There many people whose idea of what they want to study and do for the rest of their lives is as clear as the sky. There are also many people who start college with no idea of what they want to study or what career they see themselves in. I fell into the second category when I arrived at Florida International University.
Originally, I began college as a journalism major because of the huge love for writing that I’ve had my whole life. I’ve always used writing to express myself and grew up to be very passionate, so I was almost certain that that was the professional career path I wanted to follow. Early on in college, however, I realized that I didn’t really see many stable job opportunities that appealed to me in this career, so I decided that this wasn’t the path for me to go down.
Next, I started to experiment in the health sciences field and thought that I was going to get my undergraduate degree in biology, but a rat dissection in a lab class changed my perspective and I realized that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life working in a lab. It was around this time that I heard about the field of public relations, which had components that corresponded to my interests in writing and journalism. I then decided to try the Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communications program at FIU and fell in love with it.
As an artistic person who loves to do creative things, I love this major. I get to use my love of writing, art, and design in this interrelated field, and it’s helped me realize that I want to do something related to creative communications in the future. Whether that be as a brand manager, content creator, public relation specialist, copywriter, or something closer to the art aspect of it, I’m not sure yet, but I do know that I want to be specialize in communications.
Along with PRAAC, I had the chance to try an introductory marketing class, which I enjoyed so much that I decided to declare it as a minor. I’ve taken a lot of really cool classes at FIU, such as Foundations of Communications, Visual Design, and Design Communication Strategies. These classes have really expanded my mind and unleashed my creativity like never before. If you’re like me and love creative and artsy things, then I recommend you try it! I have loved every minute of it and am learning more about the communication world every day!
For those of you who are still on the journey of discovering what exactly it is you want to do as a career and what major to declare, don’t give up hope! You’ll figure it out; I’d thought that I wouldn’t, and I ended up being proven wrong! The road may be long and take lots of twists and turns, but at the end of the day, you’ll end up in the right place with the career that you’re meant to choose.
Best of luck on your journey!