“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
This is the question my peers and I have faced ever since we were little, and it has personally caused me some anxiety ever since middle school. Several years ago, the state of Texas created House Bill 5, which required me to choose an endorsement (mini-major) at the age of 13. This decision would determine my entire high school curriculum and the specialized classes I would take, even though I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in college.
Going into my first semester of college, I found myself feeling this same sense of uncertainty regarding my post-graduate outlook that I faced when I was 13. I felt good about the major I initially chose at TU, but I still wasn’t sure if I was 100% committed to it. This semester, I decided to use resources at TU to help me figure things out, and I feel much better about my uncertainty.
My first step was going into my college’s advising office and meeting with my academic advisers. My advisers adjusted their schedules to meet with me for an hour at a time, and they never made me feel rushed or guilty for using up time out of their extremely busy schedules. The Business Career Center was also a valuable resource. After scheduling meetings with the center’s staff, I had a better idea of what students are doing after they graduate with each major offered by the College of Business. The Business Career Center also reviewed and edited my résumé as well as pointed me towards internship applications in the Tulsa area and my hometown Dallas area.
These consultations helped me realize I was interested in a Computer Information Systems (CIS) major. After emailing a CIS professor to schedule a meeting to talk about the major, I was able to meet with the professor that same day. While I haven’t switched my major yet, I have a better understanding of the major and what I can do with it.
I feel that I now have the necessary resources to make an educated decision on the major I want to pursue and the post-graduate path I want to take. I doubt that I would be able to access this robust amount of personalized resources if I had chosen to attend a large state school, and I am reminded of the plentiful benefits of attending a school like TU. I’ve been able to tackle the stress of committing to a major and focus on more entertaining aspects of my second semester, such as going out in the snow during our recent snow day.
Luke Bertaux is a freshman at The University of Tulsa pursuing a dual degree with majors in International Business and Spanish. He is from Keller, Texas, and in his free time he enjoys running and performing music.
