Post 4: Career related topic

 To choose a college career at 18 years old was tough and distressing. I gave it a thousand turns in my head, I felt like I wasn't able to make a mistake in my decision, a decision that I -believed- was going to mark my future.  What I was sure of was that my interests were more aligned to the humanistic and social side, before the scientific side.

Once I was able to sort my ideas, I identified my top 3 college careers that I liked the most, which were: history, sociology and law. Finally, I go for a History Degree at the Universidad de Chile. I chose that career because there are many teachers in my family, so I felt like I have to follow this sort of “legacy”, besides that I love history. Nevertheless, my family suspected that I wasn’t going to feel fulfilled with it. And that’s how it went. In the beginning I struggled a lot with recognizing that I wanted to change into another career, but once I managed to talk with my mom and unburden myself, I felt so much comprehension and support.

 

So, I continue with my second option: Sociology. The principal reason for me to enter this career is because I love to learn new things, I like to know how social systems work, and understand why we are in an “x” situation. I love to learn, and I feel that this career gives me the necessary tools for me, to know how to do researches and to quench my thirst for knowledge, curiosities and ponder on the structural problems, how they behave and how these structural problems have individual consequences. In the beginning I felt my reasons were selfish, because they weren’t reasons like to “help others” or “be a contribution to this society” but now, that I’m in the middle of my career I think that in reality, sociology really has given me the tools to make smalls changes possible somewhere. For example, work with LGBT people, public politics, doing research, create ong´s or popular schools, etc.

 

I believe that studying sociology has been one of the most beautiful choices I have ever made. It has been a journey, full of doubts, confusion, and fears, but also full of learning. I feel grateful for having this opportunity. This doesn’t mean that everything’s perfect, because it isn’t, there are so many aspects that the Universidad de Chile has to improve, but at least I feel comfortable with my decision.