Going through with a change in your university or college program can seem like a daunting task. There’s a lot of thought that needs to go into it: what program to switch to, if your graduation will be delayed, if you can afford it. There’s also the factor of admission, and whether or not your desired program even has any space available. A decision like that could take weeks, months, or even a year to come to.
For me, it was attending a month of classes that I knew I could never sit through again.
When I was in high school, I excelled in all of my English classes. The feedback on my assignments was always the same: “Amazingly done! So glad to hear you’re pursuing this in post-secondary!”, or “I can tell you understand this at a degree above your education level.” It was amazing for my GPA, and it helped boost my ego quite a bit too. Even in my friend group, I was known as ‘the writer’, and the one everyone would email their essays to so I could proofread them before submission. It felt like my destiny was to go to university and study English further.
When I got accepted to uOttawa for Honours English, I was over the moon! Finally, I would be surrounded by people who were as much of a bookworm as I was. I was so ready to channel my inner Rory Gilmore and hit the books.
I never knew that it would actually make me want to hit my books.
Before I get into my explanation as to why I switched programs, please know that I have absolutely nothing against the English department itself. I met some lovely friends and professors during my time in the program, and I don’t attribute all of my misfortunes to the fact that I was studying English. The program just didn’t work for me.
The first year of University is bound to be hard for everyone, especially if you don’t know many people going into the school year. After the initial week of eating alone in the dining hall, I was pinning a lot of hope on finding some good friends to spend my time with. When that didn’t happen, I moved my focus towards my studies and relied on it to make me happy. Wrong choice!
English is one of those subjects that can seem repetitive. For me, the things I was learning to do seemed like things I should have already known how to do, or that I had flat-out done before. It felt like I was in The Truman Show, living the same day over and over again. My passion for writing started to dwindle, the possibility of me getting my dream job as an English teacher became more and more distant, and I was starting to burn out. My mental health was getting worse, and I was taking the two-hour bus ride home every single weekend just to stay socialized with my family and friends. It wasn’t healthy, and I knew something had to change.
I had a specific phone call with my parents one day after class, where I mentioned wanting to switch programs. I explained how I had been feeling about my current studies, and that changing my field of study might be the right choice. Where I expected slight hesitation and a million questions, I got immediate support. They helped me book an appointment with my academic advisor, and as of November 15th, I was on track to switch my major from English to Communications.
I will never forget that feeling of relief as I walked out of that advisory meeting.
I still had to go through all of my English exams, which were hard, but I was glad to be done with them and enjoy the holidays with my family. It felt weird, not technically having a major for those few weeks. It was like I was weightless, floating around in an empty void of ‘what next?’.
On the drive back up to Ottawa for second semester, I couldn’t shake the fact that I was finally excited to go back to school. Usually, these journeys back would be spent wishing I was home again, driving around with my friends at night and lounging around with my sister during the day. This time, when my Dad left after dropping me off, that sinking feeling of dread was missing. I was calm and content, not at all anxious about the classes that were starting in the following days.
Now that we’re further into the semester, I can proudly say that the excitement hasn’t gone away. I wake up happy every morning, ready to tackle any assignments or lectures I have that day. I’m passionate about the material I’m learning about, and it feels amazing. Sure, this could be because Communications is considered one of the easier majors, but I think it’s because I’m finally experiencing new things in my studies instead of reading and analyzing books over and over.
Of course, I still love to write. While I don’t do it as often for school anymore, that lets me channel my creativity into personal passion projects, and crafting fun articles for Her Campus at uOttawa! I’m so grateful to be part of such a fun organization, it was really an escape from reality for me during that rough first semester. I could write whatever I wanted, instead of being limited to one book or character, not to mention the essay restrictions.
All in all, if you’re considering switching programs, it’s a tough choice that you’ve gotta put a lot of thought into. It may change your whole outlook on life, like it did for me, or it could do nothing. It’s important to listen to your heart with this sort of thing. Obviously, you should take advice from your parents, guardians or school advisors, but ultimately it’s your future. You get the final say in how you want it to look.