What Major is Right For Me?

So far my college experience has been surprisingly good, yes it has been difficult but I have managed to deal with everything up until about a month ago. What happened a month ago? It became time to select classes for next semester, and this time we didn’t have our advisors to walk us through it and I realized that I have absolutely no clue what I want to do with my life. I’ve worked so hard to get where I am and I feel that now that I’m here, I’d a tad lost and just really didn’t think about what to do once I actually got here. They say you have a lot of time to figure it out, but that turns out to be not all that true, being that you have to take certain classes for certain majors, so you really do need to know what direction you’re going in. So I talked to a friend who was also having trouble with this quite important decision and we went to the career center together and made appointments, because I’ve found that even when you look at a major you don’t actually get to see what careers that major entails. Have any suggestions?

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

My parents have always made me see that life isn’t always perfect, and that the good comes with the bad. I have always known that there will be hard times, but me working through them and eventually conquering those difficulties is what makes me strong and what I have come to see holds me apart from other people. For some reason I just assumed that everyone was raised like that; that everyone was taught to work through hard times and not expect everything in life to be so easy. How wrong I was… when I got to SMU I was very disappointed with people my age and their expectations of life in general. I get very frustrated with people here, and all the complaining and whining when things aren’t exactly how they want. I have grown up with the attitude that you work through things that are hard, that giving up isn’t even an option. But here, everyone has lived this perfect sheltered life where they expect everything to be so easy and they expect to be totally comfortable with everything. When in reality life is about pushing through, and getting through the tough times and growing from uncomfortable situations. I wish I could give all these people a reality check because whether they like it or not they are going to have to learn to deal with things; life isn’t easy and there will be hard times that you have to learn to get through. Does anyone agree/disagree? Am I being too harsh?

Lack of Diversity

One thing I couldn’t help but notice when I got to SMU was how everyone seemed to look the same. I had thought because I was coming to a big city that there would be that eclectic range of people and a huge diversity. But boy was I wrong. It seemed like it was all the same kind of people; the same hair color, the same race, the same dress; all the same. Of course there are a few exceptions but once I looked further into the situation it seemed most of the only people of color at Southern Methodist University were here for a sport. Now, this problem is nobodies fault, no one is to blame for the lack of diversity at SMU, but I do see it as an issue that should really be looked into. And I don’t know the specifics, or even how to go about changing this problem, but I think someone should. Because one of the biggest reasons I left my small town in Florida to come out of state and to a big city was because I wanted to see something new, I wanted to meet people from all over the world and from many different backgrounds and it seems to me I could have done a better job of this staying at home. Perhaps it’s only because we are on campus most of the time, and as I get further into my education here at SMU and I explore more into the city that I will meet more people, but as of now I must admit, walking around on campus everyone is one in the same. Am I wrong? Have I not taken more things into consideration?

Staying True

Coming to college is a once in a lifetime experience; an experience that is supposed to make you grow in body and mind. A time when you find yourself; your passions, your likes and dislikes. But I feel it is still so important to keep that core of who you were when you came to college; to keep that identity. I have watched a few people who I became close with coming into college; I have watched them slowly but surely start to stray from the person they came here as. I find it really upsetting because one thing I have always made a priority in my life is to be and stay true to this person that after 18 years I have become. All the morals and values that I have been enstilled with at this point in my life are unbreakable. I may grow and change but I will never lose that sense of who I am. That is one reason I have gone home twice since school has started; I find though it is important to be on your own and have the full experience of going off to school, that for me, personally, it helps me to stay grounded by going back home for a weekend; seeing my family, and really bringing myself back to my roots. I have watched specifically one girl that I became friends with as soon as school started, that have changed so incredibly much. When she first came to school she was a conservative, quirky, but somewhat immature girl, and I have watched her transform into this sex-pot, who goes around flirting with any boy and now shows off all parts of her body. This girl is who really got me thinking about staying true to yourself and your values.

Oops, She Did It Again

I must admit as I watched Britney Spear's opening performance to the VMAs on MTV, my jaw was on the floor. I was really pulling for Britney and though I have criticized her every move over the last year, I really was hoping she would make some huge come back and win over the hearts of the American public once again. But her performance was the farthest thing from a comeback; it ended up digging her even deeper. In the days to follow, a lot of people spoke up about her performance and how awful it was and what was she thinking blahblahblah, but the one comment that struck me most was from Kanye West, when he said, "“[MTV] they exploited Britney in helping to end her career. When Britney was opening, near the end, I felt so bad for her. I said, ‘Man, it’s a dirty game. This game will chew you up and spit you out.’” And when I read that, I realized it was so true; the same people that made Britney famous all those years ago are doing everything they can to watch her crash and burn, over and over again, or at least until the public is tired of watching, which I don't see coming anytime soon. And this really made me feel for Britney; yes, of course she could've gotten it together, worked hard, and given an awesome performance, or at least better than the one given, but at the same time, MTV knew exactly what they were doing booking her, last minute, to open the VMAs, after the world-wind year this girls had. Sarah Silverman even admitted the only guidelines for her opening speech after Britney's performance given to her directly by MTC Execs, was to act from Britney's performance and basically make fun of her. So, I really feel either this girl needs to just step back and stop being the bud of all jokes or really pull herself together and show us what she’s got; but either way the music industry is a vicious business, which we can now all see.

Greek Madness

When I came to orientation at SMU I was quickly informed about how important it was to get into a good sorority; I'm from a small town in Florida, and never realized how huge of a deal sororities and fraternities were in was in the South. I had planned on going Greek but really had no knowledge about any of it and just figured I'd go wherever I fit in most, and really didn't think much of it because I had a while...boy was I wrong! My friend that I met at AARO and quickly became close with has a cousin who is a senior here this year, and I hear who the sorority girls take pictures of girls being to crazy when they're out at night and have a big slide show before rush to show all the "good ones" and "bad ones". Also, my roommate is from California but the boy she was dating has a sister who is a sophomore and the boy she was dating was also a sophomore, and his sisters friends would tell him to break up with or else they would "blackball" (which supposedly means that NO sororities will take her) her, and he ended up breaking up with her because of all of this. I was in shock; I cannot believe that people let these things control their lives! And then hearing that some girls who go to southern colleges will drop out and transfer colleges if they don't get into the sorority they want. To me this is all madness and very intimidating; I want to fit it and get into a good sorority but I most certainly will not let it rule my life!