As a kid, my grandma and I played pretend. We would lie in her bed at night and create stories together. I imagined worlds for us to live in; from our words, we built empires; in our silence, we found refuge; each night, a different adventure. I created characters for us, we played our parts perfectly. My grandma was always the dragon, the witch, or the prince, and I, of course, the knight, the princess, the savior. She taught me to be brave. She taught me there are no limits to what my mind can do. She taught me it is possible to change a story.
Retrieved from Pinterest
This love for words and stories never left me, so I wasn’t surprised when I started college as a biology major and absolutely hated it. Taking my classes from home was definitely an issue, but the real problem was the material; I could never connect to it on a level that felt truly important to me. Two semesters were more than enough, which is why I decided to transfer to the Psychology Department, despite never having taken a course of this subject (I figured it couldn’t be any worse!).
I had been lost in the natural sciences, and in the social sciences, I was found. There, I discovered not only a field of study but an entire world that resonated with me. I was fascinated by the complexity of human behavior, the dynamic nature of emotions, and the intricacies of cognitive processes. After all, what is the human psyche if not a story waiting to be discovered? And what are words, if not one of the many processes through which psychology operates? When I took my very first psychology course, it felt like coming home, and I knew I’d made the right choice.
Retrieved from Pinterest
Yet, even as my studies began to align with my heart’s purpose, I still had an ache in me, a longing for something more. Questions about the world, the universe, and our existence beckoned me. These answers found me in a philosophy course and, after taking it, I decided to pursue a second major in this subject, successfully uniting what I had suspected but never truly realized were my true passions: the humanities and social sciences.
And still, I write! Still, I dream! With only two semesters left of my college career, having wasted a year in the natural sciences (though, was it really a waste if it led me here?), I look back at my journey and feel proud because I realize my grandma taught me well. I was brave, I changed my story and there is still so much of it left to write!