Freshman Survival Guide Blog: New Classes
In front of me sits a horrendous beast. It’s all things I hate and physically hurts to look at. I fear if I stare too long, I will turn to stone.
Ah, yes, Economics midterm, we meet again.
After a grueling 75 minutes, I leave the lecture hall in a daze. I immediately come to the understanding that I did atrocious on that particular exam. However, I don’t feel overcome with sadness, or even disgust. To be completely honest, I knew I would do horrible on that exam. Not because I didn’t study, oh no, but because I am naturally horrible at the subject of economics. I put plenty of time and effort into that class (hours on hours on hours), but I am still stuck with a mediocre grade. I came into Wisconsin with a vague understanding of what I wanted to do with my life. Business. I wanted to apply for Madison’s School of Business, study some form of business, and become some form of businesswoman. Like I said, vague, but hey, at least I had a list of prerequisites I could fill my schedule with. I told myself I just had to get through Calculus and Economics and I’d be in the clear to learn what I was actually interested in. However, as I walk out of that lecture hall, I begin to ask myself some particularly important questions.
What about the business school interests me?
Why do I want to go to the business school?
Do I even know what I would major in, if I were to get in?
I am mulling over these questions with answers that include words like prestigious, higher salary, work out of college, respectable. Then, my thoughts quickly come to a halt. In that moment, I realized something incredibly important. I wasn’t hoping to apply for the business school for any reason other than, well, money. Obviously, my thoughts were a little more complicated then “MO’ MONEY FO DA BANK”, but at the most basic level, my main reason for choosing that particular school was, in fact, having a decent salary out of school. There was no other reason. After that exam, I went to my dorm and analyzed my reasoning and came to an exceptionally ingenious conclusion (in my own humble opinion). If I was forcing myself to focus on subjects (i.e. math, econ, analytical courses) that I didn’t enjoy, I was never going to be more than mediocre at what I was compelling myself to concentrate on. If I could barely drag myself out of bed for classes I absolutely loathed, how was I expected to major in a subject that was based on those courses? In other words, I expected to major in Business, because I thought it was the “intelligent” choice for my particular skill set (I’m no engineer), but in reality, it wasn’t a good fit for me either. What I love, and have always loved, is writing, communication, influencing thoughts and ideas, and studying the world’s actions and reactions.
I am a journalist. What had stopped me from focusing on a degree in Journalism or Communications is the payroll. I feared sleeping in a box and living off Ramen noodles for half my life. However, I realized that if I’m doing something I’m passionate about, truly passionate, then I would be happy being in that profession and professions similar to it for the rest of my life. And, isn’t finding happiness the general goal for all fulfilled lives? I believe so. In a short time, I was able to look at my life and where my future led me, and change the direction I was moving in. I finally realized something that has been reiterated over and over to me; I was supposed to do whatever made me happy in life. It’s really as simple as that. Passion is a natural base to build skill off of. Now that I’m following my passions, instead of hunting for a better paycheck, I’m actually excited to move forward in my education, my future career, and my life.
The irony of it all, though, is that if I hadn’t gotten my particular teacher (who is known to be more difficult than the others) in Economics 101, I probably would’ve had a better grade and thought less about changing my career. If I didn’t take that incredibly demanding course, I would, truthfully, still be forcing myself to focus on getting into the business school.
Well…I guess I better go thank my TA for the fifty percent that changed my perception of my future.