Last year when I graduated from high school, it was a big realization that now the path I am going down is towards my future career. The question was what occupation did I want to succeed in? I had no idea what major or career path I wanted; it was irritating because most of my friends had a set plan already. Although I was told a lot that that decision takes time, I was being obnoxious and wanted a plan now. I was feeling displaced because I felt like I was the only one who did not know what to do with her life. I can remember the conversations with my friends where they would talk about their future jobs and salary. It was hard to talk about with anyone because my family would say “Follow your heart. It is what you decide.” The counselors at my high school were not very helpful to be honest. During the SEEK Summer Experience, I was slowly able to understand and explore the different majors for each career. Due to my first semester, I was still undecided for Business. I was stuck between International Business and Finance. Honesty since I was lost from the start for my future, I discovered that if you’re undecided to just go to the Business world which is why I picked Baruch College. By the end of my first semester, I was set on International Business. During my second semester, I realized that I don’t like business at all. The major was not for me; it bored me if I am being honest. What I did not realized what that I had Biology & Psychology always in the back of my mind. Now, I switched majors to biology and will be having related classes for the fall. The feeling of displacement returns because now I am a STEM major in a Business school. It is not where I belong, so if I decide to continue on in STEM I am considering to transfer schools where Biology is more popular and focused on major in that school. A big help to deciding my major goes to my present counselor, Monika. She gives the best advice and is just great.
5 thoughts on “Entering College Freshman Year to Now Displacement”
Comments are closed.
That was a great read, Samantha. Figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life is really tricky. Then finding out what major or career path you could succeed is even tougher. Just know you aren’t the only one who is going through the same difficulty in deciding. We’re all trying to figure where we want to contribute in this world, but it’s hard just finding one place. Do we wanna be versatile and work different positions or do we want a set occupation for the rest of our lives? Business is one of those versatile occupations that you could use almost anywhere. You could be apart of anything. I’m honestly really happy to hear that your parents are supportive in any field you plan on working in. Most South Asian parents like my own usually push their children to stick to three main fields: becoming a doctor, engineering or an accountant. They don’t believe in any jobs in art or where ever. I’m also really glad to hear that you that you were able to figure out what you want to major in. STEM is a great field and Monika is really helpful. She truly makes you think and helps you isolate the one thing you’re good at. You could be successful anywhere, don’t be afraid to transfer either. I plan on transferring myself because Computer Science isn’t really accredited here at Baruch, but don’t be afraid. It’s just another step in your journey to success. Hang in there homie, displacement is only temporary, you’ll feel at place in your true surroundings.
Samantha, I can totally compare myself situation at the beginning of the semester to yours. Since highschool , I didn’t know what college to pick, not to mention what major to pick. I chose Baruch College because it was releated to math and I love math. However as time went on, I discovered that I didn’t want to major in anything that involved math. Currently, I am majoring in Political Science and Psychology, which I couldn’t have imagined myself doing in highschool. It is wonderful that you are trying to find the major that is best for you and that your parents are there to support you.
I can relate to your experience very well. My parents always ask me about what career am I going to do. Not only my parents, but my whole family as well were interested in what career I am going to pursue. This caused me to pick random careers, even though in truth I only picked them because my family told me so. I have gone from wanting to be a lawyer to wanting to be a pediatrician. It wasn’t until my freshman year of Baruch when I began taking psychology classes did I notice what I really wanted to major in. Even now, I am still struggling to know what part of psychology I want to focus on. But I am taking everything one step at a time.
I completely understand your situation! Before coming to Baruch, I saw myself as a performing arts student. In fact, I was planning on majoring in musical theater. However, as I got to know the profession, I saw that it wasn’t for me. Once I told my family about it, there were quite happy that I had chosen another career. Now, I see business is very much for me. We all go through the process of getting to know ourselves and what are our interests.
College is a whole new experience; even though individuals may have their future planned out, they still are scared of going through with it. It was the same for me, my friends seemed like they had their futures planned out and I was the only person who hasn’t picked their major yet. Choosing your major takes time, but when you find it your life would start to piece together.