In a land where the distance between north and south campus is
hardly intimidating and where the five-year plan is hardly taboo,
Bruins migrate north, migrate south and change their minds time and
time again ““ all in an effort to “find
themselves.”
Before settling on one subject however, outgoing students often
explored their options during their first year on campus.
Since there are over 118 undergraduate majors offered in various
disciplines at UCLA, students have the option to alter their
academic paths tremendously.
On average, students change their major about 2.1 times,
according to Bruce Barbee, a counselor at the College of Letters
and Science.
“My RAs in the dorms always told me to take classes that
sounded interesting to me, even if they didn’t count for
anything,” said Ben Arnold, a fourth-year sociology
student.
Arnold entered UCLA as a biology student and pursued the major
for two quarters. He also considered economics for a while and took
classes in that subject, all before declaring himself a sociology
student in the middle of his second year.
Arnold realized that north campus’ offerings appealed to
him as much, if not more, than the science subjects he liked back
in high school.
Arnold decided to leave biology and south campus, and take his
first steps north with another subject he had also enjoyed before:
economics.
“I didn’t like economics enough to formally declare
it, but it’s something else I tried in the south-to-north
discovery process,” he said. Soon after Arnold said he
realized that sociology was the way he wanted to go.
Arnold had plenty of time to declare the sociology major and
take the right classes.
“I haven’t taken summer school or overloaded myself,
and I’m still graduating in four years,” Arnold
added.
But not everyone who switches direction graduates on time.
Shobana Nair, a fourth-year psychobiology and education student
will finish in five years, a plan that ended up being more
practical for her in the long run.
She conversely migrated south from north campus.
Nair started as an economics student, and was planning to add a
Spanish major, but after fall quarter of her second year, decided
that she really missed science classes.
Nair declared the physiological science major, but unforeseen
circumstances prevented her from taking crucial prerequisites.
After some deliberation, Nair changed her major again.
After enrolling in Psychology 10, Nair realized she was
interested in psychobiology.
“The professor was awesome and the content was
interesting, so psychobiology it was,” Nair said.
Nair said changing her major twice was made feasible to her with
a little counseling. The different department counselors offered
Nair forms and timelines to help her in her decision.
“A lot of students switch their majors, but the sooner
students come to see department counselors, the better,” said
Irina Tauber, a psychobiology department adviser.
Arnold, too, utilized the different resources.
“Our campus really lets you pursue opportunities as you
discover them,” he said.
Nair said she would remind younger students that changing their
minds is OK.
“College is about exploring your options. I would much
rather find out what I want to do now than deciding when I am 45
that I really hate my job and wish I had done something else in
college,” she said.
Arnold said it’s fairly easy to change academic
directions.
“You can switch around and not lose that much
ground,” Arnold said, referring to his ability to count many
of the classes he had previously taken for his major toward GE
requirements instead.
“I’ve been able to take classes for fun and switch
around enough to be sure I’ve picked the correct degree for
me,” concluded Arnold.
Still, not having a set academic plan can be what Nair called
“emotionally draining” sometimes.
“You just have to remember that half the people around you
are still “˜finding themselves’ too,” she
said.