Academic Confusion

I have never been the type to “know what I wanna do when I grow up”; which I think is not a bad thing (besides, the kids who say that end up changing their minds anyway). Because something I’ve learned in college is that what you think you know today, may be slightly different than what you thought you knew a week ago, and very different than what you thought you knew a year ago. Thoughts change, and preferences change.

My point is that generally speaking, academic confusion (as I like to call it) is inherent in the college experience. For example, in about a week I’m declaring a Biology Major, and here’s the plan I had last semester (I’m still planning on doing an Anthro Major, but I have to wait until sophomore year to declare). This isn’t as extreme a switch as it seems; I’ve been stewing over different majors for a long time. But recently I've considered the possibility of pursuing studies or a career in Archaeology or Forensic Anthropology, and this combination keeps my options more open. Besides, I miss hard sciences, and I like to learn languages on my own as a hobby rather than as a course of study in a classroom (check out this post on the awesome language learning resources offered by SMC if you dig languages too!). But who knows; maybe next week I'll be a History major (just kidding... I think).

Anyway, that's one of the beauties of going to a small liberal arts school. Any time I've had questions for professors, even ones that didn't know me, they've been very helpful. Also, since I've taken a ton of LSR's and a few Anthro classes already, this last-minute Bio major is still very possible to complete in the next three years (although it's going to be a tight fit and a lot of work).

I think that a great lesson from this is that you should major in what you want. So many people choose majors because they think it will help them get a job, and granted I talk about my future plans pretty often. But that's because those are the things I'm interested in doing. Because when it comes down to it, you're the one being educated, and you're the one with the future; so why not pursue something that you actually like? My philosophy is that if you work hard and like what you're doing, you're probably more likely to find a job that you're qualified for and that fits you.

But let's hope I'm right; otherwise Colchester, VT is gonna have an Anthro/Bio-loving hobo lurking the streets in three years.

Thanks for reading!