How diversifying your university electives can shape your career and personal growth

By University Study

By Lisha Lao, Carleton University

One of the greatest benefits of going to university is being able to take advantage of the large and varied catalog of courses. I am studying journalism with a minor in philosophy because I wish to be a great writer someday. My minor has exposed me to some of the greatest thoughts and ideas in human history, and it’s amazing to me that I have access to professors who devote their lives to a single field of study and excel in it.

Philosophy poses big questions–like “What is real?”, “How should I live?” and “How do I know?”–with no definitive response because the knowledge is found in the thinking and discussion. The area of study has changed the way I approach journalism by placing what I do in the greater scheme of things. I intend to present and deliver the objective truth to the public with as much care as I can. Studying philosophy has trained my brain to approach every person or subject involved in the news-gathering process as an end in itself even within the big picture.

You can also learn something about yourself through diversifying your electives.

The Time Will Pass Anyway

There is no unlived reality,

where everything went right.

There is only here and now,

so I will vow to hold on tight.

To the only you that ever lived,

the only me that mattered.

I’ll keep trying despite the pitfalls,

for that Happy Ever After.

Here’s to memories forgotten,

all the time we can’t get back.

Here’s to planting seeds in gardens,

for the hope of future impact.

Because love, it will persist,

through the pain and all the sorrows.

Each and every climb and stumble,

only serves a new tomorrow.

By Ashe Zhang, poet, fourth-year computer science major, Carleton University.

Zhang says they have always loved learning about programming and coding and chose to study computer science to build a career in a growing industry. Creative writing is something that has always interested Zhang, who says they started writing poetry towards the end of high school.

“My whole life I’ve been writing stories and then got into poetry as sort of an outlet, I think,” says Zhang. “To process my feelings and stuff like sorting through my thoughts, that sort of thing. I started getting involved more with, like the Poetics Society…And then took poetry classes… Which has really helped further my love for writing poetry and reading poetry as well.”

Zhang is in the computer game development stream and says they are interested in making story-based video games after graduation. They say their English electives have helped refine their storytelling abilities.

“That’s the kind of game that I wanna make where it’s pushing the limits of what you think a video game can be and then telling a really great story.” Studying one thing does not limit you to that field, and taking electives outside of your subject area can shape the way you think for the rest of your life. University is for exploring who you are, what you like, and who you want to become.

How diversifying your university electives can shape your career and personal growth

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