As my professor once explained during lecture, many students are on a "medical school/law school rat race." Students do their time, get their degree, and leave college with a little more knowledge than they had before. Many of these students pick their classes based on ratemyteacher.com and only attend class on test days. Although picking the easiest classes may be enticing, this is not the way to go through college.
Let's not forget the reason we pay to be enrolled in these universities: to learn what we want to do for the rest of our lives. College is our years of experimenting. College is our time to take a class we thought we would excel in, and then realize we have a very altered sense of reality. College is when we fail, but through this failure we learn what we want to do.
My spring quarter of my freshman year I walked into my first Middle East history class. For once, I enjoyed going to class. I woke up at 7 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, sat down in a fairly empty classroom, and listened for an hour about the Middle East. When midterms and finals came along, I spent multiple long nights reading about this history. But then, I came to a realization. I was not upset about staying up late to study for this class, because I was genuinely interested in the subject. After taking classes in Arabic, Middle Eastern history, and political science, I realized my passion.
I now recognize what topics will motivate me to get out of bed and study instead of sleep. And in turn, I realized what subjects I want to focus on as a career.
Many students, as mentioned before, focus on the easy way out. Some pick their majors based on how lucrative the career will be in the future. But how does that help you? How can you truly excel in your future career if you pick it based on the earning potential, and not your own passion?
Finding your passion in college is the most important aspect of the college experience. When you find your interests in these four unpredictable years, you put yourself in the prime position for life after college. These are your years to grow, to fail, and to ultimately find your passion. So, throughout your college experiences ask yourself: what are you passionate about?