I remember the summer before I started at UF; I was
so excited to finally “start my life.” I was going to take classes I
loved, graduate, and have an awesome career. But in my five glorious years at
the University of Florida, I have come to the conclusion that college life is
definitely not that linear.
I came here thinking, “I love math and cars” so
I’ll major in Mechanical Engineering and make a lot of money. Alas, freshman
chemistry quickly crushed my hopes as it has many-a-student's.
So I decided, maybe the sciences aren’t for me;
I’ll try liberal arts. And thus I became an East Asian Languages and
Literatures (Japanese) major. I enjoyed Japanese, enjoyed college life, and
even studied abroad in Japan for two semesters. However, as time went by I
realized something was missing. I was plagued by the question of “what will I
do when I graduate?” I liked languages but I wasn’t particularly gifted at them
and I didn’t want to make a career of translating or teaching (nor would I have
been very good at it).
I was terrified by the idea of not having a major
with a defined career path. I thought “Ah ha! I’ll be a doctor!” So I went back
to the beautiful sciences and changed my major to Biology. Which was fun and
enjoyable but still not quite right.
On a whim, I took the Principles of Entomology
class. It was love. I knew that this was the life for me. That semester, I
changed my major to Entomology and Nematology and have never looked back. I am
actively involved in multiple research projects and have done internships and
research in Thailand and Paraguay.
Nothing quite beats passion. If you love what you
do, then you will do it well. And if you do it well, then the possibilities are
endless. Doors open up when you least expect it. So here I say: Don’t give up
the chase. Never settle for second best, and always do what you love. Sometimes
it takes a while to figure yourself out, but, hey, that’s what college is for,
isn’t it?
- Sabrina White
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