LEAD

On the Origin of Deciding What to Do With Your Life

By Gregory Lucas-Myers
March 16, 2010

Scientifically, evolution is all about the ability of a species to adapt to their environment in order to survive. Normally, this ultimately leads to, say, a type of bird developing specialized beaks that allow them to eat a particular kind of nut. Humans may be able to worry about paying back their student loans or calculating how to effectively use the allotted number of unexcused absences you gets before it affects your grade, but it is all evolution, adaptation, and changing to meet the standard of survival. This standard, however, has a ton of leeway for being set. One way this plainly manifests itself is in the goals people have for their collegiate careers, and how those goals can change drastically based on their experiences. Or, maybe they don't change at all. The scenarios can vary as widely as the choices you can make for your future.

I decided to conduct my own little unscientific study into just this idea by canvassing a small portion of my residence hall, investigating what may or may not have changed in the aspirations of undergraduates pre- and post-University experience.

Sometimes, evolution doesn't mean change. Thomas, a sophomore, came into the school pursuing physics, and that continues to be his main field of study for the foreseeable future, citing that he simply "likes it."

For some, it takes a little reinforcing to cement his or her path. Katie took German in her senior year of high school with a largely ambivalent attitude. Now, in her sophomore year of college, she is double majoring in German and History, having fallen in love with the subject of German and the department here at the University. She has even gone as far as to start a German Club.

Nevertheless, change does happen. After coming to the University, sophomore Minhdzuy decided that his dislike of math was the primary factor of consideration for turning his aspirations from Astronomy and toward Communications, aiming at a career as a television writer.

Likewise, Mariel came into the University with a mind for programming for television, but now, in her senior year, is much broader in her Communications goals. Now going for sports marketing, she is keeping an open mind. "Maybe I'll work for a zoo, or save sharks."

Personally, I spent time in the School of Art & Design before deciding it was not for me, transferring into LSA, and majoring in English. Whatever path one chooses, though, it is up to them to set the standard of survival for their future. Whether that standard is purely monetary or for love of the field, whether because you hate the subject or are the best in the world at it, finding the perfect fit takes time and active decision-making. In this way, we get away from the scientific definition of evolution, where passive traits one is born with make all the difference between life and death, and carve our own niche into the world. Either way, those unable to evolve and change with their needs for survival, unable to bend for the factors affecting their survival, are left behind and go extinct.