Have you ever felt doubt about the career path your major is guiding you toward? It’s not uncommon for students to feel like they have chosen the wrong major. According to Dr. Fritz Grupe, founder of MyMajors.com, about 50 percent of college students change their major at least once over the course of their college careers; and Fitchburg State students are far from exempt.
“After my spring semester of freshman year, I really wasn’t interested in graphic design anymore,” says Brittany White, a senior at Fitchburg State University. White, who had studied graphic design throughout high school, felt unhappy with her choice and switched her major during her sophomore year.
“After taking introduction to psychology and human growth and development, I realized that [those subjects] were really interesting and I have always wanted to help people, so I thought [psychology] would be a better major for me.”
Her first step was to speak with her advisor in the graphic-design department and then to speak to the head of the department, Paula DeLisle, to explain her decision. She checked to make sure her classes would transfer over so she could graduate on time and luckily, White only needed to take one summer class to stay on track. She will graduate on time in the spring of 2011.
White admits to having a slightly heavier workload than the other students in her major due to the switch, but she says, “I love it! I’m very happy that I switched and it was very worth it.”
After graduation White plans to attend graduate school and to get a job working with children.
White’s experience contains sound advice for any student contemplating a change. “If you are having doubts, then you really need to take time and think about it,” White says. “You could be doing this for the rest of your life … is this really what you want to be doing?”
Her answer was no, so she chose to do something about it.
