Change of Heart

Are you happy? The question, offered by one of my friends, threw me off as we discussed our college life experience. I hadn’t given much thought to that important question. Am I really happy with what I am doing? Will I be happy with the end result? These are questions which have since opened my stubborn one-sided thought process and has given me the opportunity to challenge my belief that nursing is the route for me. This came as a shock as much to me as I’m sure it may to you, but…I’m not totally sure nursing is for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be dedicated to it, but I’m just not so sure I’d enjoy it. Not only has school life been fairly unenjoyable, but my life outside of that hasn’t been very fun either.

I had the opportunity to speak with the wife of an Anesthesiologist a few days ago at an awards banquet and was not convinced that I’d enjoy such labor. She described him as always busy, never having time, and completely consumed by his work. I was also reminded of the great repetitive conditions under which CRNAs often work. Don’t get me wrong here, CRNA is a great career path with excellent rewards. I’m just not sure it’s the path I need to take at this time in my life.

Well, now I’ve got a problem. Where will I go? Which path will I take instead? Knowing that I needed something that I’d enjoy, I thought back on all the college classes that I have taken thus far. By far, my most enjoyable class was Chemistry 285, a course designed specifically for the pre-nursing major. It was introduction to Organic Chemistry. I was a little nervous at first as I noted how difficult many had reported the class being. Many of the bright, straight-A students in the nursing program were horrified when they ended up with a B in this class or even a C! (Shutter). Even without all the rumors about the class I was intimidated by the large class size and heavy course material. That’s why I was very surprised when I aced the final exam at the end of the year and walked away with one of the highest grades in the class. To me it was easy, fun, and enjoyable. I don’t know if fun and enjoyable are too synonomically paired, but I couldn’t think of another word to describe it. Yes, I just coined the phrase synonomically.

So, I looked into chemistry. I talked to everyone I knew and their brother’s dog who had anything to do with chemistry. I even went back to that professor who taught Chem 285 and sat in on one of his classes. After discussing for hours with him, my uncle, my parent, and my friends I have finally decided…I might switch majors. Hey, nothing in life is certain, besides change that is.