? This day? Right now?
- What five characteristics did you like best in yourself when you were in primary school? What career would someone with those characteristics possess?
- List 10 positive adjectives used, or you would like used, to describe you.
- List 50 specific things that you love. Sushi, cute shoes, running, pierced eyebrows, cheese pizza, sunflowers, frogs….
- List 25 things that you have done and are proud of having accomplished.
- List 10 activities that make you lose track of time.
- What tasks do you most enjoy doing even if you complain about doing the tasks? Describe the place you would like to work in – office building in a big city, small gallery in a town along the east coast. What areas of study are you really interested? Imagine jobs that allow you to do things you enjoy in a place you enjoy working, while serving a field of interest (helping children, making money).
Analyzing Journal Entries for Patterns of Interest
Let the answers to the journaling activities sit for at least a day before reviewing them. Pretend to be examining someone else’s responses and look for patterns of dreams and enjoyable experiences. Pretend to be a psychologist who is writing up an analysis of this individual’s past. Then, pretend to be a fortuneteller who has received these impressions of the individual and is predicting the future of the individual.
Using journaling to determine a college major is a process of figuring out what things most please a person – what are they proud of accomplishing, what do they enjoy doing for fun – and interpreting that information into a major.
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