Many influential and interesting people have studied or majored in philosophy.  For examples, see here and here and here.  Here are some more in depth discussions of the value of philosophy or people who used their philosophical skills to make an impact:

• • Reid Hoffman (found of LinkedIn, etc.) explains why the skills he learned in philosophy were more valuable than business school: here and here.

  • Another argument for the value of philosophical training for work in business.

  • Engineer Rosemary Barnes explains why philosophy is valuable for STEM majors like her.

  • Zachary Pirtle (NASA engineer) explains the influence of philosophy on his work.

  • Journalist Shannon Rupp explains why philosophy makes her employable.

  • Stokely Carmicheal (later known as Kwame Ture)

  • Malala Yousafzai (who studied philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford)

  • Philosophy Professor Martha Nussbaum

  • Philosophy Professor and activist Angela Y. Davis, who has long argued for the abolition of the current U.S. prison system.

  • Philosophy Professor (specializing in bioethics) Keisha S. Ray

  • What's it like to be a philosopher?  (Features interviews with lots of different philosophers)

  • A Forbes article about the prestige and value of PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) degrees

  • Humanity majors are rocking the job market -- especially in Minnesota!

I think philosophy can be an empowering tool for understanding the world and our place in it, and the reasoning skills it helps us develop are valuable not only in philosophy classes but in daily life and a wide variety of career fields. For some evidence that studying philosophy does, indeed, make you a better thinker, see here.

For instance, you might be interested to know that philosophy majors, on average, perform extremely well on graduate and professional school exams (including for law school, medical school, and graduate school), and employers value the critical thinking skills philosophy provides (see here and here).  For more on what it’s like to major in philosophy, see the American Philosophical Association’s resources for undergraduates: http://www.apaonline.org/page/undergrad_resources.  

(If you’re interested in majoring in philosophy but need to think about how to explain your choice to your parents, see here.  For information on the financial success you can have with a philosophy degree, see here and here.  See also here for debunking of various myths about majoring in the Humanities.  But, remember that there are many benefits to studying philosophy that having nothing to do with money.  For more influential perspectives on the value of studying the humanities, such as philosophy, see here.  See also this book: What Can I Do With a Philosophy Degree?)

If you're a Saint Paul College student interested in studying more philosophy after you transfer, feel free to email me or come to office hours.  I'd be excited to talk!

• What's Wrong? (Blog of University of Colorado, Boulder's Center for Values and Social Policy): https://whatswrongcvsp.com/

• Practical Ethics blog (University of Oxford):  http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/  (This online encyclopedia has entries written by experts in all sorts of areas of philosophy.)

• Pea Soup blog (blog for journal Ethics): http://peasoup.us/

• The Hastings Center blog (bioethics blog): http://www.thehastingscenter.org/

• Daily Nous (general philosophy news blog): http://dailynous.com/

• Wi-Phi (online videos about topics in various areas of philosophy): http://www.wi-phi.com/videos

• Aeon magazine (online magazine with philosophy articles): https://aeon.co/philosophy

• The Philosophers' Magazine (philosophy magazine for a popular audience): https://www.philosophersmag.com/

• Oxford University Practical Ethics blog: http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/

• Hastings Bioethics Forum blog:  http://www.thehastingscenter.org/publications-resources/forum/

• http://www.bioethics.net/

• Blog of UC Boulder's Center for Values and Social Policy:  https://whatswrongcvsp.com/

• Feminist philosophy blog posts at the APA (American Philosophical Association) blog:  https://blog.apaonline.org/tag/feminist-philosophy/

• Women in philosophy: a reading list: https://blog.oup.com/2015/03/women-philosophy-reading-list/

• Gender, Race, and Philosophy: The Blog: http://sgrp.typepad.com/

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:  https://plato.stanford.edu/