Inspiration from a Teacher: How I Chose My College Major

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Fiyinfoluwa Akinwumi
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Choosing a college major is daunting. You want to earn a degree which will lead to a career you love. Here is my story of how one of my high school teachers inspired me to choose to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Doctor Dreams Dashed

When I moved to the United States from Nigeria, I wanted to be a doctor. I thought being a doctor sounded cooler than any other profession in the world. But then I saw movies and dramas that took place in the hospital that showed doctors performing surgery, which made me have doubts of wanting to become a doctor. At that point, I became totally lost! I did not know what career to pick at all!

My Father’s Advice

My dad always told me that I should pick a career related to science. So in my junior year of high school, I took a computer science class called Introduction to JAVA. I started to learn coding for the first time. Through the coding class, I learned about algorithms and became fascinated. My computer science teacher taught the class in such an engaging way that it made me want to learn more. I took the AP class in my senior year. Through that, I was able to join the Robotics Club, where I built a robot and coded it to see how all the algorithms worked in real life.

Pointed in the Right Direction

My computer science teacher made a huge impact in my life. He encouraged me to pursue a mechanical engineering major and a computer science minor in college. I am excited about the future. After graduation I want to be able to create and code machines. Without the inspiration of my teacher, I would still be frustrated with not having a career outlook. I am thankful for him and the opportunity to take the computer science classes in high school, because now I have a college major that will lead to a future career I am excited about!

How did you get inspired to pursue your major? Share when you retweet my blog!

 

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