My Three Majors and Me

Alexis Minichino
Undergraduate at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

  have had three majors since I have been in college. Chemistry was my entering major, which I kept all of one semester. The one I kept the longest is math, which I had for three semesters. Now I am an anthropology major. This is my first semester with this major. In fact, I haven’t officially changed the major yet.

In order to understand where I am in my life now, you must realize where I have been. In high school I was in the National Honors Society, I took AP classes, and was completely controlled by my family. They had put the idea in my head that money made people happy. I had to make a lot of it. I was pushed to decide what I wanted to do with my life early. To my family the obvious choice was for me to be a doctor. I went with it. All I wanted was for them to approve of me. My senior year I was taking AP physics and a chemistry course. I decided I liked chemistry, there was my major. It really didn’t matter what it was, I was pre-med., any science would do.

Science? What was I thinking? I got to college and realized chemistry was not for me. I hated lab, the professors, for the most part, were mean, and I just didn’t want to be a doctor anymore. The slight separation that I had from my family made me realize I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew that it was not medical school.

Then came the freak out. What am I going to do with myself? Professional student sounded good to me. All I needed was something I could get good grades in without trying. Obviously math, since I never had to study for a math class in my life. I wasn’t just good at math, I WAS math. So I changed my major, thinking it was the best move ever. It made the family happy because it was still a high paying field, and I was happy with the lightened homework load.

Fast-forward a few semesters. I still didn’t study too often, but that’s only because I realized that I get more confused when I try to read the book. Only one out of my four math professors knew how to teach. I realized I am a woman in a very fraternal major. I would ask questions only to be told to come to office hours (which I couldn’t make because I had class then) and then watch the boy behind me spend a half hour after class with that "busy" professor. I had to get out. Besides, did I want to sit in a cube and crunch numbers the rest of my life? I had no idea how to tell my family. I had no idea what I wanted to do after college. I was back to professional student again.

A few months into the school year my mom had kicked me out of the house and told me I had to pay for school myself. I scrambled to figure out a way to pay for everything. My father, who had also been kicked out of the house (a year and a half before me), helped me through the year. My father is my hero. He always helps me through everything. This was the biggest thing to date.

He is a dreamer. At fifty years old his is two credits away from his masters in business, and has been for over ten years. He feels no need for the degree. He owns a small company. He is the only employee. Suffice it to say he doesn’t make much money. He doesn’t care though. He goes through life just doing his thing. I really respect that. He has a lot of health problems. The most severe is his heart condition. He has had seven heart surgeries. It makes me sad and nervous, but he tells me he is like a cat, nine lives. So he has two left. I’m counting, but I don’t think he is. He is what inspired me to pick my third major. Looking at him and his life I realized it is my number one priority to be happy. He likes what he does, even though he just barely pays his bills.

I have been on my own for almost a year now. I pay all my bills, even school. I managed to buy a car too. I know I can make life work. That is why I picked anthropology. My life is on my terms now. I just want to be happy and do something that I enjoy. I have always secretly wanted to be an archaeologist and go to Egypt and Italy. So I am going to do that. I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself.

This seems like the first thing that I have decided to do that makes sense. I love studying ancient societies, I want to travel, and I hate the nine to five lifestyle. My plan is to get my Ph.D. in archaeology and then become a college professor. I will dig in the summer and maybe teach a few field schools later on. Being a teacher is something I would like to do too. Now that I am in college I realize the best teachers are the ones that are a little bit crazy. I think that is so fitting for me. One of my professors now, Elise Brenner, is my idol. She is an archaeologist and a college professor. I learn so much in her class because she doesn’t do a straight lecture format, and she makes class enjoyable and memorable. I want to be to someone what she is to me, a role model.

I may not have everything figured out yet, but I am on my way. I might not be rich a famous, but I will be happy. Someday you can visit me in my apartment in the city. That is, if I’m not in Africa.

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