My biggest challenge this semester was keeping my stress levels low and learning to take each day one step at a time. Transitioning into the college lifestyle – leaving family, living with strangers, even finding out where to eat – was difficult on its own, but having a barrage of due dates and assignment descriptions thrown at me the first week of school was perhaps even more so. In my mind, I piled all these assignments, exams, and papers on top of each other like a giant, insurmountable mountain. I had no idea how I would get over that mountain – it didn’t seem possible. However, over the course of a few weeks, I found that it just kind of happened, one day at a time. I learned to set daily goals for myself – I’d get such and such done today, and such and such tomorrow. Taking assignments one day at a time really helped break them down into little sections to chip away at. An important factor in this was learning to forgive myself for not getting enough done as I had wanted to that day. There’s no point beating yourself up about the past; you just have to resolve to work even harder tomorrow. So I did. Learning to remove myself from distractions (i.e. going to the library) really helped me accomplish my daily goals. Recently, now that I’m fully in the swing of things, I’ve been able to keep my stress levels manageable.
For the University Exploration Survey class, I have attended/will attend the Fisher College of Business, Public Affairs/Social Work, Arts and Sciences (Social and Behavioral Sciences), and Health and Rehabilitation Services lectures. I chose these lectures because at the time, I was very lost as to which major I was leaning toward – business, or maybe Health Sciences, or maybe Public Affairs? I had no clue. Thus, I simply decided to attend the four lectures that corresponded to these interests and hope the lectures would provide me with more insight to help me make my decision. The Business and Public Affairs areas really spoke to me, and going to the lectures really aided me in quantifying the path it would take to get a degree in either area.
In the beginning of the semester, as mentioned, I was had no idea which major I would choose. I felt hopeless because I didn’t feel that driving passion that everyone else seemed to have about their major. My first advising appointment left me even more distraught; we discussed majors, but I didn’t get any closer to deciding any particular one or even narrowing down the options. I thought about business (even though that was very general and I didn’t know where I would go within that), or a STEM/medicine based career like Health Sciences. Since then, I’ve begun to lean heavily toward Public Affairs.
I actually didn’t even know that the Public Affairs major existed until I started my PUBAFRS 2367 writing class, where I learned to write in the style of policy memos, testimonies, etc. I had always found government keenly interesting and have followed current affairs, but I thought Political Science was the only route to go with those interests. I didn’t realize there was a major that dealt directly with policy issues – having a problem, and then solving it – and I really found the concept intriguing. I soon found that it was my best class by far, and I enjoyed taking a stance on an issue and backing it up, all while considering other options for how to best solve a given policy problem. Writing is one of my strengths, but I want to improve it and be able to communicate more effectively, and the Public Affairs major and its corresponding classes will assist me in achieving this. The class, combined with gradual elimination of other majors, has aided me in narrowing down my major options to only a few, the strongest of which to me is Public Affairs.
The most beneficial aspect of attending the major lectures was hearing from real students – especially former EXP students – about what it’s like to be in any given major. While learning about major prerequisites, admission requirements, and four-year plans was useful, I found the student panel the most informative part of the lectures. It comes down to the fact that I’m only going to choose I major that I would find fulfilling and enjoyable, and the people who are in the place that I’m going to be in – the students – are able to provide firsthand accounts as to whether I’m going to enjoy myself there. While the lectures were very educational, I wish they had gone more in-depth on how the students got to where they did; for instance, I wished I could have learned how Student A discovered their passion for a specific interest and discovered Major X, and how confident they are that they will continue on that path. I feel like this information would help me assess how close I am to deciding and whether Major X is really right for me.
Two goals for myself (to complete by the end of this year) to guide me in my exploration of majors are as follows:
- Explore the websites of the majors I’m interested in in-depth to assess the path it would take to get a degree in that major.
- Set an appointment with Career Counseling & Support Services and continue making appointments with my EXP adviser.
If I could go back and talk with myself at the start of the semester, I would warn myself that the first few weeks won’t be easy, but that it will get better after that. I would tell myself to not fear loneliness because I’d find friends soon and they’d be the source of a lot of the good times in the coming weeks. I’d also tell him not to stress as much about not being able to find a major because a lot of people (more that I initially thought) are unsure about their major, and I’m certainly not alone. Deciding on a major will take time, and that’s okay. I’d tell him to take life one day at a time and enjoy the little things – walking to class, eating dinner with friends, taking power-naps, etc. It’s in the little things, the routine, that we can find fulfillment in what might otherwise be boring or hopeless.