Let's Talk About College

It's very difficult to explain my profession. My best friend asked me the other week if I realized how important my job was. I do, but I certainly think the job I have is under appreciated. Every time some one asks me about what I do, I have to take a deep breath before trying to explain what I do. So, I've decided to talk about it. In order to get to that, I want to give y'all a little background. So...let's talk about college!

For undergrad, I went to the best school in the nation...the great University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where I majored in Psychology. I went into college thinking I wanted to be a pharmacist. UNC has one of the best pharmacy schools out there, so I thought perfect; I get to go to the college of my dreams and major in what I want!! Thing is, I had a jaded perspective of what college would be like. I expected it to be just like high school...which was a breeze. I was sadly mistaken. The first semester of my freshman year, I was taking four classes. Two of those classes were Chemistry and Calculus...both of which were at 8:00 AM! SMH...I know!! I'm a first generation college kid, so I had nobody to prepare me for what I was getting myself into. Chemistry and Calculus were two of my favorite subjects coming out of high school. I took AP courses for each of those subjects in high school, so I didn't think anything of taking those classes my first semester in college. I remember my AP Calculus teacher saying "Whatever course you place into, take the course under it!". Looking back, I wish I would have. I believe if I could have used that first semester as an adjustment period, I may have become that pharmacist I wanted to be (as this is still a dream for me...LOL...I say dream because I doubt it will become a reality at this point.) With all this said, I've taken away from this experience some great things. I believe I adequately prepared my sister for college life by constantly talking to her before she went and while she was there...letting her know what to expect, things to stay away from, things to do, etc. If I could do it over, I would! Since I can't, I'm determined to do what can for the generations under me.

I came up on psychology as an elective class and I really enjoyed it. I've always, for the life of me, wanted to understand people and the way they think and act!! I thought majoring in Psychology would be the answer. Psychology is the study of mind and behavior...so why wouldn't I understand people better after majoring in it? When I declared this as my major, I had no thoughts of what I would do after college. I just knew I enjoyed learning about psychology. I didn't think that far out about it.

I enjoyed all of the psychology classes I had to take...social psych, child psych, abnormal psych, etc. etc. The list goes on and on. I did extremely well in my major and I made it through to my senior year on time! I was planning on dropping one of my courses during my last semester, so I'd only have four classes. I wanted smooth sailing during my senior year; but we had to see our academic advisors to be cleared for graduation and thank goodness I did!! She told me I had just the right amount of classes I needed to graduate. I thought, 'SHOOT!', but I ended up enjoying all my classes anyway.

That semester I also found myself at a job fair. This is when I became a little concerned because I had no idea what I was going to do after school. At that job fair there was someone from Vocational Rehabilitation there. They talked to me a little bit about what they do, but I paid it no mind. I left the job fair with no direction...but some indication that I needed to figure out what I was going to do!

UNC-CH Graduation - 2007

Graduation was upon me. I was thankful to have gotten out of there on time. But I didn't know what was ahead. That summer after graduation I went home. I searched for jobs, but there wasn't much out there for someone with a psychology degree. My older cousin heard of what was going on with me and decided to take me to meet a professor he knew. She was a professor in the Rehabilitation Department at East Carolina University. I remembered hearing about this at the job fair, so I thought it was a sign from God that this was what I was supposed to be doing. We went for a visit one day in July...school started in August. This was a newer department and they were trying to build it up. I met a few of the professors that day and they encouraged me to apply. I was reluctant, but I needed something to do with my life!!! Why not grad school?!

I hurriedly took the MAT and got my application and everything else to ECU. I got in!! I was very excited to know that I wouldn't be out there floating aimlessly anymore. I was also thankful to have gotten into this program and although I wasn't quite sure what I would do with it, I thought it was God's plan for me. I ended up double majoring in Rehabilitation Counseling and Substance Abuse & Clinical Counseling. That's right, I have two Master of Science degrees!! I enjoyed my program. It was a small and personal program. I knew all the professors and all my classmates. Great friendships and networking relationships were made. I also learned a valuable lesson from this too! Have a plan for what you'll be doing after undergrad!! I drilled that into my sister as well! During my study there, I got an internship which later turned into a job opportunity.

But that's a story for next time...so stay tuned....

Happy Monday Y'all!!