DOUBLE MAJOR DECLARATION!

Yes, I am obnoxious as hell and that title is in all caps because OH MY GOD I HAVE FINALLY WRITTEN MY MAJOR(S) DECLARATION!

...It has only taken me about, oh, I don't know... SEVEN WEEKS to get my shit together and do this. But, ah, it feels SO GLORIOUS to be done.

It's funny, because I've known I've had to do this. I've been planning to do it. It's been in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS on every "To-Do" list I've made in the last seven weeks. Somehow... it just hasn't gotten done. As I told one of my advisors, LSB, I'm just being a commitment-phobe about things, as I tend to be in the rest of my life, too. (I would liken it to my ex-boyfriend, but I think he deserves his own post, if only for putting up with my bs for so long!)

Weirdly, the actual act of writing it was not the hard part. It was the stress leading up to it and the anxiety of "Aaahh, what do I even write!?" I'm not one of those awesome people that has it all figured out. I used to be, but I wrecked so many of those plans, that I've just decided to stop making them.

I'm posting what I wrote, because I actually am really pleased with it. I sound like I know what I'm talking about, I think! (Key word being "sound"... hope my dean & advisors buy it!)

My motivations for pursuing a double major might not be as fleshed out as others’ detailed career ambitions, but I still believe that this path will help me achieve what I eventually want out of my life – even if I haven’t fully solidified what that is. I enjoy classes in both disciplines for very different reasons, and I can’t imagine my college career continuing without a strong presence of either of them. English classes have always consistently been among my favorites, for as long as I can remember. If anything, college has made me realize the depth of the study and what advantages there are to pursuing it. I am often asked, when I declare my intent to have English as one of my majors, “But what will you do with that?” Quite simply, being able to write well, clearly express ideas and analyze material critically are crucial components to success in any field. No matter how much brilliance an individual possesses in a certain area, the coherence of the expression of the material is vital in any field. Even someone working alone in a lab must be able to produce a clear, concise account that explains the data he or she has produced and what it actually means, why it is significant. While English has always come more naturally to me than other subjects, and probably has an effect on my affinity for it, I believe that I am still far from any mastery of the subject as a whole – there is so much that I still want to improve on, and I believe that majoring in the subject will bring my closer to satisfaction with my own skill set. Although I am still unsure what I might use it for, I am confident that the skills I acquire in this major will carry over into every aspect of any later career I choose – and probably also other areas of my life.

Psychology, on the other hand, is something that I have always been attracted to, but did not have a chance to fully pursue until college. It does not come as naturally to me as English, but that is part of its appeal – I like the chance to think differently from the humanities mindset that I am used to, and that comes more naturally to me. Sciences in general have never come easily to me, despite my avid interest in them, so Psychology, as a social science, seems to be a good compromise. Although I see English helping me on a broader level, my narrower ambitions (at least for now) lie more within the realm of Psychology. To be honest, people fascinate me. I have always been interested in how they work, what motivates them, why things sometimes go wrong on something deeper than a physical level. What motivates me most about the study of human beings is the opportunity it gives to potentially help them. For a while, I had dreams of going to medical school, and while I have changed courses for a number of different reasons, my underlying desire to help heal people remains the same; my ambitions have not really changed, rather, the way I plan to go about achieving them has. I believe that an undergraduate degree in Psychology, and plans for a graduate degree soon after, will lead me to that. Although I am just getting started in this field, my classes in it excite me, and the idea of spending another two years focused on this material is truly an exciting prospect.

Double majoring is also more feasible (in a practical sense) for me because of two factors: 1) I am not going abroad junior year, and 2) only English has a required thesis. These two things are important, for they are often the major roadblocks standing in the way of a double major. I have planned it out with my advisors, and have a solid plan to complete both degrees in the remaining two years – the semester that I will spend here instead of elsewhere is crucial to getting all of the required credits in each subject in. As for a thesis, although writing two theses has been done, it is not advisable for everyone and I feel that the required English thesis will be enough to keep me occupied during my last year here. This is not to say that Psychology will be short-changed in my attention – I will still be taking the senior seminar, as well as potentially pursuing research opportunities, possibly during the summer, so as to be able to split my attention between both subjects in a way that will allow me to give both my best work.

Yeeeeah, I hope this is good. Especially since it has been so long in coming. I really need to stop being such a paperwork delinquent...