When I came to Nazareth College in 2013, I thought I had it all planned out. I wanted to be a teacher, because I knew that I wanted to have an impact on people. I was going to be a teacher, minor in English, go to graduate school, and then become a second-grade teacher in Rochester, NY.
Wrong.
By the second semester of my freshman year, I just knew that the education field wasn’t for me. So, as any eighteen year old would, I called my mom, because I knew that she would have an answer. So, a few days later I spoke with my neighbor, a speech-language pathologist, and her career seemed very intriguing. She told me about the people that she interacted with, different types of therapy, and how much she loved her job. After hearing this, my mind was set; I decided that this would definitely be a good fit for me.
I met with the head of the program the next week, and I decided that I wanted to major in speech-language pathology. I signed up for my classes that following spring, and I don’t think I had ever been more excited.
As time went on, I took more classes and they were all very interesting, but there was the thought about doing this my whole life – it was daunting. Come spring semester, I took two more speech classes and neither one of them really interested me. I understood that the real world is much different than what you learn in school, but these classes were getting me ready for the real world! I was freaking out. I was going to be a junior! And I didn’t like these classes?! I convinced myself I would be fine. I was just getting nervous about the future? Right? Yeah… that was it! I was fine.
Wrong. (Again.)
I wasn’t fine. Towards the end of my sophomore year, I knew I wasn’t happy, and in the back of my mind, I knew it had to do with my current major. I randomly took a communication class fall semester of my junior year and FELL IN LOVE. I would wake up every morning genuinely excited to go to this class. But, I kept telling myself I had to get through my program, I had to make my mom happy, and I had to make my friends happy.
That was my problem! I was trying to make everybody else happy. Not myself! I was so focused on what everybody else thought that I drove myself crazy trying to take classes that I wasn’t happy with. I realized that I had to make myself happy because, in the end, all that matters is my own happiness. So, finally, I changed my major. Two semesters to go and I changed my major. The best part was all of my friends and family were more than supportive when I told them, which meant so much to me. The best part is, I’m still on track for graduation! I know, pretty crazy right? Thankfully, I came in with enough credits from high school which gave me the opportunity to graduate right on time.
Currently, I’m a communications and media major, and I couldn’t be happier. Nazareth has provided me with wonderful opportunities, and every professor that I interacted with was so incredibly helpful and compassionate. Although I changed my major twice, there was one thing that didn’t change: my love for Nazareth. I’m so thankful that I got to finally pursue a major that I love without having to leave my second home.
After Nazareth, I plan on working as a content strategist to provide the right content to the right people. In the end, I still got what I wanted- the ability to impact people. This way, I still get to impact people in a career that I know I’ll love, which just proves that this crazy journey that began freshman year was all worth it.