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Marija Wilson on changing schools

Changing not only my primary major, but changing schools within Carnegie Mellon University was not nearly as impossible as I had once thought.

In the fall of my sophomore year, I realized that I was getting fed up with chemical engineering. I wasn't looking forward to going to class and I didn't feel like I was learning anything of incredible interest to me. I went through a lot of turmoil before deciding that it was right for me to change schools to be in the biological sciences department. My friends in chemE were surprised at my increasingly frequent complaints about not being happy in chemE. I wasn't doing what my heart told me to. There was a lot of logical explaining that I did to stay in chemE. I thought that it was a more secure way to know that I would have a job upon graduation, that it would give me a better edge on entering medical school, etc.

Then one day it hit me that it really wasn't going to work. I had a better chance of getting where I wanted in life by being happy. Being happy and loving what you are learning is important. Since the beginning of this semester, I have found what I love. Changing your major and school is not difficult at all. It was a very rewarding experience for me. The thirty minutes of "hassle" that it took for the paperwork was ever worth it. I know now that I am in the correct major and my outlook on life is much more positive. I have found my love of learning again!

Marija Wilson
Biological Sciences, Class of 2003