My first year at Albion was nothing short of a train wreck. I was battling homesickness, financial instability, two roommate changes and depression, all while learning to navigate life as an adult. I was not given any handouts.
Changing my major was something I didn’t know I needed to do for myself. However, once I did it, I discovered that I had so much ambition for my writing. I was good at doing something other than the art forms I was already familiar with. Changing your major isn’t about quitting or abandoning your passions.
The only thing set in stone from the moment I arrived on campus was my major. I was set on becoming a multimedia artist because I was sure of my talent, my passion and my drive for creating art. My first art piece from when I was five years old still hangs in my mother’s bathroom. I went to an arts-focused high school and believed in my abilities so much that it’s still a dream of mine to open my own gallery.
Never for a moment did I question what I intended to make of my life – until I stepped foot into a drawing classroom.
It was then that I knew I had it all wrong. It wasn’t a space where I felt welcomed or comfortable, nor did it feel like somewhere where I could create art and feel I was getting things off my chest. So, I moved into a medium I was more familiar with: ceramics.
In high school, I spent a good chunk of my time in the ceramics room, experimenting and enjoying the endless resources at my disposal. However, ceramics in college was a wild ride that eventually led me to pursue a different field of study: English. The experience was full of ups and downs; I missed a lot of class, and my grades suffered because of it.
Still, I don’t think I’d change my time in ceramics. I made pieces that sit in my dorm and hold all my extraneous items. I took ceramics 101 with a friend I no longer talk to, but still hold dear to my heart. I met my boyfriend there.
Ceramics gave me the creative freedom I was desperately looking for, but it didn’t fulfill the artistic aspect that I still craved. The environment was not helping me thrive, and I realized this wasn’t the medium I wanted to build my life or my career around. Ultimately, ceramics taught me that if I couldn’t pursue my passion the way I wanted to, then I wouldn’t pursue it at all.
My decision to switch majors was unexpected, yet I was, and will always be at my core, a weird art kid. Maybe I don’t draw, paint or solder with the same passion I once did, but those parts of me will always remain.
Changing my major wasn’t a definitive, life-changing moment. It was sudden and brutal. Sometimes I still ask myself whether writing is truly for me. I had just started at the Pleiad maybe a week before changing my major. I had chosen classes to allow me to write in my free time, yet I never got to fully soak in my decision. I was too busy proving to myself that I deserved to be included in the rooms that made big decisions about English on campus.
If I learned anything from changing majors, it was that you don’t have to be the best at everything. I was such an overachiever that I don’t think I ever reflected on how much I accomplished in such a short amount of time. Everyone around me was so impressed and proud of me except for myself. Is anything truly more powerful than being proud of yourself?
Writing is extremely fulfilling for me. It has always been an outlet for me to express myself and let myself feel the things I don’t feel I can voice aloud. A big reason I changed my major was so that I would have more creative leeway for myself in a way that allowed me to still be me.
There is so much fear and stigma surrounding majors that aren’t outwardly world-saving or don’t fit into a conservative society. I was always told how lucky I am to have the choice to pursue my passion and change my major in the first place. Some kids come to college for their parents, to pursue what others want for them. They don’t get to enrich their own curiosity or entertain the things they love.
I have always admired people who were able to settle or stick to one thing and focus all their talent and energy on it. However, through changing my major, I’ve learned that it’s okay to backtrack, change your path or even pursue something that isn’t great for anyone besides yourself.
It is also worth noting that just because you pursue something, whether you like it or not, doesn’t necessarily mean you will work in a field that focuses or specializes in these things. A study from 2023 showed that only 46% of college undergraduates work in their field of study. Why not do what you like, even if it ends up only being temporary?
Changing your major is a way to put yourself and your feelings first. It means expanding out of what you know and what’s comfortable and embracing the change that’s bound to come.
There is nothing more liberating than the unknown. There’s a remarkable amount of opportunities and endless outcomes. Changing majors could be the worst decision you’ve made to date, but what if it isn’t? What if the major you change to turns out to be everything you’ve always dreamed of?
What if changing your major ends up helping you pursue something else that will have a longstanding impact on the world? Even if you change your major just because you enjoy it, that’s reason enough. College is the time to fumble around and find yourself. Whatever the outcome, changing your major is a very transformative decision. Changing my major put me in a better place than I could’ve ever imagined.
Such an important thing to talk about, you don’t have to stick to the first major you choose.