When I was in my junior year of high school, I was unsure of what I wanted to study. Those who
were interested in courses such as biology or chemistry chose paths related to medicine, while
others who were passionate for math and physics chose paths related to engineering or computer
science. Others who enjoyed history, English, or art, pursued a field in arts, humanities, or social
sciences. This process was a systematic pattern—if you enjoyed these classes, you chose this
major.
Personally, I loved almost all the courses I studied in high school. English class allowed me to
dive deep into different pieces of literature. I would put myself into the shoes of the main
character and understand why they made the decisions they did and watch as their character
developed throughout the plot. In biology, I was able to truly understand the human body and
make sense of how it functions. In physics, I was able to make connections between concepts
learned in class to everyday tasks. I started to see relativity when accelerating to pass cars on
highways and while driving on curved roads. Media arts allowed me to materialize the ideas I
had for different projects. I had a passion for everything I was learning, so I was torn on what I
should pursue.
If given the time and resources, I would do everything, but of course, that isn’t realistic. Any one
decision felt like I was giving up on the other. I was worried that making a choice would leave
me with regret, regardless of what the decision was, and time was running out.
It was in my second semester of 11th grade that I knew what I wanted to do. During one of the
lessons in physics class, my teacher, who was also an engineer, was explaining relativity. As the
discussion continued, the topic of relativity led to time travel and black holes. I’m not sure if it
was the topic of conversation or the passion that my teacher had, but I remember being so
engaged in this lesson and it piqued my curiosity. It was this lesson that made me realize that I
wanted to pursue engineering.
I remember coming home excited and running to my dad. My dad, who used to be a fighter pilot
in his youth, always talked about relativity with me, though I didn’t know it at the time. I started
talking to him about the conversation we had in class and how I realized that everything I have
ever known is relative. This concept does not only apply to physics, it applies to everything in
life. Relativity is perspective, sometimes it needs to shift to see things for how they really are. So
that is what I did, I changed my perspective.
I realized that engineering was a little bit of everything I wanted to do in its own way. I am now
in my third year of studying engineering, and everything that I had a passion for in high school
has helped me get to where I am today. The creative freedom I loved in English class is often
channeled into thinking outside the box when problem solving. The desire I had to learn why and
how the human body works in biology reminds me to always question why an issue occurs
before trying to give a solution. The satisfaction of seeing my designs become reality in media
arts is something that I can experience when creating concepts for different projects. This major
had a little bit of everything I loved sprinkled all over. All I needed to do was change my
perspective to see it.
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UWindsor chapter.