I fell for the trap. I changed my major right before the start of my junior year of college. I had always thought that I knew what I wanted to major in upon coming to college. My “plan” since I was in middle school was to get a Bachelor’s in Political Science then attend law school. Growing up, everyone told me that I would change my mind when I got to college. They were kind of right. I am a Religious Studies major currently, but I still plan on going to law school. I thought that upon telling people that I had changed my major, everyone would be supportive, but only those who knew me at college were. Everyone else was quick to jump on the super-motivated kid because heaven forbid they get off track. They never considered that I could still end up on the same track. I was just taking a different route.
I think I would still be a political science major if I attended a different college, however, I would still have majored in religious studies as well. Do not get me wrong, I have learned plenty from the political science courses I have taken here, but I was not always happy along the way. I would study for hours and hours and write a paper with a strong argument and the facts of the paper would all be correct. However, the smallest of things would bump me down to a B. It got to the point where I could expect that no matter how hard I worked I would simply get a B because A’s were extremely rare in the department. On the other hand, I felt after taking religious studies courses that I could work to improve my grades and know exactly the things that I needed in order to get an A.
Do not get me wrong, neither of these two majors is a cake walk. This is Kenyon, and Kenyon is far beyond average in students, faculty, and the expectations they each have. I feel at times that I do double the work as my friends at other colleges and still do not receive as high of grades. However, just because I attend the “Harvard of the Midwest,” does not mean that As should not be obtainable if I am doing A quality work.
That experience made my desire to delve further into the curriculum diminish drastically. The thing that drew me to religious studies was that so much of the world’s conflicts and disagreements have to do with religion. Religion is valuable in understanding not just politics but the world at large. If I have to spend four years studying a particular subject, it might as well be something that I enjoy and a subject that forces me to think in a new light.
Law schools are not picky about what major you obtained. Therefore, I saw no negative consequence to changing my major. I could still complete my dream of becoming a lawyer while learning just as much and being happier. I think everyone gets so caught up in the prestige of saying, “oh, I’m this major or that.” However, when it comes down to it, I am doing just as much work as every other Kenyon student, and I am happy. That is what matters the most. I do not live my life to impress people. I am who I am, and the opinions of others do not change the fact that I am proud of how I have grown intellectually and as a person since being at Kenyon. If those who seemed to be disappointed by my change in major had taken the time to ask about my plans, they would have realized that nothing is changing.
I still hope that I can become a successful attorney and have a successful career. However, even if I did not want that anymore, people should be supportive of me and recognize that everything in my life is extremely well planned. If I say I am thinking about doing something trust me when I say I have already thought of a plan A, B, and C.
When I look back on my college years, I do not want to look back on four years of being miserable. Yes, college is designed to set you up for a better life, but one should be happy as well. It is Kenyon; if you are graduating from here, you are more than capable to enter the workforce. I would rather be happy and “shock” or, honestly, slightly disappoint people by changing my major than know silently that I am not doing what’s best for me at the expense of others opinions. At the end of the day, when I am an attorney, ten years down the road, no one is going to care what type of degree I graduated with. The firm will be concerned with whether or not I am winning cases for my clients.