I wanted to be a doctor for as long as I could remember. I formed the plan when I was still in single digits. I had it set in my mind for so long, and so did my family. But this semester, I changed that plan. College is supposed to be where you discover what you really want to do and that’s what's happened to me. I’ve always had an interest in medicine and biology so it felt natural for me to want to pursue a career in it. What changed it all for me was deciding to minor in English. My science classes started to take a back seat to my English classes and I was hooked. I'm going with my gut on this one and have decided to switch into the College of Liberal Arts to major in professional writing.

I know what you’re probably thinking: ditch a career in medicine for writing? Are you out of your mind? And believe me, I had the same kinds of reservations. I was saying to my self: I just wasted three years of expensive schooling. It’s going to be difficult to find a job. I’m going to make a quarter of the money. But I’m also going to be doing what I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is what I was put on this planet to do. I ‘m never more comfortable than when I am writing and that’s all that matters to me.

I want to encourage people to take a step back and honestly ask themselves if they are as comfortable as they can be. Burying yourself in a career you don’t truly love in hopes that you’ll make enough money to do what you want later in life is ridiculous, in my opinion. You should come out of the gate already doing what you love. If you make some money along the way, that’s icing on the cake.

If you’re a business major and want to study music or drama, or something else out of the ordinary, but opt out because you’re afraid to pursue it, don’t be. Changing your major as drastically as I did is scary. But do you know what’s scarier? Regret. You don’t want to blink your eyes and suddenly realize you’re 65 years old and have wasted your life doing something you don’t wholeheartedly enjoy. If you’re one of these people on the fence about taking a new direction, maybe hearing about how I found the motivation to switch will help you find yours.

I didn’t always want to be a writer. But I always liked to write. It was mostly a hobby and always came in handy when papers got assigned in high school. I just didn’t think that being a writer would be practical. It wasn’t what people did. It's an uncommon pursuit and a risky field, in terms of job security. 

Most people I know view writing as a chore. But not me. I feel more at home with my fingers on the keyboard than anywhere else. That realization was the final nail in pre-medicine’s coffin. I don’t have to motivate myself to sit down and crank out 15 pages of something in one night. But I had to wrestle with myself to study for my other classes and I hated every second of it. The smallest distractions could pull me away. When I'm writing, the rest of reality fades to a silent backdrop behind my computer screen. 

My advice? Go after what doesn’t feel like work for you. If you find it easy to pay attention in a certain class, dig deeper. Maybe pick up a minor in that subject and see where it takes you. That’s exactly how I arrived at my new plan for the future.

If you find yourself getting assignments done for a class way ahead of time, that area might be worth a second look. You don’t want to dread going to work for the rest of your life. You should be flying out from under the covers every morning waiting to go change the world with the passion you have for what you do. That could be accounting, history, chemistry or basket weaving. It doesn’t matter, but you should love what you do. Period.