@xtiine

Why is picking a major so difficult? There are too many things to consider when choosing and that frustrates the heck out of me. I feel like it’s a life decision since my whole life is basically gonna depend on it. I’m trying to choose wisely. I don’t wanna waste anymore time. I need to make a final decision and stick with it, no matter how difficult it gets.

One of the biggest factors in choosing my major is the approval of my parents. They believe that the world revolves around money. They are constantly preaching that money is everything. They (mostly my dad) want me and my brothers to choose a major that has the potential of making a lot of money, e.g. nursing, accounting, business, computer science, engineering, etc. They have talked me and brothers out of pursing majors/careers that WE actually wanted to do. And their main reason was that “They don’t make a lot of money.”

I’ve tried to tell my dad that I’d rather make a decent amount of money and be happy than be unhappy and make a lot of money. He literally scoffed and laughed at me. It sucks that his mind is filled with the idea that money is the most important thing in the world. He doesn’t care if I’m unhappy, stressed, or even struggling. All he cares about is me buying him a Lexus.

And I don’t mean to bag at my dad. I love him with all my heart. I understand that he doesn’t want us to end up like him. I understand that money is a huge factor in today’s society. But I just wish he was more supportive in our initial career choices. I wish he preached happiness before income. It would have been way easier choosing my major if his views were like that.

Becoming an orthodontist was my dream ever since I wore braces. My mind was set on that until the beginning of this semester. My dad was constantly complaining about my choice so I decided to unofficially change it. I told him that I would major in accounting and asked ‘are you happy now?’ He didn’t say anything, but I could see the satisfaction in his face. I figured that if I like math, I should major in something more math related. I dropped all my aspirations in becoming an orthodontist, just to make my dad happy.

It is currently the beginning of the fall semester, and I am taking Macroeconomics, which I will need to become an accountant. The problem is, I have no interest for economics, whatsoever. I have no idea what I’m learning in the class. And it doesn’t help that all my professor talks about is hypothetical examples, which don’t make any sense to me. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to change my major again. This time, officially.

I remember during senior year of hs, there was a little presentation with Congresswoman Doris Matsui and some female engineers. I was inspired by these women. I remember promising myself that if I couldn’t become an orthodontist, I would be an engineer instead.

So now, I am going to officially change my major. I want to become a mechanical engineer. I won’t care what my dad says. He already believes that girls cannot become engineers. He already believes that there are not a lot of job opportunities for engineering. I already know that women are a huge minority in the engineering field. But what field, besides nursing, doesn’t have women as minorities? I want to prove him wrong. I want to prove society wrong. I want to prove myself wrong.