Changing Majors
I am halfway through the fall quarter of sophomore year, and I’ve learnt to better handle college life this year. Residential college life blurs the lines between play, study and life- and thus living a balanced life has been pretty difficult.
“Text messages save lives”- An example of how technology is a “game changer”
This year has also been one for changes. My academic paths as well as interests have changed over the past year, perhaps due to the exposure (for the first time) to many other areas other than the humanities. Classes such as Technology for Social Change and Liberation Technologies has shown me how technology and the sciences can change the world. I have also come to appreciate the field of engineering, especially the way engineers think. I may now be pursuing a degree in Computer Science or Computer Systems Engineering.
This change in direction comes at a good time; I am thankful for the flexibility of Stanford’s system, which allows for it. The ensuing journey, though, is tough. I am letting go of my progress in the Economics major, which I had been doing relatively well in. The engineering classes I am taking now take up far more time than last year’s courseload, and I have to work twice harder than anyone else to bring myself up to speed on physics and math. Yet in doing so I have come to appreciate the way both the humanities and sciences view the world; in a way I cannot put in words, they are incomplete without the other.
How will this impact my future in the civil service? To be frank, I have no idea. Yet I believe strongly in the ability of technology to change societies and communities for the better. The newfound ability to be able to build tools that can make life easier for everyone else is liberating, as compared only being able to analyze them and affect them through policy. I realize, increasingly, that the world needs both, and thus an understanding of both is increasingly important.
During freshman orientation, Stanford’s Vice Provost Dean Julie said that we should not expect to leave Stanford the kind of person we came in as. Back then I had assumed it meant that we would graduate with more head knowledge about the subject we were to study; what I had not grasped was that the college experience might irrevocably change our interests and mindsets. As Dean Julie said, “your college experience WILL change you,” and perhaps it has- hopefully, for the better.
