Changing majors: Sign of weakness or maturity?

College Majors
1

<p>I'm currently in my second semester majoring in Architecture and I'm starting to doubt whether I'm in the right major</p>

<p>First off, a little background. Although I don't study in North America, I currently attend the most prestigious Architecture school in my country (Sounds pretentious, I know, but I only mean to emphasise the expectations placed on me) My father and his brothers are all Architects and ever since I was a child, I always dreamed of being one too. I entered college with enthusiasm and high ambition. Fast forward to the present. Despite all the blood, sweat and tears shed during the first semester, I managed to scrape away with the lowest passing grade for my design studio. Throughout a semester of observing my classmates, I came to realise that I was probably the least talented of my peers, and my grades reflected this. Being the ambitious person that I am, this was a huge blow to my self esteem and drive. It made me eventually ask myself, "Is this really my calling?"</p>

<p>See, I was never that kid who drew buildings or played with lego a lot. I always thought Architecture was for me since I did quite well in maths and sciences in high school and demonstrated a dab of artistry. Recently, I've acquired a burning passion for filmmaking, spending any free time I have in the Film Institute library of my university, practicing cinematography and watching dozens of films every week. I took up an Introduction to Film as my GE and have so far been loving every minute of it</p>

<p>I want to shift to Film, but I'm held back by the shame. Telling everyone for years that I only intended to pursue Architecture, getting into a prestigious Architecture school, my parent's pride in me. If I back out now, I feel like I'll only look weak and indecisive. I finally gathered the courage to express my thoughts of shifting to those around me, and I was hit with a wave of negative feedback. My upperclassmen friends all assured me the first year was just an adjusting phase and Id get settled in eventually. My uncle had a talk with me
on how I should stick it out. My Dad has always given me the freedom to major in anything I want to, but I know he's always dreamed of me becoming an Architect. I know he wants career and financial stability for me, and breaking into the film industry is just too unpredictable.</p>

<p>I'm hoping you guys can impart whatever wisdom you can on me. I know eventually, the decision lies only in my hands. But is it alright to wake up one day and realise your dream of many years has changed? Should I overlook the opinions and expectations of those around me and chase a passion that probably wont end up paying me very well?</p>

<p>tl;dr - I'm an Architecture major. After realising I have no skill or talent for it, I want to switch to film, but I'm weighed down by my family's expectations and the fact that a film degree is considered as a 'useless degree'</p>

<p>PS. Sorry if that was a long read, I needed to vent my frustration</p>

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<p>Hmmm, if I were in your shoes, I’d also be extremely conflicted. On one hand, your previous dreams of being an architect are dashed because of your realization that architecture may not be the best for you. In addition, you have your parents, who may give you the freedom, but at the same time, you yourself feel guilty for possibly disappointing them. I understand your predicament because I actually always wanted to do business, but my dad keeps pressuring me to doing engineering, telling me that he won’t support me financially if I don’t do as he says. Because of this, I think to myself, “Should I follow my dreams and earn my own money to support myself, or should I just do as he says so that I won’t disappoint him.” Anyways, to get back to your situation, i will say this (even though it’s easy for me to say): I would go for the filming. </p>

<p>You told us already, you love to do it and are passionate about it. If you are so passionate about film, eventually you will find a place for it. At the beginning of your career, you may not be earning a lot of money (unless you have connections), but as time goes by and your reputation grows (as long as you do a good job which you should because passion=hard work=prob do a good job with filmmaking), chances are, you’ll probably land a decent job. You may not get a ton of money, but you’ll be happy and probably get by with still some money to spare. If you love film as much as you say you do, you will find time to do a great job in whatever project you are doing, and ppl will realize it. On the other hand, if you choose architecture, like you said (not to offend you), there are probably a lot of ppl, whether in your class or not, who actually enjoy architecture like you enjoy film. Thus, they’ll do a good job and you won’t because you’re not particularly enjoying architecture right now. </p>

<p>It’s easy for me to say, and I only know a bit of your family background. Your parents(uncle and father) may be slightly disappointed that you didn’t follow in their footsteps, but when they see how happy you are with film, if they love you very much, they’ll understand eventually. It may take a while for them to get used to the idea but you have to try for yourself. A film degree is not a “useless degree.” Without people like you who enjoy film, there will only be terrible films in this world which is bad. </p>

<p>I will leave you with this somewhat cheesy but true note: Sometimes, you have to learn to let go of others’ expectations and do something for yourself for once. I mean, do you really want to be miserable with architect. You’ll make even less money because you won’t do a good job and nobody will hire you. It’s up to you, but I suggest changing to film. Do it for yourself. I hope this helps a little. Write back to me if you want to tell me your decision etc. I won’t judge either way.</p>