The Inevitable Change

By Brenna Ryan
M&M Group Program Mentee

Everyone changes career objectives in one way or another when they come to college.  It could be anything from a change in engineering concentrations to a complete change of school.  I thought I would be different—I had known what I wanted to do with my life since I was four years old, why wouldn’t I want to be a civil engineer.  When you get to college, arrive open-minded and be prepared for the inevitable change.  I always loved building things when I was growing up—I designed homes on architecture programs, made index card houses, cardboard hotels, vertical farm science experiments, you name it.  However, when I started taking classes here and learned more about the different disciplines, I found that civil engineering wasn’t what I thought it would be.  Not in a bad way, I just wasn’t very into the whole sitting in an office all day kind of job.  I knew I wanted to be out and about in the field where things were being built.  I wanted to watch a magnificent feat of engineering go from ground up and be able to say: “I BUILT THAT!”  After I made this realization, I was lost for a bit.  Maybe engineering wasn’t the things for me!  What if I was meant to be a teacher or a musician or something else?  This momentary panic was only replaced by assurances from advisors, friends and family that engineering could still work, I just needed to find the correct type of engineering.  My advisor pointed me towards Construction Engineering and Management (CEM) in an effort to relieve my stress. 

Never underestimate the power of communication and networking.  I talked to a senior currently in the program, the internship director, the secretaries, everyone I could.  I went to ‘Engineering Your Major’ sessions where I learned even more about the differences between programs and what the workload for each major would entail.  It was through this process that I fell in love with CEM. Construction Engineering would allow me to be a field engineer and work on the ground of engineering sites.  I would be required to get an internship and learn about what the real work-force situation would be like, and my course load would be the perfect balance of engineering and management classes.  All in all, I now am in a major where I feel perfectly comfortable and excited to be learning.  I have internships guaranteed for the next three summers, and I am receiving the utmost support from my friends and family.

I want to leave you dear readers with one important idea here, if you haven’t gotten it already: it is OK to change majors.  It is OK if you don’t know what exactly you want to do with your future.  Purdue is the perfect environment to explore you interests and develop confidence in your career choice.  I love my school, and even though I had to change my major, I am better off because of it.