Regrets, we have a few

"Well, son, a funny thing about regret is that better to regret something you have done, than to regret something you haven't done." -- Butthole Surfers

 

To be fair, people journalism grads seeking jobs are probably most likely to regret their life decisions.

 

Nineteen-year-old me had most of this information when he took the dive into that pool.

If 60-year-old me went back in time to re-emphasize the economic and retirement consequences of that move, 19-year-old me wouldn’t have listened.

 

Yep. I talked to a hell of a lot of working journalists when I was in high school and every last one of them said to major in something else. I didn't listen. (Ended up changing my major my junior year to the arguably less-useful Telecommunication and Film, but still went into journalism.)

 

I switched from computer science to Communications (at a liberal arts college) with the intention of going into journalism. Honestly, I have few complaints. It took almost 3 years of Gannett to find the proverbial straw.

 

Anyone who got into the business post-2008 clearly didn't do enough research. I was also told it was a bad idea and I didn't listen.

 

I feel like I’ve seen this chart, complete with journalism at the top, every year for the last three decades.

 

No regrets regarding my many majors and eventual degree. It informs my desire to keep learning in disparate disciplines.

 

I count my blessings every day I was able to pivot out of journalism and into marketing. I know it's hard for a lot of journalists to switch careers.

But then again, I don't know if I'd be as good of a marketer without cutting my teeth in journalism, because story is king whether you're in journalism, marketing or HVAC, and there's no better proving ground for storytellers than journalism.

 

Having never finished college, I have no regrets.