A few years ago, thinking of going back to school, I signed up at an exam preparation school that boasted 80% acceptance into graduate communications programs. Most of the students were in their early 20s. I discovered that like me, few had majored in communications, but instead had done business, law, foreign languages.... Nothing odd in that--few humanities students can put their university training to work in the real world, so they were looking to change career paths.

But one was a fourth-year architecture student. Asked why he wanted to switch, he said, "I don't know how I'll find a job after graduation." Taiwan's construction market was then at a low ebb. But he seemed unaware that media graduates also far outnumbered media jobs, nor did he realize the rigors of the life of a reporter, who is so often an unwelcome guest.

The saying goes that women fear choosing the wrong husband, and men the wrong career. When choosing a university major, kids are like reeds blowing in the wind. The first gust comes between their first and second years in high school, when they choose a track: humanities, natural sciences, or life sciences. At the top high schools, over half choose life sciences, mostly hoping to go to medical school. Yet many have no interest in chemistry or anatomy--they just choose the field others think the most admirable--or profitable. They are not worried, because science students can always switch to the humanities in the college entrance exams on the strength of their math skills, especially now that many of the hottest non-science departments (like economics and finance at NTU's business school) look only at candidates' Chinese, English, and math scores. This leaves kids who spent years studying history and geography looking foolish.

But who is really foolish here? The clever kids who bend with the wind? Or those who are irresistibly attracted to an unpopular major with scant career prospects, such as now-famous film director Ang Lee? If you choose the latter, but never find a patron or aren't quite good enough to stand out, how will you look back on your determination to go your own way?

Many famous people studied subjects unrelated to their later professions, like choreographer Lin Hwai-min (journalism), conductor Lu Shao-chia (psychology), cultural critic Nanfang Shuo (forestry), or politicians Shen Fu-hsiung and Chang Chau-hsiung (both medicine). What do they think about choosing a major, and of its relationship to life?

Our cover story this month looks at the new academic departments set up by universities in recent years. We introduce a few of the more popular new areas of study, like design, leisure, fashion, and multimedia. The emphasis is not so much on individual choices as on the overall situation in society, and the limitations of universities.

In this technological age, we don't need more clothes or appliances. With material needs satisfied, the future will be more about creativity, aesthetics, health, the environment. These demands are reflected in new university departments, especially at the more flexible private universities.

There is a lot to be said for the new pluralism of values, for the freedom to choose to study what one enjoys, for the increased academic dynamism. People who ask what ten years of education reform have changed can start by looking at the new university fields of study. But education reform has not gone far enough. As Professor Kuan Cheng-neng of Shih Chien University says, students are still unable to liberate themselves and express themselves freely.

We should note that while academic fads come and go, students should remember three "don'ts" to avoid ending up in a major they don't like: don't decide based on fashion or money; don't let your parents decide for you, or choose what others will approve of; don't feel obliged to do something grand. What matters is your own interests and inclinations.

In this issue we also look at master patissier Wu Tsung-en, multimedia artist Wang Yiying, and tire makers Maxxis, as well as the reinterpretation of the formerly demeaning term "taike." In a more humanistic and liberated "creative age," let's hope everyone can lead richer, happier lives!