Favorites:
Book: Ida B. of Green Gables and the Sorcerer's Stone (I can’t just pick one)
Movie: Australia (with Hugh Jackman & Nicole Kidman)
Food: Phở
Animal: Kangaroo
Color: Turquoise
Exploration Experience:
I thought I wanted to major in psychology when I started college, but after my mission, I asked myself, “Is psychology really the major I want, or just the only major I know about?” BYU has 186 majors to choose from. To understand how to make my experience at BYU my own, I enrolled in a Career Exploration class. One of the required activities was to job shadow 2 people. I shadowed a recreational therapist and an activities director and found out neither of those was for me. The next semester I decided to take a Spanish class and a religious course off the beaten track called ‘Survey of Judaism and Islam.’ These two courses together got me interested in linguistics as a major.
After taking his course, that religion teacher recommended me to attend BYU’s Jerusalem study abroad, which I did the following semester. I learned that although linguistics had been very interesting, its analytical approaches took the fun out of it for me. I decided to explore a different approach to languages when I returned to BYU Provo: Communication Disorders. I took the intro class and loved how it combined my interest in linguistics with practical application to speech and language disorders. I then took the prerequisite classes and applied for and was accepted to the major!
As a senior, I am now researching whether I want to pursue a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology with my undergraduate degree or a doctorate in Audiology. I hope I can stay true to what I feel fulfilled doing in life as I make my decision.
Why is Exploring Important to Me?
I have learned through exploration that if none of my options seem a good fit for me, there are always other options I have never thought of just around the corner. Exploring allows expression of the self and respect for one’s capabilities. A lot of people go to college because they want to ‘help people.’ They have a lot of aptitudes and skills already. It is just a matter of choosing which funnel in college to use to specialize those skills in an area they really care about. Exploration is how we all get there.
Looking Back:
I wish I had taken advantage of my professors more when I was a Freshman! To have asked them about their own major-to-career journey. Did you know there is a member of the faculty on campus who used to be a bobsled coach? People do amazing things with their lives, and it is nice to be reminded that we can do unique things on our career paths and be successful because of them.
Does Pineapple Belong on Pizza?
I don’t think I have the right to limit what pineapple can do with its life. If it wants to hop on a pizza, then I think it should. I personally think it tastes delicious there.
Boring fact about you: I color code my closet.
Hobbies:
In my free time, I watch the Great British Baking show and water my plants. I also enjoy hammocking, playing with my cousin’s dogs, meditating, and pickleball. My husband and I like to hike together any chance we get. The last hike we did was Stewart Falls. The colors were so vibrant that I forgot all my stress from being a Senior at BYU. I hope you find some relief in nature this season as well.