Ever since graduating from high school the question that always came up to me was what do you want to major in once you start your college career. Unfortunately I never really had a solid answer for that question; I was always trying to figure out what I was interested in. My mentality was to take it day by day and see where life took me possibly figuring out what I want to study for the next four years of college. My first year of college was a great experience from me, I was able to live at school and take on the responsibility as an adult. At of all the class I took at St. Thomas Aquinas College I still had no idea in what I wanted to major in. It became a frustrating process because I had felt like I had wasted a year in not coming to a decision. I had a couple of ideas but when I looked at the big picture on what kind of jobs I can get with that specific major and the classes I had to take for the future, it never became promising so I let it go. I chose to stay undecided and take life as it came to me with getting discouraged. My main concern then was now to obtain a strong GPA. Even though I had no major I took core classes which every major required in order to start setting myself up. Setting a path for myself in order to be successful for the future was very important to me. Figuring out what I wanted to do came later, for now my goal was put myself in the best possibly situation so I can be prepared when I do choose a major. My first step was to take those core requirements because even though I was undecided I still had those cores that I needed to take no matter what I decided to do.
As my year came to an end I preferred to switch schools to maybe find the answers I been looking for. I did not want to pick any major that I wasn’t interested in and waste time and money. A lot of money was involved in taking classes so it only made it more clear to me to not waste any time choosing something I would never see myself doing. My strategy was to plan out my schedule from the classes I have already taken to the classes I was going pick next year into making my decision easier. After finishing up my first year at college I transferred to Seton Hall University where most of my family attended. The school was recommended by them and that it was my best interest to go here because it was a better school overall and it offered more programs. Listening to their advice and personally wanting to go there I transferred having two majors in my mind. The first one was psychology because I have always had in interest in psychology throughout my entire life. The second major that was interesting to me was criminal justice. Due to more job opportunities I kept psychology in my mind but I realized throughout the beginning of sophomore year that I saw myself more into psychology, so I listened to myself and chose to major in psychology. Finally it felt like all the pressure was gone in choosing a major and felt satisfied in what I chose. I actually felt like I made the right decision with no regret. I was interested in the duel degree program Seton Hall offered for Psychology and he classes I took my first year benefited that program because most of the classes were I already received credit for were required. I soon learned that Psychology was a broad major with many directions. There are many different types of Psychology you can study and only expends as you get deeper in your undergraduate career. It also depends on your degree you get because the higher your degree is the more opens doors for the working world.
As of right know I am taking introduction to psychology and orientation to psychology. Orientation to psychology is a class that is for psychology majors to help them get on the right track to success for psychology. The class prepares you to get to know the field better by taking you outside the classroom and getting to know other professors in the field. The psychology related activates that were required to complete for the class really made me learn more about my major because it obligated to put in the effort to get involved into activates that I have learned a lot from. The people I have met throughout my journey from this class really gave me useful advice on how to approach this major and what classes I should take to take in the future that will enhance my learning. Many professors that I have met gave me a better understanding of their experience and what they had to do to get to where they are now.
The activates I was involved in during my first year at Seton Hall were examples of what was required for this class that gave us an idea of what how it is like to major in psychology. Examples of what I experienced throughout this semester is, one meeting with a Seton Hall psychology faculty member. This activity really gave the students, including myself that one on one time with professors who are experts on what they do and are certified and specialize in a certain field of psychology. I was able to meet with Dr. Vigorito who explained to me what he does on a daily basis and what he specializes in in psychology which is testing rats with the HIV virus and the effects of the brain and behavior. I also attended a psychology related career event in which psychology related jobs topics were discussed. It was a interview workshop that explained on how to approach and act during an interview that will help you succeed in whatever type of job you are applying for. It was useful for me because I learned new ideas from people that were familiar in preparing for interviews. I had good intentions to grasp as much advice as I could in order to the best I possibly could when applying for a job in the future. I also had a chance to interview two people who are both skilled in psychology. I met with Dr. Nolan who has her PhD and is the head of the department for psychology. The other person was a graduate student who is going for her PhD at the moment but still underwent the undergraduate process in getting a bachelor degree, her name is Tracy Grogan. With Dr. Nolan we were able to talk about her success and what she did to get to where she is now. Apart from her achievements she was able to give me advice on what I should do to put myself in the best situation as possible in whatever I want to study for psychology. Tracy was more interesting to interact with because she has recently graduated and I could relate to her more because we were around the same age which made me feel more comfortable to ask questions. As Dr. Nolan she gave me few tips to increase my knowledge by giving me guidance on what I should for to make good decisions. Meeting with these two wonderful people defiantly kept me focused throughout my journey because now I had a plan on how I should approach my studies and what I should do better in learning more about my interests. Attending a psychology talk and going to a psychology club meeting was also useful because it gave a different aspect of learning by interacting with other students who you can relate to. One of the most fascinating events I attended to was volunteering as a research participant. At first I was hesitate to do so because I never did something like that before, but once trying it became an experience for me. Being a research participant really forced me to think creatively and test my memory. The questions that were asked made me really think deep because some asked for your opinion on certain topics. That to me was my favorite activity to undergo and it made me a better thinker which creates more common knowledge that is valuable to know.
Overall so far throughout this journey I learned a lot about myself. After completing all of these activities, I knew for sure I had an interest in psychology because I had a small taste in what the major offers and how it benefits its students. This class was necessary in helping me come to a final decision and I can say that it defiantly prepared me so far in staring. Every assignment and activity I went through I absorbed something from it, which gave me more confidence in continuing to explore more as time goes on. I am glad that I choose psychology as my major at Seton Hall University because this semester gave me a better understanding of what it consist of that I never knew before. As of now I feel like I have made the right choice in my decisions I am excited to see that the future holds for me.