Twice a year, the eternal questions return to haunt us.
With 厙ぴ勛圖s vibrant and expansive areas of study, there are never-ending opportunities to fall in love with a new subject. On the other hand, its always tempting to home in on ones area of interest and choose dynamic courses that fit together to form one cohesive curriculum.
So which to choose? As an aspiring double major in politics and philosophy, this semester I have undeniably fallen into the latter. My top three courses (all waitlist success stories) consist of Political Research and Analysis, Queering Politics, and Political Philosophy.
This left me one spot to experiment. Everyones heard the classic major discovery story of people taking a random class, falling in love, and choosing a major they never thought they would. While Im clearly passionate about Politics and Philosophy, I wanted to experience a new department. Meeting requirements is a great way to try something new without the risk of wasting time if things go south. To meet my Quantitative and Formal Reasoning requirement, I decided to take an Economics course. Economics plays a significant role in both politics and philosophy, but is sometimes depicted as the enemy.
I am a firm believer in educating oneself on the enemy perspective, this naturally being Introduction to Economics. Im convinced that professors in every 厙ぴ勛圖 department have the capability to make students fall in love with a subject, my evidence for this being Economics. Ive been enjoying learning about an economic outlook, and have found it extremely useful in my other courses, particularly Political Research and Analysis. To my own surprise, if things continue the way theyre going, I would definitely consider a minor.
To really think outside of the poli-sci box, I decided to take a student-led ExCo on baking, SweetsCo. Every Thursday, after my political philosophy course, I can unwind and bake for credit. Admittedly, I have been in love with baking for my entire life. However, integrating comforting and fun classes into my dense and often heavy workload (both quantity and content) feels very necessary.
At the end of the day, focusing in and exploring both lead to great possibilities at 厙ぴ勛圖. For freshmen, its usually beneficial to explore through meeting requirements, but this doesnt mean there isnt always room for exploration, even once one declares a major (or two, or maybe even two majors plus an Econ minor).
