Our Biased School System Part 1

Image Credit: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/

I came out of high school knowing one thing, that I should be an engineer.  With little thought, everyone encouraged me to pursue this amazing profession.  I mean how could they not. With the high pay, huge job market and respected field of study, there was no reason to not be an engineer.  Therefore, whether it was my teachers, family, or friends, they all said one thing, engineering was meant for me.  

In a sense, they weren’t wrong.  I am skilled at problem-solving, along with mathematics and science.  The left side of my brain has dominated my intelligence for years, allowing me to strive in classes that some cannot.  

At first, it appeared that math and science were the only things I could do well.  Yes, I had side skills and intelligence, but none of which were taken seriously in school.  Sure, I had a knack for understanding people, but I never took a high school class that gives an “A” for psychoanalyzing my friends.  I was good at math and science, and that was all that mattered because it was going to make me a well-paid engineer.

I thought this for the first two months of college until I realized how wrong I really was.  With taking my first sociology class ever, I realized how relevant those side skills actually were.  Not only that, but I also found a passion in the class, I actually wanted to learn. For the first time in my life I actually began learning material outside of the course.  I started watching TED talks, reading articles, and getting involved in long discussions with my friends. All of which I was choosing to do.

With little to no hesitation, I added a minor in sociology.  I was thrilled. I could now be an engineer that also learned about the things that interested me.  And it only took a few months later for me to fully come to terms with what I was discovering. This was something that I had known for many years, but was too afraid to say out loud. That truth was that I was not going to be an engineer.

I denied this because it was complete insanity compared to everything I had been taught.  My path was simple, I was good at math and science, so engineering was good for me. It would give me money and I would live a happy life.  Yet deep down I knew that I would never be happy making robots for some company. Deep down I knew the things that interested me had nothing to do with engineering, and that these side interests were inevitably going to become my life.

So there I was, first year of college complete with no idea of what I wanted to do, yet very well knowing I did not want to do what I was currently doing.  Thankfully, by the end of the year, I was able to discover the right path for myself and acted on it. I am now majoring in sociology and statistics with the intention of becoming a social researcher.  With the help of friends and academic advisors I was able to find what interests me, and then pick a career that was both logical and desirable.  

For my next post, I will be writing about how I interpret the bigger picture of my education story.  Along with a system that I believe will help students decide on a career path that they both want to do and can easily pursue. So feel free to read Our Biased School System Part 2

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *