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United States5465 Posts
Disclaimer: This blog will not entertain you, it is a blog about me and about a problem I am facing, if you came here for entertainment, I suggest you high-tail it while you still can, because this shit is about to get real. 
Alright, now that that is out of the way, let me introduce those of you still with me to my problem.
I am in my second year of college in a rather demanding major, and over the past few months, I have gone from absolutely loving my major to absolutely loathing it. For those of you interested, my current major is Construction Management, which would generally lead to a career as a general contractor of some sort. Anyways I have found myself only able to keep up with my coursework due to my paralyzing fear of failing/dropping out, and not because of the reasons I started out with. I could go more in depth, but I'm looking less for advice, and more for experience.
So, my question is, have you ever found yourself heading in a direction you didn't want to continue in, and subsequently changed that direction, either for better or worse? If so, please explain. I don't mean specifically changing your major, as I think there are many more life changes that would apply to my situation.
Was your change brought on by a single catalyzing event, or was it a gradual change over time?
What methods/resources did you find helpful/not helpful in your endeavor?
Looking back, would you have done it differently?
How long did it take for life to get back to normal?
I am just looking for some impartial morsels of wisdom from people who have been there before. I have been talking to people that know me personally and to professors/counselors, but the professors/counselors seem to have interests that aren't necessarily my own driving them, and people that know me, although their support is invaluable, tend to think they know more about the situation than they actually do, and therefore have an oversimplified view of what I am going through.
Please don't flame, as I am not asking you guys to fix my problem, I just want some more experience/wisdom to draw from as I fix the problem myself.
Sorry for the long winded self-serving blog, but it is a blog, after all, and I did warn you. Any responses will be greatly appreciated.
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First off, i would like to say that i don't have much experience with life-deciding choices such as these yet, since i haven't had to make that many. But i think that if i suddenly realised that i had made a wrong choice and had the ability to reverse it, i would do it.
Essentially i think that you should do what feels best for you. If you feel it's worth the effort, do it. Just think it through and don't act out of impulse.
Just my opinion.
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
i personally have not gone through one of these, but i have friends that have...
for instant a friend of mine, kelvin, thought he'd love engineering, after a year he hated it... switched majors to wine science and he loved it.
Couple questions you should ask yourself; - how much money have you invested in your current major and how much will you have to spend to finish it
- What changed your mind about your major
- What are you thinking of switching to? (+ cost)
- Does your current major pay well? (short term and long term)
- Have you considered studying the other major later in life?
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To me it is simple: why continue on a path you admittedly loathe?
You may be stuck because you don't know what appeals to you, but to me it is still worth getting out of your present field and trying something else until you find what works.
It sucks that people are expected to specialize to the degree they do in modern societies. People burn out on things and people change. Don't be a slave to impersonal forces - follow your instincts and be who you are.
Yep, I've been through similar. I was set on getting a degree in music composition, and after my first year I realized it wasn't for me. So I quit, and ended up randomly stumbling upon economics, which I decided to major in. Later I more carefully chose sociology as my area of interest, but at this point I'm so close to completing econ that I am just going to get a major in econ and a minor in sociology. I don't plan to have a career in either of these fields.
You reach a dead end and you change. Sometimes that change is hard (as evidenced by your post) but what do you have to lose? You hate what you are doing now. Why stay with it?
I think it is awesome that people can change so much. In my own life, I am set on constantly evolving and giving myself space to evolve as I need to. Music is still my primary interest and though I don't have anywhere near a degree in music, I am more into music than ever. I just go after whatever I am interested in. Since you are only 2 years into school, you not only can pursue your interests, but you can pursue them within college, which is potentially very good for you.
You also need to relax and realize that MOST people change their major in school, and most people also change careers a few times too. Find what works for you and don't stay on any path because of fear. Fear should not rule our lives. It is much better to be guided by love, but even when love doesn't seem to be present, at least be courageous.
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United States5465 Posts
Thanks for the responses.
Just to clarify, some of you might wonder why I just don't change my major here at my school, which is rather simple, I admit. However, the problem with that is that I go to an engineering school, so there are very few alternatives, especially considering my inability to climb over the wall that is engineering calculus.
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United States5465 Posts
Small update, in case any of you were interested.
I have decided that, although I am not quite sure what I want to do, I know that it isn't what I am doing right now. In three weeks, when my current quarter ends, I am going to stop going to this school (I would get some transfer credits out of the way, but MSOE is notorious for having credits that don't transfer) and go home and work my old job until summer, when I will work the job while getting some gen/eds out of the way at a cc, and then in the fall it is off to a new institute of higher learning. Don't really know which one, but I'd probably put my money on ISU, if I had to guess, since they have just about every major imaginable and I have a few friends there, so it wont be a total culture shock.
Wish me luck. 
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Good luck. It does take strength to jump off into the unknown, but better to face the unknown than to be guided by fear. Good for you, man. You'll end up where you need to be, I've no doubt.
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EPT
