To Choose or Not to Choose? (Kiryll)

Have you guys had the first doubts about your subject selections? Or are you extremely awed at the compatibility of your subjects? As a fictional reporter for “Are you satisfied @ UniMelb Press”, I had numerous chances to hear that some students really love theirs, some not so much, others unsure. There have even been instances where some people swapped into a whole new subject altogether. Listening to these stories, a few patterns emerged, revealing the darker side of university.

One of the main reasons for subject ambivalence or even renunciation was that students haven’t made up their minds about their futures. Some say that taking Gap Years helps with this. It lets people relax, travel around the world and hopefully develop crystallised passions that uni can support. It has been reported that people will go through many career changes before they settle on the one they truly love. A lot of those vacillations were unexpected. So, who knows, right now a person thinks they want to be a lawyer, NEK MINNIT, in 10 years time, they become a stuntman for Die Hard 25.0, featuring an old Bruce Willis Jr.

Some of the friends that I talked to chose subjects that they have done in high school and thought would be easy on that premise in uni. They didn’t really enjoy it, but at least they understand the course material in uni. Others chose subjects that, because they need a high grade average to get to their preferred course (eg JD law, biomedicine), were easy for them to pass. Those choices didn’t necessarily reflect my friends’ interests.

Some others yet chose on the basis of availability and job security. They were offered a course with a respectable and stable job as a resulting outcome. It was a decision that resembled a smart investment. It didn’t arouse their inner most passions, but they were happy that they are taking steps that ensure a professional career. This is a very practical attitude to uni. The person is not chasing a dream job or interest, but one is using the time in university to get a rock solid degree. What about you guys? Have you enrolled in uni to pursue your childhood dreams or to obtain a neutral professional career?

A couple of days ago, I had a few trepidations about my subjects and why and what I was doing. During the first few weeks of Psychology, I felt like I didn’t want to be there in lectures. It was work, a chore. I loved Psychology, but not of this kind. I got scared. I thought I was wasting the opportunity that is Uni plus my parents’ money to study something I was not 100% passionate about. After some jittery rumination, I came to the conclusion that university is a place where you learn anything you ever cared for since your slobbery young self began to establish interests.
It is the once is a life time opportunity where you can actually do that without being judged or told that you are wasting time, being dreamy and not focusing on concrete stuff! These days, life is about work, the modern life is all about degrees and specialised fields and security and mortgages. But there is a danger of that life swallowing a person’s soul, interests, vivacity. I thought then that life and uni are not about studying for 3-6 years only for an extreme niche in a professional sector. Life is learning about the bigger picture, specialising not only in one aspect of hyper-evolved consumer modern life, but in the broader meaning of it all.

I have 3 passions – Psychology, Writing and Philosophy. I can’t major in all three, and that sucks. But I will figure some solution out. I will only try to do something I love in life and think is right. No matter the monetary yield.

I hope everyone in uni enjoys them-selves and pursues their life-long dreams. I think that’s what university is there for.

P.S. I am weathering the storm of Psychology and putting in more effort from this moment on. After this course, I hope to become Sigmund Freud, Charles Dickens and Nietzsche rolled into one! #keepdreaming