A lot of people think you have to know what you want to major in right out of high school or even before, but the truth is it’s OK to not know just yet.
When I was younger, I loved watching the news, admired journalist and was quite the chatterbox but I didn’t know I wanted to go into journalism until I was a senior in high school. At a very young age, I wanted to be a writer some days and others I wanted to be a teacher like every little girl did at one point or another.
Whenever I entered middle school that all changed. I decided I wanted to be a doctor, even though I hated math and science so much.
This idea of becoming a doctor stuck with me until my junior year of high school. I decided that it wasn’t for me and I felt lost.
I didn’t know what I wanted to do. My parents started suggesting things for me to look into and my mom would print out degree plans from different universities.
I changed my mind so many times to the point where I truly didn’t know what to do.
My senior year, I decided to try something different and join FFA. While being in FFA I did many different things including agricultural advocacy. I and two others had to make a script, memorize it and present it in a conversational and informative way.
This was really fun for me because I always loved presenting in front of people and writing.
One day, I told my government teacher that I was going to visit Sam Houston State and I wouldn’t be in class the next day. I remember her telling me “I hope you’re going to major in communication because I think you would be great.”
That stuck with me and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to go to Sam Houston so I looked into their communications program, then stumbled upon mass communication. As soon as I read the description for multiplatform journalism a light bulb went off in my head.
It finally all clicked. I knew I wanted to talk to people for a living, write and also do my part to make the world a better place. I truly believe that journalism was always my calling it just took a few signs, over time, to fall into place.
I asked myself if money had no meaning, would I still want to go into journalism? I said yes.
I advise everyone who’s undecided going into college to think about what you would want to do for the rest of your life if money had no meaning. Also look into all the things that you’re good at and enjoy. It’s OK to not know, it will all fall into place.
