It was Fall 2020 and the Common App was calling my name, waiting to be filled out. There was one thing holding me back: declaring my major.
Everyone on my mom’s side of the family is either in or studying to be in the medical field. I think that, because of this, I was sure I wanted to do the same. So, I opened the Common App and started filling out my first college application. Everything was going smoothly until I had to select my major. My cursor was hovering over “Biology,” but something was holding me back from clicking. I was filled with so much hesitance and uncertainty, wondering if I was making the right choice. After a lot of thinking, I applied to my first school as a biology major on the pre-med track. In my head, I thought I was making the right decision, but deep down something still felt off.
Fast forward to fall 2021, when I was a freshman in college. After the first two weeks of classes, I knew I wanted to change my major. I didn’t feel passionate about what I was studying, which made going to class draining. As I was researching other majors, education kept popping up in the back of my mind. My dad is a teacher, and I’ve worked at summer camps since I could start working, so I can confidently say I love working with kids. I absolutely loved the idea of becoming a teacher and being able to work with kids every day. I talked to everyone (literally EVERYONE) about wanting to change my major and how I was considering switching to education. My dad changed his major from kinesiology to education and shared his story with me. One of my best friends is an education major, and hearing her experiences only made me want to become a teacher more. Hearing the stories and advice from my friends and family opened my eyes and made me realize how much I wanted to be an education major. I officially switched my major to Early and Primary Education halfway through freshman year, but I didn’t officially start my new journey until my sophomore year. This was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Being able to sit in a classroom and watch kids learn and grow, knowing that I will get to do this in my own classroom one day, has been absolutely amazing.
Sometimes, I can be the person who compares their life to others, always feeling like I’m behind. To be honest, switching my major made me feel like I was behind and that I wasn’t living life correctly because I chose the wrong major and everyone else knew what they wanted to do in life. Boy, was I wrong. This experience has taught me that we are all walking different paths. No two people are the same. We’re all living life, but not the same one; life isn’t a race. You don’t have to have it all figured out when you’re applying to college or getting your master’s. If I stayed a biology major just because it seemed like no one else hated what they were studying, I would be miserable. Changing my major has taught me to stray away from this mindset and focus on my own path and happiness. Reflecting on this experience, I can proudly say the switch from pre-med to education is probably one of the best things that has happened to me. My mental health has drastically improved and I finally feel passionate about what I am studying and working towards. I walk into my classes with excitement rather than uneasiness. If you’re in a similar situation, and you don’t know what to do, the best advice I can give you is to follow your heart. As cliché as it sounds, it’s true. Deep down, you know what you truly want. Reach out to friends and family and ask for advice or stories. Don’t compare your journey to others. We each have our own paths, which go in all sorts of directions, that we travel at our own pace.