I applied to Whittier College as an English major, possibly minoring in theater, but changed my mind my first month in. That fall semester I was sure I would major in political science, eventually becoming the next Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, keen on changing the world. My backup plan, which was totally realistic, was to become a famous actress as that’s what I had studied prior to college.
After a tumultuous year of trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, I found myself in a history course that I loved. I had always enjoyed history but never in a million years thought it would be something I would pursue in higher education. A year and a half later, here I am: a history major. After my experience working in theater, I knew I didn’t want to give up that kind of creativity, so I enrolled in a film course. Now, I hold a minor in film. My goal now is to become a screenwriter, writing historically based films to educate people through entertainment.
I still want to change the world, in whatever way I can possibly do that, but it took me a few times to figure out how. Whatever I end up doing, I know I want it to be meaningful and something I enjoy doing. I’ll always treasure my first year of college because the possibilities were endless. Every class I took in different fields offered a different version of who I could become and what I could accomplish. Though my dreams were altered through the course of time, I’m still dreaming and dreaming big.
Experimenting with different areas of study is what your first year of college should be about. Uncertainty of what you want to do career-wise is normal so there’s no need to be intimidated by your peers who seem to have it all planned out (because they probably don’t). That said, when you pick out your fall schedule, take classes that sound interesting because you never know what you’ll discover.
