I often think back to when I was 17, in my matric year, making big decisions about my future. I chose to pursue a career in engineering purely based on the reason that I was good at physics (more so chemistry) and above average at math. That’s all. I didn’t consider my other strengths and weaknesses (I found math to be a MAJOR weakness in university), I didn’t consider what I wanted my workday to be like, nor my work environment. It’s not a huge surprise to me now that I hadn’t even finished a semester in engineering before realizing that I wanted to change my course.
Granted, it took me much longer to find out exactly what I actually wanted to do with my life (I even made a year long pitstop in a science course, that I also left within a year). I guess the big question is, how did I know that I wanted to change my course? And how did I know what to change to? Here are 5 signs that gave me the answers to those questions:
*Disclaimer: this is my own experience. Some people see these signs and still choose to stay in their chosen courses, which is completely fine. Changing course is not always and not the only answer to University problems.
1. I didn’t have any long-term goals
This was probably the biggest and the first sign I had. I recall having a conversation with a friend during the middle of the first semester. This friend of mine was one of the most diligent engineering students in our class. Very committed, attended every class, did all the tutorial activities all the time, and I was at a place where I was ready to call it a week by Monday afternoon. I asked him one day: “Where do you get all this motivation and all this energy to give your all every single day” and he responded, “I really want this degree”, and proceeded to tell me all about what his plans are for after University regarding his career. All I could say after all that was, “Wow. Can’t relate.” That was such a pivotal conversation, because I went back to my room that day and told my parents that I was going to change. I wasn’t sure yet what I would do, but I realised that engineering and I weren’t going to work out. I didn’t see myself in a factory or a mine or an industrial setting, not even in a laboratory. I didn’t see myself being an engineer further than in university. In hindsight, I didn’t even know what engineering was (between me and you, I still don’t understand it as well as I should). I just figured I’d learn once I was within the program. (Spoiler: I did not)
This is also what tells me now that I am in the right field. I have goals that I’m constantly working on, researching about. You’d never find me watching engineering videos on YouTube in my spare time, but there’s probably not a single one about my current field that I haven’t. I am motivated, I am driven. I have direction. I have plans. I didn’t before
2. It didn’t align with my personality
I am a people’s person through and through. I am also very right brain dominant. Engineering didn’t align with those aspects of my personality. I also wasn’t very good at designing things (especially mechanical parts), I couldn’t draw to save my life, which is a major component to the job. While I was deciding what field I wanted to change to, I made sure to do a series of personality tests and career tests that are based on personality online. These gave me an idea of the type of things that I would enjoy and really narrowed down my options. As much as most of these were not what I was looking for due to personal preferences (for example, nursing was one of my options, but I
would rather not deal with bodily fluids on a daily basis. Especially those of other people and not my own), I was still given a whole bunch of options to do thorough research on. Funnily enough, my current chosen field (Industrial Psychology) wasn’t one of the options I got from the quizzes, but Human Resource Management was (they’re quite similar in the sense that they are related to people in the context of the workplace). The tests didn’t tell me exactly which course to choose next, but my interest in one of the options led me to my chosen one.
3. I wasn’t interested in the content
This took me a long while to accept. I was a STEM girl for as long as I could remember. I enjoyed physics and math and life sciences. Sure, I was tired of it by the time I reached matric, but I was sure that I would learn to enjoy it again when I started university. I didn’t. I would bunk class, only attending the compulsory tutorials and practicals. If I did manage the energy to attend, I’d find myself fast asleep. I used to hate studying (I was also failing, which I think made my situation even worse) and I felt like I was going too deep in something that would be irrelevant in my life. Ironically, the only module I enjoyed in my engineering year was my Humanities and Social Science module, which was a breath of fresh air. It takes a great deal of self-awareness to be able to discern whether you like something or not, especially if it’s all you’ve known and people keep telling you that “You’ll like it more in the later years, first year is just for the basics” (This is true in a lot of instances. I had to do accounting in my first year of Industrial Psychology, it was a pain, but because I liked my majors, I powered through. Unlike in science and engineering, where my majors were what I hated the most.)
Engineering and science is very important in our lives, I know that, but I know now that it’s not the kind of ‘important’ that I want to be heavily involved in for the rest of my life. There are people in STEM doing great things for the world, especially considering all the environmental challenges we’re having, STEM just wasn’t for me. I didn’t feel the need to know about physics and chemistry in as much detail as I was supposed to. This is why I lacked the motivation to learn, study attend classes, etc., which inevitably led to me failing. Interest is a very important part of choosing a career, because it often determines success.
4: People who knew me kept telling me that it wasn’t a good fit
I know I shouldn’t condone taking other people’s opinions into consideration but hear me out! One of the best ways to figure out which course you should take (whether you’re just starting out in University, or you plan on changing) is to ask the people who love and know you. Most people will say they don’t know, with the fear of leading you astray, but if you have an idea of what you want, pitch it to someone close to you and ask them what they think. But choose this person wisely. They should know your favourite version of you. For example, we all show different personalities when at school compared to when at home. I’m a lot quieter when I am at home than when I’m surrounded by peers. More bubbly, more talkative. I share more of myself for reasons I don’t know. Therefore, I’d say that my peers and teachers knew my favourite version of me the most, compared to everyone else. So in this case, I would ask them. If your favourite version of yourself is quiet and calm, or it’s assertive and dominant, speak to the people who you show most of that side of yourself. I didn’t ask my peers and teachers, but whenever I bump into them and they ask me what I’m doing now, and I tell them I’m studying Industrial Psychology (then explain what it is, because most people don’t actually know), they almost always say ‘That suits you better!’. I could’ve used that insight when I was in my process of choosing the first time.
5. Last but definitely not least, I found it extremely challenging and draining
University is hard. All courses are difficult in their own unique ways. But for me, engineering and science just proved how differently I thought compared to how I was required to think. I was expected to think in terms of processes and models and equations, but my mind just didn’t work that way. I do better with words than numbers, so I would choose case studies over calculations any day (another reason why I despised accounting so much). I was spending a lot of time trying to learn but not getting the results to show. I was running on steam within the first term of the first semester. I constantly asked myself whether it was necessary to be struggling this much and so tired already. In first year! I ultimately decided that it wasn’t worth it and changed. Some people like being challenged, I don’t. I like to feel like I’m good at something and in my element. I, along with my mental health, would not have survived.
Always do what you think is the right decision for you. There may be other signs or things telling you to change, it’s a complicated thought process. All these points are mentioned in hindsight. In my time of turmoil, I went with my gut and did what I felt was right, even though I didn’t understand why it was the right decision at the time. In addition, just because you’re experiencing one or all of the things mentioned above, it doesn’t always mean changing course is the way to go. It’s always best to speak to your faculty advisors or university administration, as well as the finance department before changing courses to find out what you have to lose or gain, as well as what is required.
