I had the pleasure of interviewing Jake Muldoon, who is currently enrolled in Temple University’s Fox School of Business where he is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. Like myself, Muldoon began college in 2018 with a very minimal idea of what major or career path he truly wanted to pursue. During his freshman and sophomore years he was an undecided major while he took classes to explore different possibilities. At the end of his sophomore year, he made the official switch to the Human Resources Management major in the Fox School of Business.(Fox School of Business Human Resources) Muldoon was scheduled to graduate this past May of 2022.

However, he had a realization towards the middle of his senior year that the Human Resources field was not for him. Muldoon only had a few more classes required to officially graduate with a Business Management degree, which was what he wanted. He courageously took the unusual path and decided to do an extra semester which would mean he would graduate in December of 2022 with a Business Management major.(Fox School of Business Management Major) 

At the time, this was a very hard decision for Muldoon. This meant not graduating on his anticipated graduation date, not being able to enjoy the fun of the weeks leading up to graduation with his friends, and overall feeling a sense of disappointment in himself.

Muldoon says, “Choosing to switch my major was not an easy choice. The decision weighed heavily on me, and it affected me a lot more than I thought it would. Looking back, I am so glad I made the choice because it made me a more determined individual. I learned a lot about myself through this process and it’s helped me become a better individual.”

Muldoon planned to persevere through the final semester he had left in college but unfortunately hit a bump in the road when he struggled with passing an economics class. The hardest pill for him to swallow this year was the fact that his graduation would now be pushed back another semester. Muldoon says, “the hardest part of switching career paths has been accepting that I am not following the traditional four-year college path.” 

At this point in time, Muldoon is going into his final semester of college, and he will graduate with his desired degree in May of 2023. When I asked Muldoon if has learned more outside of the classroom or inside of the classroom, he feels like he has learned more outside. “The most valuable lesson that I’ve learned in college has been that everyone has their own journey. There is no set path that everyone must follow, in college and in life,” he says.

Muldoon and I talked about the fact that he has been brave through this whole process and he will continue to have grit with whatever comes his way. When you are young and in college, being like everyone else becomes of importance. Muldoon had great advice when he says, “it may seem like the end of the world at the moment, but any extra time added on to complete the major you want is nothing compared to the rest of your life.”

Through Muldoon’s path it was interesting to gain his perspective of “things not learned in the classroom.” In our final conversation of the interview Muldoon says, “You cannot let the thoughts of others steer you away from doing what you want to do, because odds are you aren’t even a thought in their mind.”