Finding the right major for yourself when you begin college is nearly impossible. There is a very small percentage of students who truly know what they want to do for the rest of their lives at the age of 18. The journey to find what is right for you can take a long time and a lot of experimenting in different areas.
When I first entered Syracuse University in the fall of 2017 as a freshman, I was enrolled in the School of Education as a Selected Studies in Education major. At the time I felt that I wanted to do work with children, but not necessarily be a teacher.
This major offered at Syracuse gave students the opportunity to learn about the field of education, but on a different path than on the one to become a teacher. In my first semester of freshman year, I was enrolled in the introductory course to the Communication Sciences, and Disorders major, which leads you on the path to becoming a speech pathologist.
I immediately became interested in this class because I was intrigued by the content, and was fascinated by the idea of being able to work with and help children in this context. At the beginning of my second semester, I transferred out of the school of education and declared myself as a Communication Sciences and Disorders major.
I started taking many science heavy courses and classes about linguistics. In the past fall semester of my sophomore year, I realized that I was not interested in all of this science, and it didn't happen to be my strong suit. I was made aware that I enjoyed my writing intensive classes much more and when I was making my schedule for this spring semester I found that I would enjoy my time here more thoroughly if I was in a major that involved work I loved.
I asked my advisor about switching to political science and she agreed that this would be a good move for me. So far in the first couple days of this semester, I have found myself in some truly engaging classes, and I have been immersed in some terrific discussions. I am hoping that I have finally found the major that I belong in, and I don't think I would have been able to find it without the journey I had to go on.