Time and time again, our high school teachers, and later, our college professors, preach that college is about discovering who we are. A major aspect of discovering “who we are” is deciding what to major in. It is an unquestionable notion that what we study in college will impact our future careers. From personal experience, I can undoubtedly say that it is rare to know exactly what you want to study upon your initial arrival to college, and more so, it is completely acceptable to switch your path of study.
As a second semester college freshman, it may seem peculiar that I have already switched my major. I began my first semester as a Communications major. When asked what I planned to do with this degree, my answers varied, and by the end of the first semester, my answer fell short, and I simply responded with “I don’t know.” And truthfully, I did not know. I spent hours each week worrying over what my future would hold, where (and if) I would ever find a job, and if this was exactly what I wanted to do. I took it upon myself to sit back and really think about what I enjoyed doing.
I have always been one to say that since you have to work, you may as well enjoy your job. I wanted to work in a field that not only excited me, but that I excelled at – and this was English. Since my early elementary school days, reading, and more importantly, writing, were my strong suits. I took pride in my essays and poetry, and throughout high school, I judged how teachers taught my favorite subject. In the back of my mind, I was always taking mental notes of how they taught, which aspects I learned from, and which I deemed unhelpful, and yet, I never realized that this was a potential career choice for me.
A few conversations with some past teachers later and my decision was made: I wanted to follow the same career path as some of the most influential people in my life – my English teachers. I will proudly begin my sophomore year of college as a Secondary English Education major, hoping to work as a motivating high school teacher in my near future, and eventually, use my English skills to become a published author.
The moral of this dragged out story is to do what makes you happy. I am not one for clichés, but this is the best advice I have ever received, and I stand by it. In just a few months of college, I have learned that this is my opportunity to discover who I am and what I want in life, and the only person who can make that happen is myself.
Back in August, I introduced myself to new classmates and teachers as “Darienne Cannao, the indecisive Communications major.” Little did I know, a semester would pass and an abundance of thinking would lead to my new introduction as “Darienne Cannao, the future English teacher.”