Oftentimes, it's hard to feel like the work you're doing in college will actually apply to your life someday. Will that ten-page paper I wrote really make me a better teacher? Will this three-hour lab really make me a better physical therapist? Is a B in Astronomy going to be the deciding factor in the trajectory of my career? These are thoughts I imagine a lot of us have had throughout our schooling. It's easy to lose sight of why you're in the major you're in, it's easy to start to doubt the choice you've made.
I was really doubting myself and my choice of major during my first two semesters. I didn't feel like any of the classes I was taking lined up with what I wanted in life at all, I felt like I was spending hours studying for no reason, there was no intentionality behind my studies I was just making the grade. I started this semester feeling somewhat the same, that I was going to be in classes I didn't care about and that didn't apply to me and that I would have to find reasons to stay in the major I chose. That all ended rather quickly, though, because this year my courses really jumped into my major.
No longer was I taking general education credits (goodbye math!) that didn't really apply to my career. No longer would I be the only person in the room in my chosen major. This semester I have a class that is only offered to people in my major, and it has really rejuvenated my passion and my reasons for choosing this field. I'm discovering that as much as I've enjoyed being challenged by and learning from people in other fields in my previous semesters, it's really nice to have a niche. Just having a group of people on campus who speak my lingo and have the same credit requirements has given me a sense of reassurance I didn't know I needed. I'm realizing that as much as I want to learn from people who are different from me it's nice to fit in every once in a while and have a discussion on a topic in my field with someone who understands.
If you're finding yourself doubting your field of study, try to put yourself in that community. Take a course only meant for your major, join an organization for your major, or simply find a few people in your courses that you can talk to. A campus is a diverse and complicated place, and it's easy to feel like you're just kind of floating from class to class with no anchor. Find that anchor, find the people who share your beliefs and struggles. Find the girl in your class who also hates the way that other people view a specific aspect of your major. Find the guy who joined your major for the same reasons you did. And if you can't find that sense of belonging, if there's no niche for you there, it's never too late to move into another field. It's never too late to realize what you want.
