One of the most stressful parts about being a freshman at Hamilton College is deciding which classes to take. Many freshman, having never experienced the freedom that Hamilton’s open curriculum provides, are dumbfounded when it come to choosing classes. I was one of those freshman. I had a few vague ideas about what I wanted to major in, but I decided to take a wide variety of courses instead of diving right into one particular department. To this day, this was the best decision I made as a freshman.
I picked one practical class in a subject that I was considering majoring in, Microeconomics, and three courses out of pure interest, Introduction to Women’s Studies, Cultural Anthropology, and Geology of North Africa and the Middle East. I quickly learned that I had no passion for Economics, as many Hamilton students do their first year. At this moment, I realized how happy I was that I had not fast tracked myself with multiple economics courses right away. Instead of having to suffer though economics classes all week, I could enjoy the three other very different courses I was taking. Interestingly, the Geoscience class that seemed the most random and foreign to me ended up being my favorite course that semester. The course was fantastic and I found myself thinking about geology all the time, which is hilarious because before taking that class I knew absolutely nothing about geology! One year later I find myself working towards a Geoscience major.
In some ways, looking back on that semester is scary. Had I not decided to branch out from my usual interests and take a course that was outside my comfort zone, I might not have found Geoscience. That is why I recommend to incoming Hamiltonians that you take those random courses that seem outlandish and foreign. Lean into the subjects that you know nothing about and most importantly, don’t go into your Freshman year with one major set in stone (pun intended), because doing so might prevent you from finding a subject that really inspires you.