Back to Where I Began

This blog entry will reflect on an exciting and important change that is happening to me at the moment. I’ll make a long and complicated story very short: I’m officially in the process of becoming a Communicative Disorders major once again. I used to be one, but I dropped it a few semesters ago. It was actually my second major (after Pre-PT), which I switched to in the second semester of my freshman year. I became a History major instead, but ended up changing that into a minor last fall. Since I was planning on graduating as a fifth year student in May 2020 anyways, I signed up to do the Creative Writing Certificate (Nonfiction) in order to have a reason to stay until the spring semester and for the nonfiction-writing experience. However, I’ve decided to complete the remaining courses I have left in the COMD major, rather than pursue the writing certificate. This also means I’ll no longer be doing an internship this summer. Instead, I’ll be taking a few summer school courses and probably working part-time.

I definitely made a mistake in dropping the COMD major. I made a hasty decision during a time when I felt unconfident in myself and stressed about my classes. Even though I enjoy being an English major, I love literature, and I’m so grateful for what being an English major has done for me, I’ve always felt a little sad and guilty about leaving COMD. The human body, anatomy, physiology, and the like have always fascinated me. Ever since high school, a part of me has wanted to pursue a career in the healthcare field. COMD is perfect for me because I can major in an area in which prepares me for careers in healthcare, but doesn’t require a lot of general science or advanced math courses like other health-related majors. One of the reasons why I was upset when I dropped COMD was because I hadn’t taken the courses I was most looking forward to such as “Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech and Hearing Mechanisms,” “Aural Rehabilitation,” “Neuroscience of Communication and Associated Behaviors,” and “Medical Terminology.” But, no need for me to feel sad about that anymore! Starting this summer, I will begin taking these types of classes again and I cannot express how much I’m looking forward to doing so! My love for learning about medicine, the human body, anatomy, healthcare fields, etc. especially made the decision to drop the major difficult, as it seemed like I was letting go of a part of myself forever. In addition to taking the upper-level COMD courses, I’m also incredibly excited to begin discovering this aspect of myself again.  

Here comes the technical editing/writing relation to this post. With my English degree, I was really considering pursuing a career related to publishing, editing, and writing. The technical writing/editing field seemed like a promising and reliable option. However, I’m not a super techy person. I also don’t know anything about business, marketing, advertising, or other fields that most likely have technical writers and editors employed in their companies. The exception to that statement is the healthcare field. I learned that technical writers and editors are hired within healthcare/medicine/clinical settings. I think double-majoring in Communicative Disorders and English would certainly make me a likely candidate for such a position. By the time I graduate, I’ll have familiarity with some of the different types of documents used within speech and hearing professions, knowledge of common terminology often used in these settings, and a fairly strong writing background. I’m not entirely sure if this is the route I want to take, but I know it’s certainly an option. I also feel relieved at majoring in Communicative Disorders again because it’ll open many more career opportunities for me. Since I’m not pursuing a teaching route with English, I really don’t know what’s in-demand, available, or secure within the job market. People say English majors end up in a variety of places after graduation, but I’m not interested in many of them nor do I have relevant experience for others. Now I just have to start exploring my options with COMD!         

  

(Photo credit: https://www.onlinebiologynotes.com/human-ear-structure-anatomy/)