I just finished my first year at a liberal arts college. I went in thinking I wanted to major in math, but now I’m uncertain.
I started college taking calculus 3, and did fairly well in that class. However, when I took my first proof-based course, I experienced intense feelings of inadequacy. The class was beyond challenging for me and I had a really hard time wrapping my mind around the really abstract concepts. It was a tremendous struggle just to pass an exam and I was almost sure that I no longer wanted to be a math major. However, I participated in a math REU this past summer, honed my proof-skills, and genuinely enjoyed the math project that I was working on. I enjoyed pretty much every aspect of it- the pattern-finding, proof-writing, finding crucial mistakes which often led to starting over, etc. It was a job that I could see myself really enjoying in the future.
However, I don’t get this same enjoyment out my math classes, and I think this is due to the stress and time-pressure. It takes me a while to learn something, but when it finally clicks, I know it very very well and really grow to love it. But it is difficult to reach this level of mastery and enjoyment which such little time between topics.
I’ve also considered more technical fields, however, such as software or electrical engineering and applied physics. I grew up always trying to figure out how mirrors worked/ were created, how light-bulbs worked, etc. I find all of this very interesting, and I love reading the physics behind it all. When I look at electric circuits or think about learning how to create a program, I get a rush of excitement. But I also get a rush of excitement when I work on more abstract math.
I’ve browsed through a lot of threads on here regarding pure math vs engineering/physics and it seems like people like either one or the other and it is obvious which one, but in my case I feel like I really like both the theoretical and applied side to things. Since I have to decide on a major this year, and have to start taking major classes asap, I would really like some advice on how I should approach this decision.