Choosing a major sucks. I've bounced around at least 10 since my freshman year, and still haven't decided on one that I'm truly passionate about. I came in as a chemistry major, then thought I wanted to do international relations or journalism, considered English, declared French and now have completely switched gears to where I'm thinking about the social sciences.
I know. The social sciences are really scary. What are you supposed to do with a Sociology degree? Just saying that out loud makes me feel like I'm doomed to a life of sleeping on other people's couches and applying for jobs that will never hire me.
Something I've discovered since I've been at school is that you will be more successful if you're studying something you're interested in. This semester, I started back from square one and took a bunch of intro level courses that I skipped over last year because I was too focused on taking upper level courses that I'd be passionate about.
Now I regret not taking these intro levels last year, because they are the classes that I have found the most interesting since I've been in school. I'm finally making the time to truly engage in and absorb the material that I'm being assigned, because I'm very interested in what we're discussing in class. Last year, I just wanted to impress people by showing them that I could take advanced courses and do well in them. Unfortunately, that wasn't helping me find out what I am passionate about. I'm finally connecting with faculty that have similar interests and starting to figure out what I'm going to study for the next 3 years.
The social sciences will give me room to grow, which is all I need at this point. I need a broad theoretical basis of information that will teach me how to do research, let me explore the diverse subjects that I'm interested in (such as gender, race, oppression and population dynamics) and set me up with a career path that could go any number of ways.
I'm finally where I am supposed to be, and I'm not going to rush this process. I can't wait to see where this adventure in the social sciences takes me. I hope it leads me to a major that I'll love!
