I have a very wonderful, caring father who has supported me with his entire heart for my whole life.
He'd come to cheer me on at all my athletic events, even when there was a football game on, encouraged me with everything I do, and has always told me that he believes I'll be successful in any path I choose.
He's also never missed sending me a Valentine's day card. (Although I gave him the wrong address this year, so I learned today that my Valentine's Day card is waiting for me in Germany! Opps!)
In some ways though, I know I've strained his parental tolerance to the limit. No, I've never been arrested, never totaled the car, never failed a course in school... or any of those other things that make a parent wonder where they went wrong.
No, I did something even worse!
I decided in college that I wanted to do my degree in Classical Languages. Latin and 5th Century BC Attic Greek, to be exact.
"Ancient Greek?" my poor, beleaguered father thought. "What in the world is she going to do with a degree in ancient Greek?"
And I'm sure he's not the only parent who worries when their kid decides to study something unconventional.
However, my decision to study Classical Languages was beneficial for several reasons.
First, the fact that I chose to study something I loved, meant that I was studying a subject that I actually wanted to learn about. I can't tell you how many students were only drifting through college, waiting to get their degrees. They would do the bare minimum to get a decent grade, and then entertain themselves by going out drinking and skipping class the next day. It didn't really matter to them because they didn't genuinly care about the subject.
My experience, on the other hand, was very good. I had a goal--to start reading Homer's Iliad before graduation--and put the time in to make that happen. Generally, the other students studying classical languages felt the same way (although they had other books in mind), and as a result, we were able to move a lot faster than other language courses I've been in. My first year of ancient Greek covered as much material as I had learned in four years of Spanish. By the second year, we were reading passages straight from the ancient texts. By my third year, my professor was so impressed by how much material we covered in class, that he didn't even bother to give us a final. He said we had already proven our competence.
Secondly, because I studied a subject that I loved, my professor noticed my passion and responded. At Luther, I managed to switch majors five times before Christmas of my junior year. I studied everything from Management to Spanish to Communications to English. And eventually quit all four.
Unfortunately, that left me in a bit of a connundrum when it came time to declare my major! The only thing constant about my studies at college were my Greek courses. I had originally intended to be a Classics minor, while studying something a little bit more useful. But, eventually the Greek was the only thing I had left. So, I decided to get my degree in dead languages!
Unfortunately again, I was a little behind on my Latin and would have had to stay an extra semester at college to finish that last class. I mentioned that to my Greek professor, who had suggested the Classics major in the first place, and he immediately volunteered to teach me independently. He had enough confidence in my ability and passion that he was willing to teach me two semesters of Latin in one semester.
Most teachers wouldn't be willing to do that. But Professor Burris knew how hard I worked and how much I wanted to learn, and decided to sacrifice some of his own time to help me. Because he was willing to do that, I save an entire semester's worth of tuition ($14,000) and was able to graduate from college a semester early! (Something my father did appreciate!)
I think that many times we put too much focus on the question "what are you going to do with that?". I don't plan to do much with my own degree, but because I decided to study something I loved and was passionate about, I learned a lot more than many of my friends, who were just in college to get their degree. Additionally, I studied something I'll probably never get the chance to study again, had professors who wholeheartedly supported my efforts and were willing to go above and beyond their job to help me when I needed it, and had the fantastic experience of working incredibly hard to read the original version of my favorite book.
And as for my father, he's finally accepted that my degree in Classical Languages had some value. It helped me get into grad school to study business innovation, at least! Now he's preoccupied with worrying what I'll ever do with a degree in Creativity!
Some things never change and parents always worry. But a thing to remember is that the college experience is not just job-training, it's life training. Studying something I love taught me much more about life and my capabilities than some of the more standardized majors could have. I don't regret that choice!
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