Majors in Minutes a major hit for the second year in a row

The Major in Minutes event organized by the Office of New Student and Family Programs on Monday, Nov. 6th in the Centennial Student Union Ballroom was a superb, colloquial, socio-educational event.

The event was open to all students and ran from 7 to 9 p.m.

The turnout for the event was incredible and the room was buzzing with activity the entire time. Popcorn and light refreshments were also offered at the door during the enticing event. The main purpose of the event was for students with undecided majors to connect with upper-class students who were representing their various majors in a comfortable environment.

The event allowed the undecided students to ask any questions they had and for them to collect relevant information that will aid them in deciding what degree they want to pursue at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

The event was well organized and had the concept of speed dating, where the event was governed by the sound of a gong. The upperclass students that were recruited from various majors were stationed at different tables with their majors clearly outlined. Students could move from table to table interacting with them.

On each table with a specific major there were documents including a conversation starter and information from the ‘what can I do with this major’ website. Undecided students sat across from upperclass students and had a brief conversation, asking any questions they had about the given major on the table.

After the gong sounded, which was at an interval of every five minutes, undecided students could either choose to move to the next table with a different major or continue the conversation, learning more about a specific major. The event was epic and students from all majors got to learn quite a bit from each other during the course of the night.

This was the second time around the Major in Minutes event was scheduled because of positive feedback from last year’s successful initial event. Sara Granberg-Rademacker, the assistant director for Academic Advising Services in the Office of New Student and Family Programs stated that the event is a great forum for undecided students to be blunt if needed and acquire information from upper-class students on why they chose to pursue their given majors.

Rademacker was one of the main facilitators of the event and her job mainly entailed coordinating advising, as well as related programs for students with undecided majors.

“One of the key motivators to actually put on this event again this year was the extraordinary atmosphere created by all participants last year which was just fabulous,” Rademacker said.
The evaluations of the initial event also affirmed what the Office of New Student and Family Programs intended to achieve.

“The New Student and Family Programs Office hopes students got more of an insight toward various majors and perhaps connected with an upper-class student they felt comfortable talking to at the event,” Rademacker said.

Major in Minutes stemmed from the Major Fair, which took place for over a decade. It was an event primarily staffed by teaching and service faculty giving more information from their vantage on the different majors offered on campus. Major in Minutes is a unique aspect of the same concept as the Major Fair, but breaks down the formalities that might have gotten in the way of genuine conversations by allowing students to converse and interact freely.

“This is one of the biggest scale events that is organized by the Office of New Student and Family Programs as a lot of effort is put in to recruit and train the upper-classmen sitting opposite of the undecided students,” Rademacker said.

Rademacker also stated that, historically, there has always been a ‘Major’ event in the fall, as it is the opportune time to get students to really reflect on what major they truly connect with as class registration for spring draws closers.

The event was highly beneficial to all participants, even the upper-class students. It acted as a platform for them to really affirm that they are where they need to be by talking about why they chose to pursue that particular major.

“Students all over campus are always in a learning mode throughout their college experience, thus events like the Major in Minutes are always enlightening,” Rademacker said.

Rademacker is very passionate about informing students that everyone has a different way of obtaining the same goals and objectives, not only in college but in life as well. The Major in Minutes may not have covered all the majors offered at MNSU but it is acting as a significant manifesto in informing undecided students about various majors from other fellow students’ perspectives.