While growing up, many of us wanted to try new activities and keep ourselves busy. In my case, I was interested in anything and everything: music, sports, theater, you name it.
Then, as life goes on, you find yourself having to narrow down our extracurricular activities. New responsibilities and college have to be taken care of, and so the long avoided decision had to be made: what would you major in? Many people have trouble figuring out their major because they don’t visualize themselves doing anything.
However, that doesn’t apply to all of us. I was the opposite, and still am, to be honest. I had interest in so many things; from anthropology to theater, music to physics, literature to history… Like many other science majors in this situation, I decided to major in science after quite a long time of self-discovering. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that we would let our love for the humanities vanish. So here I present you with some common situations science majors that love the humanities might encounter:
1. Taking more free electives than you actually need
Most of the time, you find yourself looking through the year’s academic offer and there is always a course that catches your attention. Yes, you already took your required literature. But then again, you would have taken them even if they weren’t required.
2. Planning your class schedule based on unrequired classes that interest you
Scheduling your courses is a very dreary chore, especially when these courses have to be accompanied by a co-requisite lab. The expected thing to do is to take other courses based on the availability of your course leading to your degree, but that’s not always the case. You’ve wanted to take a certain course so badly, you end up changing sections or risking not a getting a space in the required course just because you really want to that Shakespearean literature course or that art in China one.
3. The stares you get when you try to explain to your fellow science majors.
Whenever you mention that you took a theater course just because you were interested, or that you can’t take another science course that would put you ahead because you have French at that time, you get the stares of disbelief from students that just can’t fathom the idea of taking an extra class if it’s not necessary.
4. You become an expert in time management
Science majors keep themselves busy investigating and/or joining one or more student organizations from the faculty. But you will also want to join organizations focusing on other areas, attend many events (like plays or musical performances) and take actual lessons outside of college; which brings me to the next point…
5. You take your activities outside of college just as seriously
As a student, you want to do well in your classes, so you dedicate time to studying and doing everything possible to do better. However, this also applies to the non-academic lessons. Acting, dancing, music, writing, art… These activities require a lot of time and dedication; that is if you want to improve. So, you don’t just have a Chemistry exam coming up, you also need to practice that first movement of Schubert’s Piano Sonata that you haven’t been able to dominate just yet.
6. Yes, you do enjoy your major
Studying science takes a lot of time and discipline, as every other major. As a student that is very interested in science and humanities, it’s very difficult to balance the time you dedicate to each field. There are many ways to cultivate your interests, and they don’t involve taking extra classes or double majoring.
If you’re really interested in being a double major and have done careful consideration, you should go for it. You can also join organizations in your area of interest, or you can take your own classes outside of college. Now, you should not go around doing more than you can; you will end up not giving your best in any of your projects. Think, plan, organize and above all, be creative!