College is a whole different world from high school. It involves paying thousands of dollars each semester so that you are able to obtain a degree to better yourself and your future, and even though this is stressful, it is worth all the struggles and endless trips to the office of financial aid. But, to be able to achieve any of this, you must choose a major.
At the college I attend, there are many different majors, minors, certificates, licenses, and endorsements to choose from. The process of choosing a major is often a difficult one and leads to many students often changing their majors at least once. This is something that I have faced many times, even with only attending college for 2 semesters, it is something that often crosses my mind and has led to me to having 3 different majors within only 2 semesters.
Coming into college, I had a dream of wanting to pursue a degree in science and becoming a science teacher, but once classes started, it just didn’t click with me and it didn’t feel like the correct major that I should be pursuing. Once the spring semester came around, I changed my major to Elementary Education, but once again found myself not enjoying my classes, even in the first week. This was the moment that I knew I didn’t want to teach anymore, even if this had been my dream since my sophomore year of high school. I began to search for other majors that may interest me and decided to consider Criminal Justice and registered for the introduction class that I have taken this semester. While taking this class, something finally clicked and I have fallen in love with this major and the criminal justice system and believe that I have finally found what career field that I want to pursue.
My majors have gone on completely opposite sides of the spectrum, and this is something that many college students need to realize is okay. I have friends who have never changed their major and some friends who have changed their major 12 times, and all of this is okay. This is your life. The decisions made in college are ones that are made to better yourself and your life because this is your future career that you are enduring long hours of homework and studying for, no one else's. This is a major realization that I had to come to. I thought that being an education major was something that I was supposed to do, not what I was meant to do. Coming into the criminal justice program, I have realized that this is how I will achieve my goal of wanting to change the world and make it a better place, whether that means becoming a victim's advocate, doing crime scene investigation, going to law school, or even the chance of going into law enforcement.
I am happy with the decisions that I have made and do not regret any of them one bit, as all of them have helped me realize what I want to do with my life and how excited I am for my future. I believe that this is the best advice anyone who is attending or wanting to attend college should remember because the degree you are pursuing can set you up for the rest of your life and needs to be what you want to do with your future. So here's to the future doctors, police officers, actors, teachers, and so many more, go out there and accomplish amazing feats with your life, I know you can do it.
