By: Justice Eely, CSELI Workstudy Student
When I was in my grade eleven year at high school I decided that I wanted to become a lawyer. Many people thought this was interesting because I was taking all math and science courses throughout high school. From Physics to Calculus, I was good at working with numbers and black+white answers but, I always wanted to be like my mom. My mom was always an arts person. She has about four degrees and all of them in the field of arts. From criminology to psychology, she is amazing at it all.
As early as three years old I would sit on my mother’s lap while she was doing her homework and, out of interest I would read her books and help her with her homework. As I got older, my mom and I shared one more thing, the love of understanding serial killers and their motivations. However as much as I tried to be like her and understand the human race and how we work, I could never get it. What I did understand, was math and science.
Photo by: Justice Eely
What I enjoy the most about math and science is the process of getting to the final answer. I would always shock my mom on how quickly I could grasp the concept of the equation and answer it. I had thought nothing of it really until I met my grade ten science teacher, Kelvin Dueck. He is a high school physics teacher who majored in math and has a true passion for teaching. I connected with Kelvin as soon as I walked into his class room and he sparked my interest for sciences, especially physics. Kelvin and I would talk after his lessons about physics and science related topics, especially rockets and the International Space Station. We both loved space and how things work in the vacuum of space and I have always pondered what it would be like to be above the earth looking down and realizing how small we truly are.
Skip forward to the time I was choosing my university path. Despite my love of science and math, I decided to apply to the faculty of arts and try and become a lawyer. It wasn’t long however,before I realized that I had made the wrong choice for me. I defiantly want focus in the areas that interest me the most; maths and sciences. I have since visited the academic advising office and have gone through the process of switching to the Faculty of Science with an intent of majoring in physics.
I had the change of heart after talking with my mother. I explained that I thought I would be better suited to a program in sciences and she agreed with me one hundred percent. She assured me that many students change their mind on on their direction and if I focused on what I enjoyed my post-secondary education would likely be less stressful.
It is common to have a change of heart, especially in your first year or even your second or third year. Whatever program you choose is not set in stone so sometimes it is best to explore your options and test the waters before you dive in head first.
