Honestly, my first years in college I thought there were so many issues that were making thriving in college difficult, but now I think my main concern is money. During my first years, I was lost. So lost that I was taking classes that I didn't need because I had no clue what I wanted to study. There was just so much pressure from family and the society. I was happy when I saw my friends move on in their lives, but I felt like I was stuck. I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up because I feel like I want to be something else every single day. From the Passion Project video, Samira said, " I can change what I believe from moment to moment from day to day from year to year... you're just rapidly changing."
A strategy to find out what you want to do in life is by trying new things and talking to people. When you explore, you get to learn, grow and find out if you like what it is your doing. That's why your mind will change often. A person will never know they enjoy something until they try it first hand. Observing is the first step, but actually doing it is the most important step. I really didn't want to be a nurse, but I knew I wanted to work in the medical field. If I didn't talk to my friend's older sister about it, I wouldn't have explored and researched about Occupational Therapy for children. I knew I wanted to work with children from the get-go, but if I didn't have this connection with my friend, I wouldn't have thought about going into OT. After figuring that out, I was motivated and did my own research on how to get to the next step because counselors can only do so much.
My main hindrance from thriving in college is money. Even if I'm studying hard and getting good grades, I am still worrying about paying for my tuition in the back of my head. I know there are scholarships and grants, but I won't qualify for all of those. It'll only get worse once I transfer into a university. It's unfortunate that money is a major road block for many. This country I live in values money more than education. I think everyone deserves to be educated and shouldn't cost as much. I know it's a problem because teachers should also be getting paid well to teach students. If money was never an issue in the beginning, teachers wouldn't be worried about getting paid little or not at all, and students would be able to learn because they can.
I agree with you on trying everything first hand in order to find your true passions. I was not able to find what I really wanted to major in until about last year. I might have switched my major about 3-4 times before I decided to major in sociology. I went from Pre-med/Biology to PA, to nursing to psychology to finally sociology. Also about money being your main hinderance, I believe it hinders most if not all of us in some way. Just don't let it stop you from achieving and pursuing your dreams. I know too many friends that dropped out of college just to work full time so they could get material possessions that are nice for a year and the next year they trash it and buy the next thing. Please don't let that happen to you!
ReplyDelete