My whole life I have been waiting for a sign–something that would impact the course of my entire existence, just saying “my major is …” The power this phrase has on me is amazing, as this will determine my future, how I will uphold my family’s name, and how I will be able to support them. This one phrase, especially for BIPOC families, is what will determine how our parents feel about us–i.e., either proud or disappointed. Coming from an immigrant household, I felt I had to become a STEM-related major. There are no other options because we are told that is what will help us survive; we are also told that without a STEM degree we will not find a job. The declaration that I always heard was, “you can’t be like us; you have to become something more, and that means you have to be a STEM major.” I have noticed in my time at Olaf that many students do not necessarily know what they actually want to major in, and that comes as a shock because ever since I could remember graduating as a STEM major was always the goal. Deciding on a major is one of the hardest decisions to make because it feels like I am signing away from my life and what I want it to be like. It amazes me how at such a young age, 19 or 20 years old, we decide our destiny, and how our journey will look from here on out. It also surprises me how we all live in the same world, but yet it seems as if we all live in completely different worlds. I definitely felt pressure throughout my whole life that going to excellent schools and succeeding in them will bring me a brighter future especially if I went to a STEM major. So my mentality since I was young was to be a STEM major in order to pull my family up the social ladder. I was interested in Economics as my major and a minor in DataScience and Statics because I always enjoyed math and looking at the different patterns of economic issues. Although many have told me that math is such a difficult subject, I always enjoyed it. Growing up I thought math was so much easier than English or Reading classes because I had a harder time trying to understand and since growing up I really only spoke Spanish, numbers came easier to me. I also wanted a career where I got to analyze different patterns of businesses and figure them out by using economic and statistics ideology. Selecting your major means painting the picture of what you want to do in the future. Picking a major does not only reflect on your image or identity but also sets an image for your family. This not only affects me but it also affects my family’s reputation and how we are looked at amongst other people. Especially since I have a brother, every action I make also reflects him and how he might be seen as. Growing up I tried to be the perfect Mexican daughter I could be by doing everything I was told to do and that means never having a bad image ever or else that would reflect back on to my brother and that is something I made sure never happened. The day of Declaration Day for me felt like this is where I will decide my own fate/future, my family’s reputation/future, and future generations. I was the beginning for the others that come after me.
