As my first year of college is very quickly coming to an end, I have been using the time between studying for finals and procrastinating to really unpack the entire experience. At college, some classes are a requirement, introductory classes that allow students a look into fields that are different from their intended major or field of study. While many find these classes to be counterproductive or a waste of time, I completely disagree.
As a naive little freshman, I knew that many students in college end up changing the major they initially thought they would want to pursue. I never believed such an event would ever happen to me. I was too sure of my decisions and for as long as I could remember, it was what I had wanted to do. I always wanted to pursue a career in the medical field and was practically jumping with joy as I made my schedule at the beginning of last semester. Not only because I was finally in college, but also so I could finally get the doctor plan rolling. As I progressed through the semester and entered my second one as a freshman, I began to realize how much harder reaching my goal would be. No, It wasn't that I was disappointed in the classes, they were just as tough and interesting as I thought they would be, it was more that I realized how broad my learning could be.
Alongside my required pre-med introductory courses in chemistry and biology, I was also required to take classes like philosophy and psychology. Those who are not taking a science related path are required to take one science class. What I have found after taking such classes and still currently being in one of them, is that I am really glad I had to take these classes. I have no idea what I would like to major in or even if that major is in the science field. But what I have come to find out is that I very much enjoy learning about the mind and how it connects with our everyday behaviors. More than that, I have found that I enjoy learning about this little-known world and as a result, I can memorize the parts of the brain and their function easier that I can memorize new vocabulary for biology. In philosophy, I have learned how to think on a much deeper level and formulate an argument like I have never learned before. I might have also learned that I enjoy debating. A lot.
Whatever it is that I have gained from these classes, I would have never given them a glance had I been able to pick any classes I wanted. I would have taken up science classes or stuck to those that were in my comfort zone. These introductory classes have opened up new possibilities of majors and perhaps even future paths that I would never have dared to consider. It is not that I do not find medicine as exciting as I always have, my appreciation of the field has grown since starting college, but rather that college is allowing me to open up about the options that are available to me. And I am willing to give them a try.
