After much scrupulation, questioning, doubt and anxiety, I have decided to change my major. Many reasons inspired me to do so. From the Arizona budget cuts, to the constant seeking of professional opinions from past professors, from the advice of friends, from the lack of guidance I have received from the Psychology school, all the way down to the fact that I just don't have any desire to continue with Psychology.
As most of you know, I have NEVER had the easiest time with school; not because I'm not smart, but because when it came to school, it was hard for me to find my passion. Psychology is a concentration that no longer interests me. I transferred to ASU with a large passion for the Psychological processes, but thanks to the Psychology program at ASU, I have felt like I was being hammered into the ground with not understanding what they were telling me, with not feeling like I was really getting the personalized help and attention that I needed. I can say that their lack of interest in my success was the initial "push" that got me thinking.
ASU offers a great degree called the BIS degree - Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies. With this degree, it eliminates all of the "bull sh**" classes that I have been continuously advised to take. It also eliminates the foreign language requirement. Along with that, I choose two areas of concentration. What this means is that I get to choose two minors to study and specialize in to make up one degree. For example, if I wanted to continue with Psychology, I could choose another concentration like Communication, so Psych and Comm would be integrated.
Because I wish to no longer continue with Psychology, I took an assessment test with the School of Letters and Sciences (school that houses the BIS degree) to figure out what two areas of concentration I felt strongly about. Thanks to this assessment, I have made this decision: Communication and English: Creative Writing.
I know many of you are probably rolling your eyes at me right now because you don't understand why I would make this kind of decision at this stage in my life. You are probably wondering why I wouldn't just want to continue with Psychology just to get a degree and be done with it. You are probably not agreeing with my decision at all. But let me say this... Because of the budget cuts, I would be finishing school at the same time anyway; Spring 2010. So yes, that means I have been pushed back again. And let me add that I knew I was going to be 100% financially independent after this current semester anyway, so I knew I would pay for these changes and not my parents.
I've never had a problem finishing things that I wasn't excited about, so don't think that this decision is the case. Just because I no longer take interest in Psychology doesn't mean I wouldn't be able to do it. I'm an extremely hard worker with a lot of potential and drive. I believe I have excelling work ethic and know when to buckle down to get the job done. This decision is based upon my passion, what I'm good at, what I enjoy and what I want to do.
I want to be happy and I want to succeed. In no way do I ever want my parents to be disappointed in my decisions to do this with school. I don't want to let them down, I don't want to let my grandparents or aunts and uncles down. I don't want anyone to feel I'm making the wrong decision, because when it comes down to it, this is what makes me happy. I told my parents and sister about the new changes in my life earlier this week and am so relieved to say that they're proud of me and support my decision. I sat my mom and sis down (mom was out here for work this week) with a clipboard in my hand and a full page of bullet points that I wanted to make sure I went through with my family. I wanted them to know that this decision wasn't an air-headed, last resort kind of thing. I had researched this for so long. Not just with school and changing my major/degree, but I researched future living situations, health insurance, cars, car insurance and so forth. I wanted to show my parents that I am willing and prepared to take on this life on mine without their financial securities. P.S. Health insurance is freakin' expensive.
I would also like to add that I intend on applying to graduate school after I receive my BIS degree. I would like to further my communication studies and perhaps my writing. What made me decide this? Honestly, the pay increase. You are guaranteed more money a year for having your Master's degree and in this day and age, that can make or break my desired way of living. Not only are you guaranteed more money, but when it comes to applications for jobs, having a Master's degree makes you a bit more appealing to employers. Because my generation, and my generation's parents for that matter, know the importance of having a 4-year degree, the amount of people accomplishing this makes a more competitive job market. It seems, nowadays, that a Master's is the new Bachelor's. What further helped me decide is that our economy is terrible. My friends and I are graduating at a severely difficult time with high unemployment rates and high and competitive applications.
I have gotten to the point in my life where I really know what I want and what I want to do. I know what I'm good at and I know my potential. I do not doubt myself any longer. I have mentally prepared myself for this. I apologize to those of you who doubt me, but I promise you, and more importantly, I promise myself, to succeed. I've learned a lot of great lessons in the past when it comes to school and one of them is that it's important to really find what you're passionate about. When you do, you take the courses necessary to build your skill and knowledge levels in your concentrations.
Our futures always hold uncertainties; we don't know what will happen tomorrow or the day after that or next week. All we know is that we have to make the best decisions according to the information we have in hand now.
I hope that you all feel the same happiness for me as I do for myself. I feel like, for the first time in my life, I have really made a decision for ME. I have found my niche, I have found what I'm supposed to do, and I have accepted the fact that I'm actually "good" at something. All my life, I've heard about how I should think about writing, how I'm great with communication. I've had professors tell me that I should be a Communication major, I should consider journalism, etc, etc, etc. Their opinions certainly helped, but when it came down to listening to my heart, it was that I either follow it or ignore it. Quite frankly, I think I've been ignoring it all too much in my life.
Feel free to write me if you have any questions for me. I don't want anyone to doubt my decision and would like to convince them otherwise if that's the case.
Other than that, I'm off to Breckenridge, Colorado with Katie to visit Holly (Lyss and I's two roomies from our Europe trip). After that, it's California on Monday with my handyman-hero boyfriend! ♥ Have a great week, everyone!
Any department at ASU will discourage even the most passionate person!!! But that is besides the point...Creative Writing will do wonders for you. I learned soooo much about myself and I only got a minor in it. Even if you are not interested, poetry will probably have the single most impact on your knowledge and understanding of yourself. Good Luck.
ReplyDeleteI think you might like PR or something that deals with people. That has to do with comm. Journalism is tedious, monkish work. It's what my internship is. It's constant interviewing, research and writing. Def not glamourous. Most people end up scraping by at small local newspapers. Get internships and figure out what you wanna do. It's seriously the best way because you never know until you try it. And bc you have to get course credit for most-college is the only time you can take advantage of these great connections.
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