Augustana Observer

Augustana Observer

Augustana Observer

Forget everything else and follow your interests

One of the most exciting things about going to college is picking a field to study. Sure, college has many more thrilling aspects like meeting new people, experiencing different cultures and broadening your wealth of knowledge. But the best part of college is to involve yourself in the area of study that most interests you.
Choosing an area of study can be easy for some undergraduates while others may have a more difficult time picking what area may be right for them. Going into college, I felt I knew right away that I wanted to study communications studies, theatre and Spanish. While I unfortunately dropped Spanish, I knew that was the right path for me because I found new interests in multimedia journalism and mass communication and entertainment media.
According to Lexi Lieberman of the University of Pennsylvania, in her article “Still Undecided? Here’s How To Pick Your College Major,” “an estimated 20 to 50 percent of students enter college as undecided.”
Although some students may be undecided because they are unsure what they are interested in studying, another possibility is that students may go into a field that doesn’t interest them because they think it will provide more job opportunities.
As I got older I showed a special interest in the ways people communicate and perform arts. When it came time to transition from high school to college, I realized that I was going in a more liberal arts direction. In my first semester of college, I was interested in Spanish but changed towards the end. I realized that I wanted to get more involved with the film industry and journalism.
Right now, I plan to double major in communication studies and theatre arts with a performance concentration on top of triple minors in MJMC, entertainment media, and honors. It would have been extremely hard for me to not carry on with these in the future.
That is what everyone should do when going into college. Narrow down what your interests are and carry on with what you want to do in the future. Going to college does not provide a 100 percent guarantee of getting a job. Even if you study in a certain area that does not mean you will get a job in that area. We are all just hoping that our hard work in college will pay off with a great job.
I have been told that I should go into the medical field because “[t]hat’s where the real money’s at”. Being a doctor would be great, but that profession is not for me. I knew right away going into college that communications and theatre were the two areas I wanted to study. 
Having an inclination to study many areas does not mean you cannot make up your mind. It means you are eager and curious to learn more. I chose multiple subjects because those are my interests.
Every student in college should choose to follow what interests them. We all have interests and we need to stop thinking practically. Instead, we need to chase our interests and see where they lead us.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All Augustana Observer Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Activate Search
Forget everything else and follow your interests