I'm Going to College!

I can't really remember the first time I wrote something, whether it was for school or just for fun. What I can remember is a piece that I wrote when I was in the 6th grade. I was about 11 years old, I was on the swim team, and I had been assigned a paragraph or two about my hobby. I remember sitting with my parents and watching them light up when I read my work to them. I knew then that I loved writing. I loved pouring myself, my heart and soul into a piece paper, and reading the end result of everything I had felt and continue to feel on the inside.

I was a senior at Brookwood High School (Snellville, Georgia) and I knew that I would be attending college, but the only place that I had in mind was the University of Georgia

So, I applied and I was very optimistic, but I also had a feeling that I shouldn’t only apply to one school. So, I applied to Georgia State University and I was accepted, but UGA, unfortunately, didn't accept my application. Somewhere along the way, somebody completely butchered my last name and UGA never received my SAT scores. After a few cries and constantly repeating that I’d never go to college, I decided that GSU wasn’t such a bad idea. But, of course, I broke down in tears at the orientation because I didn’t want to be far away from home – by far away, I mean 45 minutes, dramatic, I know.

My anxiety quickly began to kick in – I didn’t know where I was going to school and I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to study, because although I had enjoyed writing (definitely not reading) and even though my favorite classes, also the most difficult ones, all through grade school were Language Arts classes, there was no way I was going to seek a degree in English. Alongside many undergraduate students, I needed security at the end of, what I thought would be, the longest four years of my life.

I bounced around a couple of different degrees, but I started with seeking a degree in Business Administration. My grades were high and I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed the business classes that I was taking, but I definitely found them easy. I guess I spoke too soon, because everything changed when I came across a managerial accounting course that I had to withdraw from because I brutally failed the first exam. That was it for my relationship with the Business Administration discipline.

For some reason (like, I really don’t know why), I decided that I wanted to be a teacher and began studying Early Childhood Education. Best and worst decision of my life. I felt relief because I finally knew what direction I would be heading in once I graduated college. I loved my classes and then I began to intern with a group of students in the 1st and 3rd grade. I grew to love the students that I met, but the work and the kids took an emotional, mental, and physical toll on me. I was completely drained and I simply knew that I couldn’t continue with Early Childhood Education.

I introduced myself to the English discipline concentrating in Interdisciplinary Studies and I was so surprised and happy to find that if I declared this as my major, I would still be graduating on time. Although I felt that if I made the decision to major in English, I wouldn’t have a stable job/income by the time I graduated, the English discipline has proven otherwise. Throughout this past year, I have taken creative writing, news writing, digital media writing, renaissance literature, linguistic classes and so many more that have helped me realize that I have so many different paths that I can choose to take on the road to finding a life-long career with a degree in English.