My major story.....

Even before I had considered what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, I was still in high school. Throughout the entire years of high school, I was literally only good at two things: Math and Physics. Physics was literally easy for me, because it had Math which was my best and #1 subject since elementary. I even got to the point in Math where I've gotten something like a MVP award for Math in my last years of HS where I would literally crush everyone in competition and get money from the school. Then came college.....

So initially, I was thinking of doing a Math major or something in similar to that. Unfortunately, as asian parents I have and how typical asian parents are with their kids, they gave me 3 options to me: Doctor, Lawyer, or Engineer. Now, I'm afraid and simply can't stand blood, so doctor is automatically out, I hate the law and just really can't imagine myself being in that law, so that's out as well. So I literally had no real choice except to take on engineering despite my little knowledge and interest of it.

Here's the real deal, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with myself in the future and my life... I said Math... but eh, I was simply only good at it, not enjoy nor liked it. I was thinking business... but it's such a common major and I wasn't really had much interest in it as well. So engineering was literally where I chose in the end, but unsure of what engineering at first. So I started as "Undeclared Engineering" major which went till second semester. Since I wasn't really learning engineering at first, I thought it would be easy and all, and by the end of first semester, I decided I'll do Mechanical Engineering and picked that as my major. It had some appeal to me of all the building and hands on but in my heart and mind, I wasn't really into such a field.

On top of that, at the same time, I was literally failing my Calculus 3 course. The same person who scored the best score in AP Calculus AB and was once the best Math student in my entire high school, was the worst student in my university. Why? Basically many factors were into this but the 4 main ones were laziness, intense materials, lack of interest, and relationship problems.
The first three reasons are self-explanatory while the fourth one is a bit complicated... so I'll continue that next time in a new blog....

Of course, this wasn't working out for me as I was failing my best subject, didn't had much of an interest in this major I was in and physics was still physics (meaning I was doing well like always.) Then I realized my school also had "Aerospace Engineering" major that's an option along with Mechanical Engineering. I was always dreaming about gundams and NASA so I decided to give it a shot. Although I knew my Math skills were weakening and falling apart compared to all the engineering students, I kept believing and didn't lose hope. So thus, came my third semester in this seemingly new major taking Static, Circuit Theory, and Diff Eq. (Took Cal 3 over the summer at community college and got an A with ease.... =/) I struggled and struggled, barely passed Statics, did ok on diff eq, and ran away from Circuit Theory as it was literally a weed-out course where people literally dropped, failed, or decided to quit engineering after this course. I was in a similar position as these people but I was only able to take a Withdraw from the course where I told myself I can't continue in this major.

I was in a dire situation of what I should go for, I still had a chance to back out of engineering field, but I told myself, "no, I came too far." I realized most of our remaining engineering students who once were Mechanical, Civil, Biomedical, etc (who didn't give up in engineering and remain in engineering still) have switched over to a major called "Systems Engineering." I had no clue what Systems was yet a lot of students were moving there after struggling in their previous major, and heard that Systems Engineering was a breeze so I decided to switch as well. Oh boy I was dead wrong.

Systems Engineering is literally the worst major that can ever exist within the engineering field. When I made that change on the fourth semester, I was hit hard with what sort of classes and future I have to face in this field. ENGINEERING ECONOMICS AND FINANCE. Seriously, wtf? It was the worst course I ever taken after that horrific Circuit Theory I came across the previous semester. A class where they literally decided to mix finance, accounting, and engineering all in one spot, all done in complex series of equations that made absolute bullcrap and nonsense to me. Obviously, things didn't work out with Systems and me.... I had to told them it was over, for me, and fell into a bottomless pit hole.... or so I thought....

Now, let's move back a little to the beginning where I said I started in this engineering school of George Washington University as a freshmen engineering student. In beginning of my class year (2010) of this engineering school, there were roughly only 150 of us engineering majors within the entire school. (Big school as a whole, small school in engineering.) This meant that all of us would know each other often, see each other often, and most likely take classes together. Did that really happen? No. Little did I know much later on, that number dropped significantly by the time of the end of the fourth semester. Walking down the main hallway of my school, you see the graduation picture each year from the engineering students, each year picture numbered of 20-30 students. Geez... if every year, we have 150 starting students, what happened to the other 120-130 students? Dropout. That's right, we all get tested, weeded out, and eventually the theory of Darwinism takes place of only the strong can survive and pass as a future engineer, and the rest got taken out to search for a new life. Normally most of the people who ends up leaving the tribe takes the easy-way out to the ever so common major of business, math, or any of the sciences.

Getting back on track, I was getting very desperate, unable to find an answer, a calling, a path to follow for the rest of my life. By this time, I knew I hated engineering after what happened between us, and I want to get out of this tribe asap. Confused at myself and what I did wrong, I search for answers, possible solutions, way out... nothing for the first few months of summer. I was already in bad shape to continue on engineering, and I hated the picture of myself going into business like the rest of the quitters, not because it's such a common and big major where jobs are harder to find, or because I would simply be labeled like all others, but because I didn't had that broad interest in the field as a whole. I already lost faith in Math by this time, and Physics at average at best compared to all others. I needed to take a break, a place to isolate myself, a vacation, so that I have time to think, decide and follow my life. But where....

It was only a few months later that I found an answer. Not to my major, but a program where I can take time off to go outside of US for 6 months, teaching little kids English in Korea. That's where I was able to learn about teamliquid, that's where I was able to change myself completely, and that's where I found my calling: Korea. (This part of the story is to be continued if I get positive feedback and have a good number of desire of hearing out my story.)

Skipping on, I came back to home to NYC after 7 months of absence (leaving from July 31, 2008 to 2/26/09) and total isolation, but with a new determination, goal and future. I have decided my major at last, my desire that I believe will be the correct one. Broadcast Journalism. No, I'm not a huge fan of writing, nor am I even a great writer myself yet. Yet, I am determined to get there, find myself places and a future within the careers of Radio and/or television. So with that, I made my search for schools as I wanted to reset and have a new fresh start upon myself. From an anti-social morally strict engineering student to a new profound partying sociable broadcast journalism major, this was indeed a huge leap of change. And thus, came a new darn of adventure leading to a point at this exact moment, I was able to find a new school, new field, new people, new start, and new mindset. What will happen from the day I got accepted from the new transfer school in this field (8/19/09) to exactly at this moment (10/5/09) will change my life forever... (well maybe...)

To be continued.....