Change Your Major
Emily is 21 years old, a senior in college … and she just changed her major. When she joined the Good News Team, I imagined she’d write about “all things tafty, such as: slaloming, running, lake-ing, and eating ice cream.” But sometimes … crazy happens.
I changed my major just last week … on the first day of my senior year of college.
Yes. I truly did change my major on the first day of my senior year of college. And yes, I am crazy.
You see, I had the best summer a girl could ask for: living in Austin, being around dear friends and family, and interning in the youth group at my church. And while being in Austin with people I love was marvelous, it was the interning thing that kind of made me lose my mind last Monday. (In the photo: The beginning of crazy in June with a fav ACF student at Orange Beach.)
My former major, Secondary English Education, is a fantastic one. No doubt. Yet all summer I felt unsettled about interning in a school my senior year … almost dreaded it. Your senior year of college shouldn’t be approached with dread, right?
That’s the first thought that lead me to pondering a major change.
Don’t be fooled by that ‘pondering’ though, because what began as a slight ‘pondering’ soon turned into an all consuming worry and anxiety that climaxed the weekend before I started my senior year. I cannot recall a time in my life when I have been more stressed out over a 48 hour period.
I cried. And I NEVER cry. But I sure did that weekend. A lot. I cried in my room. In the car. On the phone. In my advisor’s office. In my kitchen. On campus. In my car again. It was hideous. I was a wreck.
So, fast-forward to Monday afternoon ~ the first day of my senior year. The first day of class … when I was supposed to be interning at a local high school on my way to becoming a certified teacher but wasn’t. Instead, I found myself in my room confiding in my dear friend and roommate, Laura. (This was post crying, stress attacks, and millions of conversations with my parents and advisors).
She came in, sat on the ground, and just asked me what I was feeling. In a moment of rare clarity, I was able to press out a sentiment that I’d been seeking to find all weekend: “Laura, I would rather work at a church than at a school. Yes. Anywhere I am, any state or city, I would rather look for a job in a church. I like teaching English, but I love working at the church.”
After that moment I knew I was done trying to figure out what to do. I was able to confidently speak my heart, and that was the deciding factor. So, I followed through with my crazy. I disappointed a lot of fellow education majors and advisors, and officially became an English major… the first day of my senior year of college.
And I’ve never felt so free.
Turns out God wanted me to trust him with the crazy. And the moment I did, I felt genuine peace.
Apparently, following God doesn’t always come with the assurance of a good road map. Sometimes you may have to jump out there to find where He’s leading you. But once you jump, you land in the peace and joy of knowing that your times are in his hands and He knows plans He has for you.
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