Less than two years ago, I was a freshman general engineering major at Texas A&M, and today I am a junior English major. Switching majors was one of the most challenging decisions I had to make, and although it is normal for most college students to do this, I wasn’t sure if I was making the right decision for myself.
Part of me was certainly happy to be moving on into a field I was interested in, but a small part of me felt like I was giving up on a dream I worked towards for years. Since middle school, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and took all the necessary actions to achieve that goal. My parents would send me to any engineering or STEM related summer camps or programs they could find, and I even went to an Engineering focused high school. I learned a lot from all those experiences, and it definitely prepared me for all the coursework at TAMU. However, in all those years of preparing and studying to get here, I never considered different options or career paths. I never gave myself the opportunity to realize that I enjoyed other things more, and it took me years to realize how much I did not want to do engineering for the rest of my life.
Why English?
To be completely transparent, I am still not 100% sure why I gravitated towards English the most. I honestly never enjoyed reading or any English classes until the second half of high school. That being said, I do think part of that decision was because of one class I took my junior year of high school.
Up until junior year of high school, like most other Texas raised students, my English courses were focused on preparing for standardized testing. They focused mostly on the technical aspect of English and writing rather than exploring different forms of literature. Once I was finally able to take a class that focused on more analysis and critical thinking, I absolutely loved it. When making my decision, I remembered this class and how much I enjoyed it and hoped that college English courses would be similar. It was a slightly blind decision, but one I am certainly glad I made.
Was it a good decision?
Today, I am so happy that I switched. Although it helps not having to deal with rigor of engineering courses, my happiness comes from how much I enjoy my classes and how I get to explore so many perspectives and interpretations of literature and it challenges my brain in different ways that Engineering didn’t. There are so many different texts that I have gotten to learn about and think critically about that I would have never expected. Never in my life did I imagine I would have classes that focus on comic books or fairy tales or film.
Overall, switching is probably the best decision I have made for myself. It may have taken some time for me to realize where my passion lies, but I am glad about where I ended up.