In August of last year, probably a week before I was supposed to start college, I called my brother because I was nervous. Not about making friends or living far away from home, but about what I was going to do with my life. When you go to college, you are there to build the foundation for your future and start on a career path that you want. Now that sounded like something straight out of a college pamphlet you’d get in your guidance counselor’s office in high school, but it is the truth. College is such an important part of your life nowadays, and you have to respect that. Your major is designed to set you up with all the tools and knowledge you’ll need for the career path you’ve chosen, and that is what I called my brother about on that one August night. I was afraid that my chosen career path of being a history teacher wasn’t right for me. I had spent my high school life taking classes to prepare me for it but then I started watching hockey and becoming a fan, and soon all the history facts I knew didn’t seem to matter compared to who had the goal scoring lead. So when I called my brother, seeking advice from someone who had gone to college a second time after finding his true passion, he told me I had to seriously consider what I was saying. Was I sure there were jobs in it? Does Lock Haven offer that major? What would Mom and Dad think? It was a tough choice. But being a week out from school, I chose to leave my major alone and think it over for a semester. So I went in unsure of what I wanted but also afraid to switch because I wasn’t sure what my family would think of what would be kind of a very opposite choice in majors.

My first semester was just average. My classes were interesting but it wasn’t where my heart was at. As the year went on, I just became more and more dissatisfied with what I had chosen, and I wanted to get out of the secondary ed major as soon as I could and go into sports administration. Now this isn’t selling the major of secondary education short. I thought the professors were great, and the classes were all geared towards helping me succeed in the world of education. I think it’s also a crucial part of society to have good teachers because that really impacts how people grow up and mature. But if you are not passionate about teaching, then you shouldn’t be teaching, at least that’s how I look at it. And because of that, I decided that it was time to switch to sports administration starting in my second semester. But I had one important FaceTime call to make first. I had to tell the folks back home that I didn’t want to do education anymore. It did prove to be a tough call to make. I can still remember the look on my parents faces, a kind of worried confusion. After all, they had no idea that I wanted to change majors before and seeing as how my brothers have at times struggled to find positions in the fields that they have degrees in, they were apprehensive and concerned I might fall into that category too. After about two weeks of research on jobs in the field, the program itself and a sit down meeting with the department head, i decided to go ahead and switch, with the blessing of my parents as well. My grades in the first semester were not where I wanted them to be. Nothing failing but certainly no A’s either. My GPA wasn’t even high enough to to apply to be an RA (which requires a minimum 2.5 GPA). I had written papers and essays and completed several projects but none of them had a wow factor to them. It wasn’t a great semester overall. So when I came back for the second semester I knew I had to be better and with a major that I was passionate about, I did.

Now I don’t know that my better second semester was solely because of my newfound major and passion. My first semester, I had your stereotypical terrible roommate which made it hard for me to feel at home. By the second semester, he had moved out and I had no roommate, which was awesome. A room to myself definitely made me feel better and helped me focus more. I also realized the importance of studying and preparing more for classes after having a semester under my belt. But having a major that I cared about helped me so much more. I didn’t have anything but A’s in my major related courses, and I actually wanted to go to class instead of wanting to sleep in and skip like my first semester. The professors were great, and I really enjoyed it. I worked harder on papers and projects and my grades showed it. My GPA for the second semester was a 3.020 compared to a 2.475 the first semester. That is a huge improvement. I’m still not where I want to be. I only have a cumulative GPA of 2.739 but it’s a start — one that I wish I had in my first semester.

So to all you high schoolers waiting to go to college, make sure what you’re majoring in is what you want to be in and what will make you happy. It is going to be really difficult in college to succeed if you don’t have a passion for what you’re doing, and that goes for anything in life. If you care about something, you can set your mind to do anything in that field if you just set your mind to it.