Throughout my life, and I’m sure many of yours, people have told us that we were born ready for college. I have always felt a little more mature, focused and education-oriented than my small town peers. I’ve spent copious amounts of time figuring out if this was good or not, and so far it’s been proven to be amazing.
At first, college classes were not what I was expecting. I came in with the expectation that I would always be learning information pertaining to my “end goals” in PR. Political science, statistics, plant biology and philosophy have proven this untrue. While I was still eager to learn and worked hard and read often, I was slightly disappointed in my disinterest in the subjects. Still, I pushed through and believe I have emerged a better well-rounded contributor to society.
This disinteresting work has now paid off as I begin my second semester of sophomore year fully immersed in strategic communication and journalism. When I read my schedule to friends and family, I was met with shocked faces and, “Oh, that sounds like a lot of hard classes at once. Can you handle that?” Honestly, the workload hadn’t even occurred to me. I looked at these classes and instantly got butterflies thinking about acquiring more knowledge toward my career.
So far, it’s even better than I could’ve imagined. Sitting in my first day of Strategic Communication Research and Theory, I could barely sit still just reading the syllabus, and I can’t begin to describe the feeling of reading my textbooks. I realize that it’s the beginning of the semester and some people burn out in their studies, but I can 100% say I will not. There is something so refreshing about cracking open a book to learn all about a typical day in your future. Consumer profiles, brand equity reports and creative briefs? YES PLEASE.
To this day, I have never felt more sure that I am on the correct career path. Classes that ignite my love of learning, creative writing ideas flowing and summer internship possibilities are driving my productivity this semester. For the first time in my life, I feel truly excited to sit down, study and absorb as much as I can in these next few years.
To those of you stuck in general education classes, try hard to enjoy them. In the long run, we are gaining intelligence that may benefit our careers in mysterious ways. Just know, that soon you’ll be in love with your classes and it will all be worthwhile. Use your passion for the work as fuel to avoid a mid-semester slump!
Taylor Dilley is a Sophomore majoring in strategic communication, minoring in marketing, and pursuing a specialization in visual communications. After graduating she would like to work for an agency or in corporate PR. Follow her on Twitter @taylor_dilley!