As a 5-year-old, most children would be frightened to go to their pediatric care center. For me, it was like a mini vacation. I loved my pediatrician, I loved knowing I was healthy, and I loved receiving lollipops at the end of my visit. Most of all… I loved the idea of being able to do this one day in my future.
Ever since I was a kid, I did not want to do anything else but be a doctor in the future. The idea of wearing a white coat and treating children for their small fevers and sore throats, and giving them cute cartoon bandages for their shots just seemed like a good career! Of course, as I grew older, the perks of being in medicine only intrigued me more. I learned about the financial stability I'd have with six or seven figure salaries. I learned about how valuable a doctor’s service is to the community and how noble it would be. I learned how proud it would make my family if I successfully made it into the field of medicine. All these different factors had me stuck on the fact that this is the only thing I could possibly do in my future.
With this big of a goal in mind, I had planned out my entire life from high school to getting into medical school. Weird, I know, but ever since middle school I had known what Honors classes, what AP classes, and what other classes I would take to ensure that I made into a prestigious college and then an even more prestigious medical school. Med school meant all the possible science and academic clubs at school, more studying for ACT/SAT testing, and possibly just cutting back on having fun. All of this seemed very much doable -- until I actually experienced high school.
High school, where do I begin? Going into high school with a strong mindset, I aced through freshman year and didn’t have any concerns. Sophomore year was definitely a big step up. AP courses entered my life and for some time, it felt like I was drowning. The worst part? It was something I had absolutely no interest in: U.S. history. When would I apply knowledge about the Battle of Antietam when I want to operate a tumor on my patient’s brain? God knows… but all I knew was that I needed the credit and the honor from the class to look perfect for colleges. Competition between people also increased, and the ugly side of pre-adults came out. From always wanting to know how everyone else did on a test, to finding out class rank and comparing, my class was turning vicious. It’s weird how everyone thought popularity was only for the people on sports teams or the richer kids in school because in my school it was turning into more popularity for the kids holding a higher rank.
With all this added stress, I went on to junior year with triple the AP classes and quadruple the stress. Friendships were broken over the stressful competing. ACT scores turned people insane. Signs of depression and anxiety were seen among high school students merely trying to get by! And yet the one thing motivating us? Getting into an amazing college and pursuing out gigantic ambitions. Medicine, engineering, double majors, triple majors -- the dreams only kept multiplying
Finally, the time came where we applied to every college in the nation to guarantee our chances of getting accepted into a university that we could proudly show off to our equally successful friends. Except this is where I strayed away from the others. I had high dreams of going to out of state colleges too, but I thought it would be best to not stray too far from my parents and spend a reasonable amount of money on my undergrad education. Thus, I stuck with in-state schools like OSU, University of Toledo, and Miami University. As much as my parents wanted me to go into the NEOMED advanced six-year medical program at Akron, my heart wanted to stay in a school that had a lot of regular college culture. I decided to go to OSU and, honestly, I could say it was the best decision I’ve made with my career so far.
The only catch? I went into OSU as a biomedical engineering major on a pre-med track so that I could be that one student who successfully finishes college and makes it into a top medical school with incredible potential of being an engineer and a doctor. Sadly, those dreams were crushed once I stepped into my introductory engineering course. Building things -- critically thinking about problems I could care less about, using MATLAB -- definitely not my thing. The worst part? For the first time ever, I started doubting my academic abilities because of my dropping grades. I realized that the stress behind engineering wasn't worth it. Here’s where the biggest problem of freshman year came in: switching majors.
I still remember the day clearly. I finally got the courage to talk to my parents about switching majors when I was studying at the library. In the bathroom of Thompson library, I slowly brought up the topic of not liking engineering to my dad (the head engineer of the household). Several attempts were taken to persuade me that I just haven’t reached the interesting aspects of engineering, but I struggled through to tell them that this wasn’t meant for me and it wouldn’t be something I can see myself doing in the future. After a solid hour-and-40-minute argument filled with tears and compromise, I was allowed to switch my major to neuroscience -- something I was still not sure about. But, hey, it’s better than engineering!
Guess what? I didn’t like neuroscience either. Right as I was going to unofficially switch into microbiology and possibly pursue a career in biotechnology or epidemiology research -- it hit me. I hated this. I hated all of this. I didn't want to work in a lab. I didn't want to fix children’s boo-boos. I didn't want to go through 237,492 years of schooling so that I can settle at the age of 40. What did I want? I wanted to live a simple life that doesn’t require a ton of schooling. I wanted to study what intrigues me and interests me. I wanted to study psychology and help people with their emotional and social problems. I wanted to listen to their concerns and try to make them a better person!
I’ll tell you one thing. There are so many things that we’ll go through as humans in a lifetime that will bring us happiness. But I think the most important one is realizing what you actually want to do in life -- and that’s the happiness I experienced merely a few months ago. Surprisingly, I told my parents how I felt, and they respected my decision and allowed me to go through with it. Of course, switching to a psychology major gave them some amount of anxiety because of getting a job and what not, but honestly, those sayings are myths. No matter what major or path you choose in college, if you work hard enough and show passion in what you learn, you can achieve just as much success as a doctor, engineer, or lawyer. I was able to convince them that I knew what I was doing, and now I’m so much less stressed studying what I’m passionate about.
Why did I just spend more than 1,000 words telling you about how my academic life worked out? To tell you to calm down. And to tell you to actually study what you’re interested in and passionate about. College is an essential period of time in your life that you’re supposed to enjoy -- don’t let the most important thing about it end up ruining you. There are thousands of students out there studying something they don’t even like just to end up with some sort of a future. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily… I get that you’re concerned about your future and honestly it’s normal to be scared. But I think wasting four years of education to end up in something just for the money isn’t exactly good, either. Take it from someone who’s dealt with it. Make the right decision!
