Your decisions have consequences, but don’t let those consequences put limits on you.
In college I majored in Biology, but I went the first three semesters without identifying what I wanted to focus my studies on.
You can get through your college experience that way, but I wouldn’t advise it. The best part about this route was the blissful ignorance of those first three semesters. I attended a Christian liberal arts college, where as a part of the degree requirements, each student had to complete courses from a wide array of educational topics to round out his or her knowledge base. In those early semesters in college I took courses in anything from Biblical Literature to Psychology to Math to Spanish to Ethics to Macroeconomics to Tennis.
I’m not sure why it took me so long to realize it, but after awhile I figured out that I was running out of these “Gen Eds” to take. I needed to figure out how to fill the remaining five semesters. In an epiphany, I began to understand that I needed to figure out what I wanted to declare for my major. I ended up selecting Biology with an Environmental Emphasis.
As you can imagine, if you want to major in a science, it means you’ll need to take lots of science courses. That’s not a bad thing as long as you start on them right away, but if you wait to get started on them, like I did, it means you’re living, eating, and breathing science classes later on.
After my realization I worked with my faculty adviser to figure out how to make it work. I was a Bio major, but didn’t get signed up for the most basic of biology classes until halfway through my second year. Then I signed up for a four-week summer Bio course with class all morning and lab work all afternoon, Monday through Friday. (My brain nearly melted during that class. I was an average student that just finished my Sophomore year, and most of the other students in the course were Freshmen honors students that had spent a semester abroad and now just needed to catch up.)
Junior year was also packed with science classes, but I still managed to “kick the can down the road” with one of the key requirements for a Biology major: two semesters’ worth of Chemistry. By the time I began Senior year and started getting into Chemistry, I realized that I was in over my head. I couldn’t stand Chemistry. The professors were great, but I had a terrible time grasping a lot of the material. I had waited until my last two semesters to take two semesters of Chemistry. There would be no withdrawing from the class to arrange a more convenient courseload.
It was already a busy year…I had a Senior Seminar to deliver, I was the Vice President of the Paddle Sports club, I had a few work/study jobs, a buddy and I were getting ready to drive out to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, I had a weekly workout routine at the gym, and there was general fun to be had (after all, it was Senior year!).
Even with all I had going on, my whole senior year began to revolve around how I could pass Chemistry. I skipped out on some pranks or outings that would have been fun to be a part of. There was a study group that I started attending each time it met. I linked up with one of the Chemistry Majors, who never seemed to sleep, for help on my homework when I was frustrated and at the end of my rope. With plenty of patience he walked me through each problem. Joel, if you’re out there, thanks for all your help! You saved my bacon!
After all of the craziness and mental anguish, I finally passed both semesters of Chemistry. Never was I so happy to complete two classes.
I whine about it, but this was a crisis of my own making. Because of the choices I made, I backed myself into a corner and made my path to success much more difficult. Here’s the tie-in: even when you become a Christian, your problems don’t go away. God loves you and forgives you if you’re truly sorry, but you must still live with the consequences of your past actions.
Becoming a Christian does not remove all the pain and agony you face. In some ways it makes things more difficult. The good news is that a relationship with Christ gives you hope and strength to face each day, even when each day has repercussions of your previous actions.
As one of God’s chosen, He provides what you need to overcome each obstacle. You may have made your circumstances more complex, but He’s the one that is able to supply for all of your needs. Christianity is not an escape from your problems; it is an opportunity to have hope when facing them. Consider that as you work toward becoming the person He wants you to be.