How to Choose a Major: Reflect and Connect

Better understand yourself to aid in choosing your degree program.
Student reflecting on work

When deciding upon a major or program, one of the best places to start is by reflecting on who you are. This is an important step because by looking inwards you can learn a lot about how your motivators, personality traits, interests, and academic strengths connect to the program choices you have available at the University of Calgary.

Reflect and Connect is the first stage of the Major Exploration Process. In this stage, there are several activities and questions that you can use to learn more about yourself. 

  • Motivation Activity:  Discover your main motivation for doing a university degree.
  • Personality Mosaic Activity: Learn about your personality traits and how they might connect with different UCalgary degree programs.
  • Interests Activity: Categorize your interests to help determine which ones you may want to pursue as a degree and/or occupation.
  • Academic Successes and Challenges Activity: Reflect on your educational experience to gain insight into which courses, majors and programs are a better fit for you academically.
  • Mind-Map Activity: Take what you’ve learned about your motivations, personality traits, interests and academic strengths, and brainstorm the connections between them to help you narrow down your degree options.

How to Choose a Major, Part 2: Reflect and Connect

Short video explainer on the “Reflect and Connect” stage of the Majors Exploration Process

Download the transcript for this video

Helpful resources