How I Picked My Major - Don’t Make Me Choose

The story of how I chose my major comes in three parts. For a girl who loved everything, I couldn’t choose a major, so I started off undeclared.

It would make for a catchy Web series. But being undeclared was a real adventure for me. I was an open book ready to indulge in everything college had to offer, and for those first two years, it was the general education requirements. Basically, the “gen eds” involve a broad range of courses from the humanities, sciences and foreign languages. For someone undeclared, it was supposed to be the perfect tool to direct me to my perfect major.

There was one flaw though… I loved everything. Even calculus.

Every class I took had me strangely captivated: the idea that you can study men’s behavior in urinal selection in anthropology; how to break social norms in sociology; the integral; photosynthesis; bugs! Yes, I even took a class in entomology.

All of these things were new ideas and theories that I completely loved once I was introduced to it. It was hard to choose a major because I loved it all.

My first two years were an exploratory time, but there comes a point where it becomes mandatory to declare a major. I simply wasn’t ready. So for that first year, I settled on the most obscure major ever: independent studies. It was nice. I got to pick courses from different sides of the humanities and sciences, and everything seemed okay. However, as I worked toward that major, it dawned on me that I wasn’t happy with the university I was attending. Classes were too easy, and I felt stagnant at a college that was five minutes away from my parent’s house. I wanted a unique college experience and transferring seemed to be the best option. I thought that my independent studies counselor would be a great help, but the only thing she did was make me cry.

Unfortunately, she was in charge of not only the independent studies students but eight other smaller majors. She was clearly overworked, and it showed in her nastiness toward her students. Her reputation as a belligerent, take-no-nonsense attitude was revealed to me the first time I met her. She was strictly paperwork. “So you did this class, this class, this class.” Check. Check. Check. “What do you need?”

“I want to transfer, and I need information on what I have to do.” She looked dead at me, and literally threw the form back at me.”Why are you wasting my time?”

I knew right then and there that I needed to get out of that school. Fortunately, going into my third year of college, I was accepted to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as a communications major. Communications was one of the most competitive and broadest majors at UCLA and provided the perfect backdrop for a variety of careers, including marketing, advertising, politics and journalism. It also gave me the opportunity to combine all the classes I loved during my “gen ed” days, including sociology, anthropology and political science.

Obviously, calculus wouldn’t be a part of the major, but it didn’t matter. I enjoyed the idea that I could take a major that focused on human interaction and popular culture. I took classes that were relevant and extremely interesting, including one on social media in which we were required to participate on Facebook and Digg as homework assignments. I felt that this major was a necessity during this technological age of innovations in how people are communicating with one another, and it definitely prepared me for my current profession in marketing.

So this was the journey. From undeclared to independent studies to communications. I found that my major consistently evolved. But this is true as you go through college, your interests start to change just like you start to change as a person. The way I chose my major reflected that.

Denise Guerra
Pasadena, California
The author graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in communications. Currently, she works as a marketing specialist for OneWest Bank, is an arts and entertainment writer for Campus Circle and is author of the college-themed blog, D-Day. She is currently in the process of applying to graduate school in journalism for fall 2011.

This article is part of the BetterGrads special series “How I Picked My Major.” Contributors are asked to reveal their journey and decision-making process toward their area of focus in college. If you’d like to submit an article for this series, please read our editorial guidelines and let us know here. Read other posts in this series here.