I have always wanted to become a doctor. This has always been my mindset and it is the reason why I didn’t have a hard time choosing my course, BS Psychology. But looking back to my last year in high school, I realized that so many classmates of mine were still clueless on what course to take up even if they would be marching up the stage and heading off to college in just a few months. This made me think, “What would happen to them when they head off to college? What if they wont like the course they’ve chosen?”
Then suddenly the answer came to me. The answer was shift. Why do students shift courses? The first thing that would usually come across a person’s mind when asked this question is because he or she doesn’t like his or her course. Although not everyone has the same answer, his or her reasons would usually lead to this one, and it is very true. Students still shift to other courses because they are not happy with where they are, with what they are learning and with where they are headed.
There are many reasons why students are not happy with their courses, and the first reason could be because these students don’t really know what they want to do or be in life yet. Like a few of my classmates back in high school, many students head out into college without having a fixed mindset on what they want to be, where they want to go, and what they want to do in the future. Because of this, some of them ended up letting their parents choose courses that suit them, and the others chose courses that they thought they were interested in and/or courses that would make them rich.
But because these students who let their parents pick out the course for them or those who picked a course because they thought they liked it and/or would make them rich, haven’t really decided on what they really want before entering college, a lot of them tend to end up changing their minds and realize what they actually want in life a little too late, and that is why they shift to another course.
Some students though, who already know what they want to take up for college, end up not taking the courses they really want since the courses aren’t considered “practical” and so they end up choosing courses that don’t really suit them or make them happy.
Some of these students who apply for “practical” courses instead of the “unpractical” ones they really want, end up realizing later on in their college life that they don’t care anymore whether or not the course they want is practical, and so they shift. Marco Bartolome, a block mate of mine, told me this: “I’m thinking of shifting to English and Literature because Literature is what I’m really interested in. The way I orient my academic skills is toward humanities rather than sciences. But I applied for Psychology because it seemed practical and it’s really flexible – I can end up anywhere; from medicine, teaching, researching or law.”
Another reason could be because some students may have slight changes in their plans on life and so they shift courses because they think there are other courses that will benefit them more, help them do better in their future careers and be happy at the same time as well. I remember a conversation I had with Anne Martillano, another block mate of mine, and we were discussing and worrying about how our lives were going to turn out later on after college and her plan to shift courses somehow came up. She said: “Science isn’t my thing but I applied for Psychology because I wanted to be a doctor.
But in senior year I was starting to have second thoughts since I had Chemistry and I hated it. I ended up liking Math more so now I’m planning to shift to Management Engineering. ” I was very shocked when I found out that Rej Bagonoc, a Biology classmate of mine was apparently a junior and everyone else in the class were freshmen. I asked him why he was the only junior taking the same class with a bunch of freshmen and he told me this: “I shifted from Health Sciences to Life Sciences because I realized I wanted to become a teacher instead of a doctor.
Health Sciences didn’t offer enough Biology units and Life Sciences did so I started my shift processing halfway through sophomore year. I officially shifted just this summer of junior year. I can’t wait to teach Biology in Philippine Science High School, my alma mater, back home in Davao! ” Although these do not sum up all of the reasons why students shift courses, I believe that students shift mainly because they aren’t happy with where they are, with what they are learning, or with where they are headed.
Students who are going through these types of situations should keep in mind that although they made their decisions a little too late, there is always a solution to a problem, and in this case the solution is to shift. Shifting may delay a person a few semesters or maybe a few years, but when it comes to one’s happiness, the delay doesn’t matter anyway. As Albert Schweitzer said, “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. ”
