Dear organic chemistry and biology,
You suck. Not only are you just flat out terrible; you lowered my GPA, put several big fat failures on my transcript, and lowered my self-esteem. It's not fair that I put in hours and hours of work, study time and tutoring just to receive horrible grades back in return. I spent too many nights staring at my computer screen crying because I genuinely did not understand how I earned the grades that I did when I put forth more effort than anyone ever had. The material just didn't click on the level that it needed to.
But it's okay.
I went through my entire high school and college years thinking, nah scratch that, KNOWING that I was going to go to medical school and become a psychiatrist. But, I quickly learned that things do not always work out the way you anticipate. And that can be very discouraging, especially when you're someone that does not enjoy the academics aspect of school, like myself.
But everything happens for a reason.
Because of my terrible grades in my pre-medical studies (and they were terrible, trust me - a 3.2 GPA isn't going to get you into medical school), I had to have a sit-down, chit-chat moment with myself, and that was very hard to do. What if my parents did not support my decision? What if I'm being too hard on myself and I can achieve my dreams? What if this, what if that. What I didn't think about at the time, was what if I'm just not meant to be a Psychiatrist?
I withdrew from the courses that were causing me so many toxic thoughts and emotions and dragging me and my GPA down. I consulted my academic advisor, who supported my decision and made everything official.
I was no longer a pre-med student. And I was happy.
Helping people is my greatest passion. I think that your mental health is the most important aspect of your overall health, and it is something that everyone should be comfortable and able to care for. I want to be the one to change the stigmas surrounding mental illness and make therapy fun. And truthfully (no tea, no shade), a psychiatrist isn't the one that can do that. A psychologist is.
And that's why I decided to pursue clinical psychology. I am an immense deal happier, and a lotttt more confident in my academics. My GPA has not gone up, but it will with time. And now I'm a semester ahead and may have the opportunity to graduate early. And my parents, although they thought that I should still pursue medical school, supported my decision.
My advice to you is this: if you're struggling to pass classes that you need for your degree, or your further education plans; take a step back and really think about if you enjoy what you're doing. If you're not successful, odds are, you probably are meant to be somewhere else, doing something that you enjoy more; and it's okay to change.
You do not have to have a concrete plan when in college, the whole point is to discover what you're truly meant to do, and that sometimes can take some trial and error.
