Of all the academic decisions I’ve made, I’d have to say that choosing to pursue two minors has been my favorite one so far. Coming into college, I thought that I knew exactly what I wanted to do academically. I was fully ready as a freshman to work towards an English major, and yet here I am, almost four semesters later, with a history major and an environmental studies and political science minor. It’s funny how much things can change in two short years. I’ve only had my minors for one full semester but I’m already so excited for my remaining two years of college.
Minoring in another field allows you to explore different interests. While some people choose to major in the field that interests them the most, a large percentage of college students choose majors that are considered “practical” for their futures. I chose my history major because it’s a subject that fascinates me, but other people have different motives for choosing their majors. Some people, unfortunately, consider history majors useless. If you’ve ever had a family member scoff when you told them what your major was, you know what I’m talking about. Therefore, some people choose fields that essentially guarantee them a job right out of college, such as a computer science major. That’s not to say that computer science isn’t interesting to those who pursue it, it’s just that there are more feasible jobs for that major compared to history. I propose that minoring in something allows a person to pursue a pragmatic major while also minoring in something that truly interests them.
I also think that minors are great because they can so often compliment the thing that you are majoring in. In a way, it’s like creating your own major. For example, minoring in political science has further heightened my understanding of history, especially political history. I feel as though I am constantly finding parallels between the two subjects. In my environmental studies classes we draw from history and often dive into the past to understand current environmental problems. And while it isn’t always the case that a major and minor suit each other, I think it’s interesting to draw parallels between fields of study that seem so different from one another. Compatible or not with your major, I think that minors offer many benefits to a college student.
Minoring is also an opportunity to push yourself to take a leap and try something new. I feel like I’ve heard so many stories of people taking an art class on a whim one semester and end up minoring in the field. One of my favorite things is to see someone pursuing two very different fields. For example, someone majoring in biology but minoring in art. The interesting part of doing this is that people come to realize how these seemingly opposite academic fields overlap and intersect. So here’s my advice to you: if there’s some subject that you’re really interested in pursuing but you’re scared to commit, do it. Just do it. You’ll soon realize that it’s one of the best decisions you’ve ever made.