As an underclassman, be open to exploring majors

The single most important thing that I wish I would have known in college is that it is OK to make mistakes. We hear this mantra a lot, but I think we become tone deaf to it because the words do not match the actions of the world around us.

We live in an achievement-based society where test scores and GPAs determine whether you pass or fail a class or whether you get into the college of your dreams. We sit in graduation ceremonies where valedictorians and salutatorians give commencement speeches. We read news articles about students with higher than 4.0 GPAs receiving millions of dollars in scholarships.

To be fair, there is nothing wrong with celebrating these achievements. My question back to you is this: How is this achievement model aligned with the mantra that it is OK to make mistakes?

Way back in the late 1900s, I came to CSB bright-eyed and ambitious as a first-year. My major was chemistry because my father was a chemical engineer and he talked me into it. Simple. I liked chemistry for the most part and did well in it in high school. I wanted to be a lawyer, and my major didn’t really matter anyway.

Well, between gen chem and calc 1 & 2, I quickly discovered that I had to make a choice: fail college or change majors. The only reason (in my opinion) that I passed calc 1 & 2 is I went to all the classes, tutor sessions, office hours and TA sessions. I don’t know if I got a single equation correct in either class. Both classes were taught by the same professor. He probably had pity on me or something. A D is passing!

I had taken a philosophy class, so I thought that might be a good major. Taking the second philosophy class sealed the absolute no for that decision. I had also taken a sociology class that was OK, but I was running out of options and time. I scoured our guidebook for the majors and checked out sociology. It looked interesting and promising, so that is what I chose.

Happy ending, kind of. After a lot of trial and error, crying and frustration, late nights, doubting myself and comparing myself to my classmates,

I graduated a semester early. My advisor told me that because I was hopping around taking all sorts of classes, I completed my core requirements. I came to CSB with college credits from high school too. I was four credits short going into senior year, so I took a three-credit class the summer before senior year and a one-credit independent study class.

All these years later, I can reflect on the importance of making mistakes and taking chances. Achievement is important and necessary, and so are mistakes and failure. You cannot have one without the others. We don’t learn without making mistakes and failing at things.