In the chaotic months following the 2016 presidential election, political science major Nathan Glovinsky (‘15), sat at a table with other satirical newspaper writers on the UCLA campus frantically brainstorming headlines. Writing satire became an escape from his hectic student government meetings and late nights immersed in his political science studies. 

Being involved in Westview ASB for four years, political science seemed to him the most logical field to pursue going into UCLA. However, Glovinsky’s interests began to shift his sophomore year, leading him to rethink his choice of major. He began exploring satirical writing and comedy on campus, finding enjoyment in his new activities.

 “My sophomore year of college, I was asked to submit a writing packet to UCLA’s big sketch comedy team,” he said. “Over time, I was spending more and more of my free time hanging out with the comedy circles on campus and was starting to foster growing interest in comedy and entertainment at large.”

Glovinsky said the 2016 election was the pivotal moment that ultimately led to him changing his major.

“I was a political science major when the 2016 election was happening,” he said. “It was kind of funny at the time because all of the theories we were learning and all of the patterns that we were observing were just thrown out the window. The system was a large factor in me changing majors because the political science degree seemed silly at that moment when something as unpredictable and unexpected as the election happened.”

After learning that occupations in the entertainment industry didn’t require rigid academic prerequisites, Glovinsky decided to switch his major to history, a subject he was deeply passionate about since his time at Westview. 

“I took every AP social studies class at Westview,” he said. “I decided to change my major to something that I’ve always been really interested and passionate about, which was history. I was working towards a degree because it fostered my personal academic interests and not necessarily something that I thought was going to be necessary or needed for a postgrad career.”

After graduating from UCLA, Glovinsky eventually found his current job as a coordinator at United Talent Agency (UTA) in the scripted television group. His work involves helping directors and producers bring their creative visions to life.

“My favorite part is having control of my career on a real day-to-day level,” he said. “It’s really special to be able to introduce emerging talent and established talent to the gatekeepers of entertainment and find creative opportunity and creative synergy.”

Reflecting on his journey, he acknowledges the many unexpected, but ultimately positive, changes were made on his career path.

 “I knew that if I switched to something that I thought would look good, the likelihood of me burning out and not giving it my all was much higher,” he said. “My advice for seniors who are thinking about what to apply for is to just follow what you know will continue to make you curious and enthusiastic about learning. The world’s changing and it’s less of a matter of having that perfect major that really looks good on paper and more so picking something that makes you excited to think and talk and read and study about.”