Throughout all of high school, beginning at the very beginning of sophomore year, I knew what I wanted to study in college. I knew what I was good at, I knew how I could make money after college, and I knew that it was interesting enough to get through the required classes at school. It was business, more specifically, marketing.
I was heavily involved in DECA, the international business club at my school. I competed in every round of competition that I could, I participated in the community service events, and loved every second of it. Senior year, I was even president of my school's chapter. While applying to the business school of each college I was interested in, this was what I talked about in my essays, thinking I was as passionate about marketing in general as I was about DECA.
Arriving at college, a lot of the people I was meeting were business majors as well. I had never second guessed that I wanted to study business, so it was normal and common for me to talk about it with them. But, on the very first day of classes freshman year, in my very first Basics of Business class, I got a knot in my stomach. As the professor was going over the syllabus, I started getting more and more anxious. This is not what I was passionate about even in the slightest. It was just safe, not exciting.
After that class, I went straight to my advisor and requested to switch majors. I began to take the beginning classes for my new major, criminal justice and sociology. But, I was left in one business class, Economics 101. Not so surprisingly, I nearly failed Econ while excelling in the classes that had to do with my new major.
One thing that is always in the back of every college student's mind is jobs after college. Had I stayed in business, it would be easy for me to find a good paying job after graduation. But, in my new major, my options are limited. The easy route would be becoming a regular police officer, which is something I've been interested in for as long as I can remember. A better paying but much harder and more time-consuming option would be going to law school and becoming a prosecutor. This is a dream that I can only hope for after college.
I guess what I'm getting at is NEVER settle, especially when it comes to something that will affect your entire life, for your entire life. Do what makes you excited and intrigued, not what seems safe and easy.
