The majority of college students enroll in a school with an idea of what they want to do for the rest of their lives. They might change their mind once or twice, but basically they have a rough draft of what they want their future to be. They probably decided based on an experience, or the influence of someone important in their life. Not me.
When I first came to college I had absolutely no idea as to what major I wanted nor what future career would suit me best. I came to GCSU as 'undeclared'. My parents, friends, and every professor I ran into had an opinion on what major I should declare. I jumped back and forth between the ideas of different majors, but nothing really caught my eye.
When I was a sophomore I sat down and calculated the exact time and day (and I mean exact) when I would have to declare a major because if I did not do it by that date I would have no classes left to take. The magically date of decision was 5 a.m. on an October morning, when registration opened for Spring 2008. With two weeks left until the 'big' decision', I was running out of options for advisement so I turned to the counseling center. There I took every test known to mankind that could interpret your personality and what jobs would fit you best. After a week of testing I meet Jennifer Stole, a simple counselor with a big heart. If I had to pick the one person who influenced me to go into public relation it would probably be her. The reason being that she was an objective third party to my situation and read me perfectly.
I will never forget the moment I finally decided to join the world of mass comm. Based on the results of my scores and my gut feeling I had narrowed my choice down to two options: physical therapy or public relations (total opposite sides of the spectrum). I really wanted to be a physical therapist because I have always had a passion to help other people in need, but I have an insane and abnormal fear of hospitals and blood. Also my dad is a doctor and I wanted to carry on his work with helping children in need of care. I believed that physical therapy was a great option because a) I would still be able to help people, but without a huge amount of sickness and blood and b) I could incorporate my passion for dancing into my job by treating injured dancers. I really had my heart set on becoming a physical therapist and was about to walk out of Jennifer's office and declare myself as an exercise science major when Jennifer mentioned something that changed my future. She said that I obviously had a passion to help people, but she said that when I talked about becoming a public relations professional my eyes lit up and my smile was more defined then when I talked about becoming a physical therapist. I sat and questioned this new outcome. I had never thought of public relations before and barely knew anything more then what the generic definition of the job read. However it did sound like it would fit me well and it looked like fun.
I know this story sounds crazy but it is completely true. My decision was not based solely on the way I smiled when I talked about public relations; a lot of research and time went into making my final decision including shadowing the PR rep of GCSU. The most important part was that it felt right, I saw myself more as a communicator and a planner, then someone who had a wealth of medical knowledge. Also I am a very creative person and like to be in environments that challenge and allow me to use the creative side of my brain. As an added bonus, with public relations I can go into pretty much any field and therefore can also satisfy my need to help people in need by choosing a field that allows me do that.
I knew I was in the right major when all of my friends and family kept saying how perfect PR fit my personality, that it was the perfect job for me and that they could picture me doing it. The most important part of this story is that I was finally happy to decide on a major after 19 years of indecisiveness. Sometimes the idea of going to PT school will pop into my head, but I know for a fact that I made the right decision!
