While students may choose their majors with a future career trajectory in mind, not all alumni end up working in their field of study.

 M o r g a n K n o x graduated with a degree in communication studies in 2022 but now works as a clinical researcher. 

“What I do now is a lot more medical. That is why it is very different [from communications], and I don’t have a medical background,” Knox said.

Knox said that while many of her courses did not align with her current job, taking just one course, quantitative communication research methods, sparked her interest in data entry and research. This led her to apply for a job at Akron’s Children Hospital. 

While she was able to acquire the job, she said it would have been beneficial to have a major that more heavily focused on research if she wanted to “move up” the ladder in her career. 

Samantha Watterson is another example of an alumna who ended up working in a career path outside of her field of study.

 Watterson graduated from BW in 2019 with a biology degree and is now the graduate assistant coach for the BW Softball team. Nonetheless, she went into business, becoming the chief operating officer for Poppin’ Cleveland. 

“As far as my day-to-day job, I was running a company, and I did not study that in college,” Watterson said. As Watterson is now training to become the General Manager at Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes, she said her unrelated field of study has not held her back.

 “I never once took a business class in college, and now I have five years of experience running a company,” Watterson said. 

Watterson said she thinks it would be best for first-year students to not be locked into a specific major right off the bat. 

“I do not think that freshmen should be allowed to declare a major,” Watterson said. “I think you should have to come in undecided every single time.” 

Watterson said that given what she now does, she would not have studied biology. 

“I would have switched my major 100%,” Watterson said. “I do not think at 18 years old I should have been allowed to make that decision.” 

Some BW students are also in a similar position, where they are finding that their career goals are unrelated to their current studies. 

Bryon Norment, a senior history student, said he plans to become a K9 handler. Norment said becoming a K9 handler does not even require a college degree. 

Still, Norment said that had he planned to become a K9 handler near the beginning of his college career, he would have chosen differently. 

“I would probably pick [a degree] that aligns more with the field in general,” Norment said.