I attend John Jay College of Criminal Justice. It is a large college located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that goes by the slogan, "Fierce Advocates for Justice". My college sounds like a great school for law focused majors like; Criminal Justice, Criminology, etc. However, it doesn't only limit itself to Criminal Justice majors. I happen to be a pupil of one of John Jay's outlier Liberal Arts majors, which is Global History. After changing my major a total of three times within my freshman year, I decided to go with what I do best by thinking about what I loved to learn and talk about, which is Global History. I am proud of calling myself a Global History major undergraduate; I happen to think my major is one of the best majors out there, but it doesn't receive enough attention or appreciation by other undergraduate students at my college. As a Global History major student, I get to navigate a time period I wasn't born in and understand it as if I lived it. History allows me to comprehend the world from a social, geographical, and historical standpoint.

I started off my freshman year at John Jay with a Criminology major, which I hastily picked by the intriguing title. It seems interesting because it seemed (at the time) self-explanatory that I would study criminals. This choice was very blind because Criminology goes more into depth than just studying criminals and their behaviors. Criminology is a type of social science exploring the causes of crimes and criminals, and their effects on the world. It sounds interesting, but I knew this wasn't what I wanted to use my 4 years of college to focus on. I decided my hasty decision of being a Criminology major wasn't the right decision for me.

I decided to switch my major from Criminology to Political Science my second semester of freshman year. I made this abrupt switch out of the thought that it would be best for admission to law school [which is wrong because you can major in anything and gain admission to law school]. I knew that it was common for future law school students to major in Political Science. I decided to take a shot at Political Science being my new undergraduate major. I shortly noticed after doing Political Science 101 for 3 weeks that this isn't what I wanted to do. I realized this major wasn't for me by the fact that I was continuously nagging about the boring nature of studying politics, and me questioning my sanity by reading dozens of pages about the constitution. After realizing I wasn't interested in studying boring politics for the 4 years of my undergraduate journey, I thought that I was doomed! I didn't like Criminology, and now Political Science - I began thinking what would be the best option for me?

After thinking for the next couple of weeks intensively, it finally hits me that all along I should have been majoring in Global History (cliché right?)! I realized throughout primary school and my previous semester in college I have always been attentive and intrigued to learning history. I have always had a burning passion for viewing books, articles, and videos about history; I used these items as lenses to connect me to the past of the world I live in today. History helps me understands social injustices, culture, and much more. I realized that history would be a wise decision for me because I would genuinely enjoy being educated for the next 4 years about a topic I loved and enjoyed since my early schooling days. This decision has been beneficial for me because it made me decide I wouldn't mind my being a history professor if I decided abruptly not to continue with working towards a law school, and eventually a law career.

Choosing a major should be about what makes you happy and what is enjoyable for you to learn. It is a cliché thing to say, but I believe it to be true. College should be about having an educational experience based on what makes you happy, not what will make you the most money or what "sounds" cool. I may be debated about believing that people should be choosing their majors based on what makes them happy, however, I stand by my belief. I am pleased by letting my happiness determine my major. I chose Global History because I knew this would make me happy because I always loved history, so why should I not focus on it for my next 4 years of college? Choosing my major in Global History is one of the best decisions I made so far! I can say I look forward to what my major Global History has to provide for me for my years to come in college.