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Inspiration August 10, 2016
When it comes to picking a college major, it can feel like you are spinning 50 different plates all at once while trying not to let them fall. Add this to stressful class schedules, a growing social life and balancing all the exciting and overwhelming stresses of college, and you’ve got the makings of one heck of a first semester! It can be one of the most confusing parts of freshman year; all the questions that go along with this major decision can put a ton of unnecessary pressure on you.
Which skills will your major give you that are transferable to the work sphere? What do you want to spend the next four years of your life studying? What will pay the bills? How is the job market in your field? Will you need a graduate degree?
On and on the questions go, only serving to make you more confused and stressed than you already are about college. Picking a major is a big deal, and while we don’t want to stress you out, we do want to help.
Take a deep breath. A major is one of the foundations of college and in the end, you will pick the major that is right for you.
The good news? Your major doesn’t determine the rest of your life but it can be the vessel that opens doors and brings about business opportunities you would never have stumbled upon otherwise. Doing your research and taking the time to make your decision are key steps in finding the right career path. Explore every option fully.
One of the fastest growing and best-paying college majors out there that you might have never considered? Math.
That’s right, mathematics! With the continuous expansion and development of technology, the necessity for math majors has never been so high. According to College Choice, many of the highest paying jobs are careers with a degree in math! Jobs across the career board are in need of people with good problem-solving skills, as well as a strong familiarity with numbers and how to calculate complex equations.
Finance, banking, technology, programming, medicine, national security, business, economics, engineering, meteorology and teaching are all industries in need of mathematicians. What lies ahead for hopeful college grads armed with their shiny new math diplomas is a world of possibilities far beyond a desk in a corner somewhere crunching numbers on a calculator.
Here are five things you can do with your math degree that might surprise you:
If you are able to combine an extensive knowledge of problem solving skills with complex mathematics knowledge, you can serve a large or small business well as an actuary. Actuaries evaluate financial risks and advise companies how to spend, save and function to avoid financial ruin, implement smart business strategies and solidify strong and lasting investments that will bring success.
Being able to utilize algebra, trigonometry, physics and calculus can be one of the coolest things you ever got out of high school, but being able to major in these and use these skills to create characters and games for the world to enjoy could be the best reason to major in math. Applied mathematics lies at the heart of careers as animators and video game designers. Both are grounded in art and made possible with technology and mathematics; a fusion of the creative and the logical, if you will. Pixar wouldn’t be what it is today without math, so why not major in math and then work for one of the largest reaching companies in the world creating whole new worlds and stories?
Statisticians can find careers in everything from the medical field to the government as they analyze statistics and collect necessary information for the organization to achieve success. Doctors, physicians, surgeons, pharmacists, security officers, CIA agents, detectives, state officials, FBI directors, analysts, consultants: these are all roles that use math to improve the lives of the nation. Your role can be so much more than handling the numbers for a large corporation; you can play a major role in how a nation or an organization is run or what influences a business’ reach.
As a math major, the ability to analyze and interpret complex numerical data is necessary in predicting weather forecasts and analyzing the patterns of weather and its effects on our daily lives. So much more than the pretty girl standing and pointing in front of a green screen for five minutes on the morning news, mathematician meteorologists play an important role in interpreting data collection of radar and satellite images.
Ever heard the phrase, “I want to use my degree to do something good?” Well now you can literally catch the bad guys and bring good to society by using your math degree as a forensic scientist. With a combination of medical knowledge and mathematical principles, you can help solve crimes, murders and medical cases as you determine how and when murders were performed by examining dead bodies. This isn’t for the faint of heart – or stomach – but is definitely an out-of-the-box job that utilizes your practical math degree with a bit of intrigue mixed in. This is the perfect career for someone who loves puzzles, mysteries and numbers.
