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Academic Advising
Yuqiao Zhang: "Always Listen to Your Heart and Follow It"
Text Transcript
(In this video junior Yuqiao Zhang, a major in psychology, describes how taking one course led to her change in major.)
"When I received my offer from Miami, actually my parents have already chose major for me which is accounting, but at that time I really don't know what I want to do in the future, so I think maybe going to business school might be a safe choice to make.
"So, I study for two years in the business school, and I have a feeling of being lost and unconfident, and after two years of business school and a summer internship in a bank, I was even more hesitated about if I should continue major in accounting because I know that I'm not a person that I don't want sitting down in a little box and dealing with numbers the whole day; it's not what I'm wanting for my life after graduation.
"So, I think that what I'm interested in and passionate with, because I want to find the confidence back in my life — I think that is very important. So, psychology has always been very attractive to me. I think it's very interdisciplinary to me; it also trains your thinking critically, which is very helpful for advanced education, or basically any job position.
"So, in my first semester of my junior year I took Introduction to Psychology course and it brought me the feeling of being reborn because I found my confidence back and I think, 'Maybe it's time to make a change and make a decision for myself, when it's all about my own life and not depending on my parents decision.'
"I talked with my parents and talked about my plans and thoughts, and to my surprise they were more supportive to me. Since then, I know that as long as you know what you're doing, and you're braver than you thought, and you deserve more support. This is my second year in psychology department. One feeling is I've never been so powerful and so confident, like never, ever before because I know I'm doing a right thing and I have cleared a plan for future.
"I think whenever you have concerns about your academic life, I think you don't know because people don't know what they don't know, but there are a lot of professional people here, that do know what you don't know; they might offer you a lot of advice and many information that might really impact your plans about your future. I think meeting with an academic advisor is really helpful, and I think if you can do it here for people attending Exploring Majors Fair, I think it already has success to explore a new major and find the right thing to do with your future.
"My career goal will be mass media industry because I found that every time I turn on TV it's all about bad news; I can't see love and peace, and I think that makes people more ... they can't see the bright side — the brightness of the world. I want to bring more brightness and happiness to the mass media industry and I think psychology will be really helpful to help me to know human beings well and to know how people think and what people really need mentally.
"Always be confident no matter what situation you are dealing with. Being confident is very important. Always do something that makes you happy. I think happiness can bring success and it can bring you money too. Always listen to your heart and follow it. Don't lie to yourself."
[January 2013]