When thinking of the biggest decision at this point in my life, it's what I should major in. This decision is so stressful for me because I have no idea what I want to major in, and I am running out of time to decide. At this point in my life, I am leaning towards a business major because I am decent at math and because it's a good major to be in.
I fell into the Salience of Surface Similarities problem solving obstacle at first. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I was younger, I said a doctor. This is really attention-grabbing because of the amount of money you make and how it is such a respectable profession.
The reason that was such a bad option for me was because I have never really been into science and I don't even have enough money to put myself through med school, the reason it appealed to me so much was only because of the money making aspect of it. Even though I have not made a decision about what I want to do with my life, I am getting closer to figuring it out. Mostly because of my counselor, who has helped me so much to get me on the right track.
I think another barrier of problem solving, for me at least, was the fact I wanted to do what my friends do. All my friends are engineers so I really considered becoming an engineer as well, when deep down I knew that it wasn't the right path for me.
Research shows that it's easier to solve a problem if you break it into sub-problems. For example, instead of answering the question what should my major be, I should ask myself 1) what qualities do you look for in a job, 2) what are you good at, 3) what are some of your weaknesses, and 4)where do you want to be in ten years? The answers to these questions could help answer the question about what my major should be.
I completely agree that choosing a major involves multiple problem solving steps. Everyone has many aspects of their life and their desires they must account for when making this decision. They need to consider things like their families income, their interests and their skills. Choosing a major isn't as easy as it seems!
I think people get so wrapped up in what jobs make the most money, what their friends are majoring in and what their parents want them to major in that they tend to forget what they want to do, what their good at and what interests them. For so long I "wanted" to be an emergency room nurse but after passing out multiple times in the emergency room in the span of a year, I gave it up. I finally gave in to my desire to be a teacher and I am currently studying elementary education.
This is a really good point to make. I hadn't really thought of the Salience of Surface Similarities problem solving obstacle in regards to picking a major. It makes a lot of sense that many of us imagine ourselves as doctors or actors or CEOs of major companies--we like to pay attention to what is interesting and grabs our attention. However, it is necessary for us to break down the steps of choosing a major and a career, in order to solve our problems better.
I totally understand this situation. We don't have much experience, we heard other people's suggestions, and then we don't know what we want to do. However, it is great if we can work for several years and go back to school for master degree.
First, great photos! Where did you find these? I like how you used these strategies in this class to help solve problems in your life. If I had broken the question in to smaller sub problems, perhaps I would not be a returning student making a drastic change.