December

Having recently returned from a restive road trip to Washington, D.C., which was filled with cozy talks and colonial walks, I now feel geared up to face a week of finals. The other day, while reviewing for my exams, I had to pause at the glow of a sudden realization: everything that I've learned in college up to now is all beginning to fit together.

I had come here four years ago with a medley of disparate interests--international politics, print journalism, Russian literature--and practically no experience with the actual study of these areas. What's more, I had no idea how to combine these interests into one major, and even less of a clue as to how to transform that major into a future career.

Since then, I've changed my majors twice, added and replaced a minor, and in the process, crafted a college experience that has been entirely, delightfully, my own. The main lesson I've learned is that your time in college--even up through your last year--is a process of exhilarating academic soul-searching in which you gradually discover which subjects and activities really work for you. Trial and error, and the process of elimination, are key. They've led me to have a series of small epiphanies, as eye-opening as they are empowering:

• don't stay committed to a major that doesn't quite do it for you. Choosing a major is the academic equivalent to entering a relationship. First comes the fuzzy feeling that all your classes are fascinating, your professors clever, your assignments fun. Then comes a general deflation from the former euphoria, followed by, for many, eventual disenchantment with the chosen field. Of course, some people really do pick it right on the first try. But for the vast majority of students, the first major is far from the one they'll end up with in the end--and the sooner you drop the unfulfilling major, the closer you'll be to finding your perfect match. That's why I had to break it off with Psychology (we just couldn't agree on the quantitative analysis requirements) and eventually leave the Journalism school (didn't give me room to explore my interests). Now, I'm going on two years with a Political Science-Contemporary European Studies double major, and can happily say that I chose the right one.
  


• explore your interests from multiple angles. Think of your classes as pieces of a collage that you put together according to your taste. The more colorful and diverse the pieces, the more interesting the final product--aka your college (collage!) experience--will be. Sample classes in different departments, with various professors, while still maintaining a common theme. I'm interested in Poli Sci, for example, so I've had to take routine courses like American Government and International Relations. But the real highlights have been the classes I've found on my own in other departments, which have immensely expanded my knowledge of the topic but aren't even listed under my major. For example, I like to cook, and I'm interested in food policy, so I took a class in the public policy department on the Politics of Food. Meanwhile, my love for Slavic languages and the people of Slavic-speaking countries translated into my enrolling in SLAV 467: Language and Political Identity. Aside from your major requirements, decide what your own requirements are, and find the classes that look like they will fulfill both. Of the vast course selection at Carolina, I guarantee these will be a delight to find.
  


• choose activities that are both purposeful and productive. Several carefully chosen activities (I'd recommend one student organization, one work-study/other position of responsibility, and one activity chosen for pure pleasure) are better than dabbling in a multitude of activities without really leaving a mark on any individual one. For me, this has meant volunteering at the Campus Community Garden (all produce goes to our housekeepers, many of them Burmese refugees), working with Russian-Polish-Czech-etc. books in the Slavic collection of our University library system, and going to free yoga classes at one of our two rec centers several times a week. I also studied abroad in Prague last spring, using that opportunity to traipse all over East-Central Europe, from Berlin to Krakow, and this summer I interned in Russia for the capital's leading English-language newspaper, The Moscow Times. Each of these endeavors (except for yoga--that's purely to sharpen the saw) has built on what I've learned inside the classroom and branched that knowledge out into real life.
  

I still have one last semester to put the finishing touches on my college collage. But having come this far, I can already see that it's gonna turn out to look pretty darn good.

'Till next time,
Olga