As almost any first-year communications major at Elon could tell you, the School of Communications now requires communications students to have a second major, a minor or a semester abroad, and, let me tell you, picking a second major is an ordeal. For us journalism-oriented kids, trying to figure out what else we’re good at while focusing on doing well in our communications courses and working on the newspaper is tough, but most of us do pretty well…except the awkward few who came in with an idea of their second major and have since tossed it completely out the window. Like me. Finding something I’m as passionate about as communications feels impossible.
I came in as a journalism and marketing major, which I soon learned was nearly impossible for me to be if I wanted to graduate in four years, so I quickly switched to journalism and computer science and declared, even though I had never taken a computer science class. I have learned this semester to have a much greater respect for those who understand computer science. Y’all are geniuses. Midterms have proven that to me. So I’ve been thinking about changing my second major again for a while now.
And yesterday, I changed my mind again. Actually, it was communications that helped change my mind. Yesterday I covered neuroscientist David Eagleman’s presentation on the brain and perceptions and synesthesia and all this other fantastic stuff, and I thought, "Journalism-psychology major? That could work." And it certainly could. I’ve taken more than one psychology course already, and it just took one 90-minute presentation for my COM 110 class to change my mind about it.
Communications will still always be my first love, but finding a second passion through it isn’t half-bad. Internal conflict resolved. Thanks, Comm. You rock.