Exploring options in college

If there's one piece of advice I would give to freshmen college students, I would probably tell them to explore their options more. Don't settle on a degree plan right at the beginning unless you're absolutely sure it's what you want to do in life. Don't settle for what you think you might want to focus on. Explore your options. If something interests you even a little bit, take a class in it if you can. 

If I had listened more to this advice myself I probably would have been happier. I probably would have known not to make some of the choices I did. Perhaps I wouldn't feel as though my undergraduate degree is almost pointless.

I've recently been thinking about how I feel as though I didn't really explore my options in college. I didn't really branch out and explore other possible interests.

Then again I feel as though I really didn't have that option. I didn't really have a chance to explore that much.

When I began attending college, I didn't really know what I wanted to go for. I thought I was interested in Forensic Science and that's what I originally focused on. But I also thought perhaps just some sort of science field. At one point growing up, I'd been interested in being a Dentist and for the longest time I thought that's what I wanted to do. But then I learned just how much schooling was involved; how much math and science was involved and I decided it probably wasn't for me. Especially being I wasn't very strong in Math.

I attended the community branch of the state university; NMSU-A. I focused on taking a lot of generalized courses I guess you could say; most of them the basic requirements. I still didn't know what I wanted to ultimately do though. At one point, I had a serious discussion with my cousin regarding Forensic Science and ultimately that's when I decided on not going for that degree. That's pretty much when I discovered that what I really enjoyed was library and so that's what I tried to focus on.

During my first 2 years in college, I concentrated mostly on taking courses that would satisfy the necessary requirements for an associate's degree in Arts.  I didn't take a lot of extra courses. The only extra courses I took were a P.E. course and a couple of Library Science courses that were offered online through the Dona Ana branch of NMSU.

Still though I didn't really branch out all that much. Then when I transferred to Oklahoma State, I ended up having to pick up a semester of basic requirements which didn't leave me much room for anything extra. After that semester, I went right into my degree requirements for Elementary Education and extra classes became impossible.

So I really didn't have the option of going for anything extra. I didn't really get a chance to branch out and discover any other interests and now I feel like I missed out. I feel as though I focused so much on my degree plans that I really didn't give myself that option of anything else. I didn't even really consider switch degrees either at any point in my college education. Well I did, but by then it was far too late (It was my Senior year).

I wish I could have gotten more of a chance to explore other options; other interests of mine. For example, I wanted to minor in Spanish and in Music. But I was unable to do so. I still want to eventually get those minors but not for a while.

I feel as though had I been able to explore more, perhaps I would have found something I really enjoyed and perhaps I could have pursued that interest instead of what I ultimately ended up. At least in terms of an undergrad.

 For instance, lately I've developed a bit of an interest in Psychology. I think it's because I've been in therapy that I've developed this interest although I've always found things interesting. I'm a librarian, I'm curious so I research things to learn more about them. So of course being in therapy, I'm now interested in Psychology.  I'm finding it fascinating just what can have an impact on someone psychologically.

Psychology has never really been something I've considered pursuing. Not because it's not interesting to me but simply because I've never really though about it.  I was looking at an unofficial transcript from NMSU-A today when I discovered that I'd actually taken an Introductory Psychology course in Spring 2007. I hadn't remembered taking this course at all.

It was an online course and apparently I did pretty well in the course as I ended up with an A and specifically an A-. Still though I did well. I still have the folder of class exercises and the syllabus and was going through it. Some of the stuff is a bit too defining of my current life. It's scary.

But looking at all of the stuff made me think about why I never considered pursuing something like this. Why I didn't decide to pursue Psychology or another course I found interesting. I guess I just really didn't get much time to explore and I wish I had.

I mean if I had been given more chance to explore my options, perhaps I might have really found something I enjoyed as a undergrad. I mean if given the option to redo my undergrad degree, Elementary Education wouldn't be my choice. I'd go for something else. Perhaps I might have even have gone for Psychology.

I feel as though I've finally found something I enjoy. Something I think I'm happy with but who really knows. Sometimes I still doubt that I'm meant to be a librarian.  That's not to say that even if I'd gotten a different undergrad degree, I wouldn't have ended up as a librarian.

I'm just saying that I wish I could have had the chance to explore more options. A chance to discover something I'd never thought about before. Perhaps had I had the choice, I would feel more confident. I wouldn't feel like I'd made the wrong decision; I wouldn't regret my choice of undergrad degree.

Explore possible options before you make your final decision. Make sure it's something you really want to do. That way you don't end up regretting your decision (I'm not saying that I exactly regret mine but still). 

I'm not saying that I don't still have the option of pursing another interest. Who knows, I may decide to take some more Psychology courses or I might find something else I'm interested in pursuing for perhaps another minor degree or who knows, perhaps even another Bachelor's.

If I could have had the chance to explore my options more, perhaps I wouldn't have ended up with a Bachelor's degree in something I really didn't want in the first place.