College essays and chemistry worksheets are eating my up time, and I often forget the reason of all my efforts. I constantly have to remind myself that I'm working hard to pursue my intended major in college and hopefully discover what I want to do for the rest of my life. But how would I know that right now? On college applications, most colleges require us to select a specific area of study. I might have a general idea on what I want to major in, but without experiencing the courses, there's no way I know for certain on what captivates me the most. I'm planning to major in some type of engineering, but the main reason I'm doing so is because I think I'm a STEM person. I'm not even sure if I'm a STEM person.
This fall semester, I got an opportunity to enroll in a variety of University of Illinois courses. Out of these classes, ECON 102 (Introduction to Microeconomics) has stirred in me an unknown passion in economics. To be honest, I registered for the class because I heard it was relatively easy. Friends that have taken the class before urged me to take this "joke" class and get an easy "A". Because I'm a good friend, I immediately signed up.
Turns out, I have the best friends in the world.
In short, the class is actually really easy. An optional final exam, no midterms, and a homework deadline after nearly a month are all signs of an easy class. However, while the class is easy, this is no allusion to the class being useless. ECON 102 is a very important class: it sets the foundation for most of the economics classes in the future. Most importantly, this class is fun. This combination of fun and important made me forget about the difficulty of the class.
My biggest realization after taking half an economics class is that economics doesn't always have to apply to money. Before the class, whenever somebody brought up economics, I had this illogical notion that economics was basically business, and as a result, I wasn't able to understand the difference between the two fields of study. After the first couple weeks of class, I quickly noticed the broad range of topics economics covered.
Because ECON 102 doesn't have a final or any exams, there are other assignments that provide those hundreds of points. Every other week, we have to participate in an online debate. Our instructor poses multiple questions on a website called PackBack, and students have to respond to these questions. One of the first questions posed was something I didn't expect at all: "Should my brother buy a handgun?" What! I was perplexed. How was the decision to buy the gun related to economics? After reading some of the students' responses, I would learn that economics doesn't have to deal with monetary aspects of life.
Here's the main point. I had no idea what economics was and if I liked it before the class! I didn't even know what that major offered! Stay woke. There might be a crazy and unexpected major that interests you that you don't know. And when working on your chemistry worksheets and college essays, be conscious of your true goals.
This post has a lot of truth in it. Although I'm still a junior, I am still often presented with the question of what I want to do in the future. I typically say something in CS, but to be honest, I have always had a little feeling that there could be something better out there for me. I feel like there a bit too much pressure today for students to decide what they want to do.
ReplyDeleteThe good thing about being young and reckless is that we don't have to know what we want for like four more years. That's one I like about American university vs. other countries- you have the opportunity to spend more time exploring and figuring out what you actually like, versus having to decide the course of your life at 18. Some schools don't let you declare a major until your sophomore year, and I think that's a good system, since it forces you do to a bit more exploration rather than committing to something right away. But yeah, we totally don't have to have our whole lives planned out, and I think that's a common misconception about senior year- we still have plenty of time to decide.
ReplyDeleteI easily and often forget what the end goal is to all this work that we're putting in now. Applying to colleges makes me think a little further about what majors I'm interested in , but just like you said: How are we supposed to know if we haven't even taken any classes in that specific field? I don't know if college used to be super different or something but every adult I run into asks me "where are you going to college?" and I'm like "Lol who knows" and they say "well what are you majoring in?" and I just do not know what to say. Tricky stuff but I'm excited to explore classes like you're doing and see what speaks to me.
ReplyDeleteIt's nearly impossible to see the bigger picture when you have so many assignments due in a short time period, but you do it so well. I honestly don't know what my interests are so hearing your story is inspiring to keep an open mind. With your open mind I'm positive you'll find what you want to do.
ReplyDeleteECON 102 is truly where it's at. I agree that the class is fun, but as you said the assignments are pretty easy. In my opinion, you have to go out of your way if you really want to learn something.
ReplyDeleteI'm even more confused about what I want to do in college. I've spent hours and hours just looking at different major descriptions and statistics, and I still can't choose a major. Honestly, I'm hoping I discover something interesting in college.
I'm with you Will. I'm so flustered right now as well. I feel like I'm choosing certain majors because of the salary, which is not good! I don't want to live to make money. I want to be happy. We should get a drink sometime and talk about our problems. :(
DeleteIt's tough to know what you want to major in or do at this age. I can understand your moments of doubt on whether or not you even want to be a STEM kid - the label itself feels limiting, like if we're STEM kids we're suddenly not part of the rest of the world, just a niche for nerds. My temporary solution is double majoring or getting a minor in business as well as the engineering I want to do, but, either way, you can always change majors until you figure it out.
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