Right now I’m thinking about a lot of life choices right now. This entry is just about my major and career decisions because it’s going to take up a decent amount of space.
My change from Biology to Psychology seems difficult for people to understand at times. So to start off I’m putting in an excerpt from a paper I wrote in my communications class Spring semester to explain this…
Before my internship I thought of who I was by things I did, and things I loved. Hiking, adventure, the outdoors, animals, having an interest in Biology, conservation work, and a respect for the environment was a huge part of who I was… After my internship I realized I was defining myself by the way I had grown up, the activities I had spent doing, and things I did for me. I had forgotten about the traits that I was genetic, and had a predisposition for. I had essentially forgotten to factor in my personality when making a career choice. It hit me that I have intrinsic skills and values that can be used in my future. I am a good listener, kind, caring, smart, confident, understand people, have a positive attitude, inquisitive, understanding, funny, eclectic, and interesting. These are a few traits of myself that can be used for others. This realization has led me to my new desire to go into psychology, and consider many options such as communications, philosophy, recreation management, and geography as minors or clusters. I still love the outdoors and animals, but now I know that those facts aren’t the only ruling factors in who I am and my career choice... I did Biology for 5 semesters, traveled 1600 miles away from home, hiked illegal immigrants trails, and became aware of an extremely controversial political issue. Yet if someone asked me what my greatest insight was from my internship, they would get the answer “people are more important than plants.” That is how I learned who I am.
I hope that explains why I changed. And I am about 99% sure that I am going to stick with psychology. My love of biology/ animals/ ecology will always be part of who I am (many people know about Darla the duck or Tuna Fish the cat). I’ve just decided that it is a hobby and not something I will spend the rest of my life on. Biology classes never came easy to me the way psychology classes do. I would put so much time in to trying understanding concepts and memorizing terms; and my studying never felt rewarding.
To me people should go into a certain degree because they love it and want to improve the world in that discipline. For some people that is biology, and I respect that. For others its Business, Science, Arts, Math, Teaching, Research; each has it’s own unique way of helping people, whether directly or indirectly. I decided that I want mine to be people. To me opening up people’s perspectives and help them realize what they are capable would be one of the most rewarding ways to spend my career and life. That’s why I like psychology; I like to analyze and critically think. I like to make sense of human nature, understand people and why they do what they do. You can’t find the meaning of life by looking at an amoeba. You might be able to find out facts; who discovered it, when it grows, what it does, or where it comes from. But it lacks the 1 question that I love the most. Why? All the other questions have their limits with their factual answers. But it’s always possible to wonder why things happen, and why they do what they do. There isn’t just one answer. Especially when applied to people, and I absolutely love that opportunity to be creative, take a non judgmental stance, listen, and just UNDERSTAND.
Psychology is set in stone as my life and career path. Right now my dilemma is what to minor/ do 2 clusters in/ or possibly double major in. If I do a double major I will pick up Recreation Management. This really ties in my love for the environment and possibly animals into my career. It also opens the possibility of taking a few class in Geography and tie in my GPS/GIS skills from my internship.
If I do 2 clusters it will be rec management and communications. I really want the outdoor experience that rec management has to offer and I LOVE communications and how it ties in the other elements of psychology and philosophy and how it explains how people interact. Some of my all time favorite books are communication books. How to Win Friends and Influence People taught me some of the most powerful skills for getting people interested in listening to you and to ending arguments. The other big one is The 5 love languages. Understanding how people express how they care about you has really helped me not get offended when people didn’t do what I wanted them too.
My other consideration is philosophy. I really like philosophy for many of the same reasons I like psychology. Psych is for analyzing people, but Philosophy is for life and a person’s purpose in life. I can remember so many times where I walked out of my philosophy 110 class or Ethics class and my mind was just BLOWN. There were so many things that I had never considered before and my perspective was opened to new possibilities.
Well that might have been entirely too long and a tad self absorbed, but hey it’s my blog and it definitely helped me clear my head and realign my focus… The next 3 blogs will be similar to this one so bear with me. After that I will be taking a completely different spin on where I’m going with peaceful-restlessness. J
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