I believe that I made the right decision for me. At the time, it was hard convincing myself I needed to choose a new career pathway. It has always been a dream of mine to work in the medical field. Growing up, I can remember that my absolute favorite thing to play was “Doctor” with my brother, Christopher while we visited my grandma’s house. Of course, she was the best patient. She never failed to let her imagination run wild. If it wasn’t for cancer, my grandpa would surely have jumped at the opportunity to participate. But what helps is knowing that I took care of him when he was sick and that’s honestly the most wonderful feeling ever. Especially, since I was only 4 or 5 years old. My passion for learning about the human body is why I decided to take as many science classes (human anatomy, genetics, sports medicine) throughout high school and volunteer at Kennestone hospital. I continued to reach for my goal by applying to the University of West Georgia. When I got accepted, I immediately declared my major: nursing.
That summer, I was required to attend orientation. I can distinctly recall sitting in a gym with other eager nursing students waiting for our advisers to speak to us. I thought it was going to be inspirational, however they quickly proved me wrong; I felt more negativity than anything else. I realize that nursing is supposed to be very competitive, but hearing that a majority of us are most likely going to change careers is upsetting. I understand that they were trying to give us a realistic image because let’s face it – the sole purpose of this ‘speech’ and the difficult prerequisite courses is to weed us out. Anyways, I tried to remain positive and tell myself, “You’ve got this, Veronica".
When I got back my first biology 1107 test and saw that I failed, I was instantly ashamed. But I figured, I’d do better next time. I had aced all my homework, class assignments, and quizzes. Plus, I knew test taking was and still is a weak point of mine. I kept working as hard as I could and continued to take biology 1108 because I wasn’t willing to give up easily since this was what I desperately wanted. Often, I would confide in my mom (my biggest supporter) and she knew the exact words to comfort me. One day, she said, “Maybe, pray about it? When I’m frustrated, I ask God what to do”. So that’s exactly what I did.
Honestly, I had an option in mind that I had been considering. I talked about it in the past. It was writing. I made it my #1 priority to write a book. I fell back in love with reading during the 6th grade and I wanted to be able to move readers with such emotion. Nevertheless, I debated on whether or not I wanted to major in English or Mass Communication (Convergence Journalism). Right now, I have decided to major in Mass Communication (Convergence Journalism) and minor in creative writing. And truthfully, I couldn’t be happier. I guess, sometimes, change is good.
