Senior year of high school is a time full of pointless classes and getting pumped for college. For me, like most students, it wasn’t easy to pick out which college I should attend. I remember all I wanted to do was move to the west coast, so my top three choices were USC, Arizona State, and Rutgers. I decided to add Rutgers to the list because a tiny part of me was afraid of being homesick, and ultimately, I ended up becoming a scarlet knight.
I did really well in high school, with my best subject being math, so even though I had never taken calc in high school, somehow I miraculously placed in Calculus I my freshman year. Calc is a hard class no matter what school you attend, but it’s really crazy at Rutgers. I wasn’t ready for it and I failed the class. I spent all my studying time trying to understand calc that I neglected studying for all of my other classes. So embarrassingly enough, my GPA after the first semester was less than a 1.0.
I felt defeated and knew I disappointed my parents. I was placed in the SAS First Year Retention Program at Rutgers where I basically had to get a 1.5 GPA or higher in order to not get kicked out of school. I had to say goodbye to much of my social life and was completely focused on trying to save my ass. That second semester, I really started trying figure out what career I could see myself doing (because clearly any motivation of pursuing a career in math went completely out the window).
One day, I realized that my love for writing was my calling. For the spring semester, I registered for two journalism courses and passed with flying colors. I completed the semester with a 3.0 and remained a scarlet knight for another year.
By sophomore year, I declared my major for Journalism and Media Studies and fell in love with every journalism class I started taking. I was interested in every aspect of the field from magazine writing to broadcast sports reporting. I ended my first semester of sophomore year with a 3.7 and the second semester with a 3.8.
As a junior, I will be completing my Journalism and Media Studies major next semester. I guess the point I’m trying to make here is to not focus on choosing a major that will make the most money. Choose a major that focuses on stuff that you’re interested in and you may actually look forward to going to class. College is a time where you should be making new friends, going out to parties, and most importantly, preparing yourself for a happy and successful future. Are you happy with your major?
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