Major Change...

Well life is just full of unexpected twists and turns. :-) Last week I officially changed my major. Unbelievable, I know, especially with the original plan of my graduation in April and an internship in the summer. So here's how it happened....

For the last 5 years I've been having fun at college learning new things and working toward a degree in therapeutic recreation. I had hoped to someday work with troubled youth and dysfunctional families using recreation as a modality of therapy. This semester I was finishing up my last 2 classes and planned to do a full time internship over the spring and summer terms. Steve planned to stay home with the baby during the day while I went to work and then he would go to work at night. We assumed this was a great plan especially since the places I was looking to do internships were paid and Steve was excited to get some "father/son" bonding time all summer long. Well this obviously was before the economy did a face plant off a skyscraper and before our sweet little Alex joined our family.

With the economy tanking, rec therapist jobs are getting cut from a number of agencies since it is a relatively new field. Professionals are now going for jobs that us fresh out of college students usually would get just so they can have an income. Being that they are much more qualified you can imagine who's getting the jobs. Another problem is that many facilities that are into helping troubled youth aren't hiring Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialists, of whom I have to have as a supervisor on my internship.

Even before the economy posed a threat to my potential profession, I had been becoming increasingly disenchanted with my major--the idea was great in theory and I'm sure I'd love actually doing the work in the field, but as for the classes I've taken at BYU on the subject, I feel like I've learned very little and am extremely ill prepared for work in this profession. I also have found that there are numerous employment opportunities doing what I had originally wanted to from agencies just looking for people with a degree and various skills.

Then came Alex....the biggest factor in my decision. Oh how I love my little boy! It has been a wonderful, stressful 2 months with having given birth to and caring daily (and nightly :-) ) for a baby. With his unique conditions they found at birth I've had a hard time adjusting mentally and emotionally to life as a mom. The thoughts of what challenges life may hold for my precious baby, and how people may treat him are constantly on my mind. Mentally, emotionally, and physically I really don't think I could handle doing an internship, if I could find one, right now. I tried to imagine myself working 8+ hours a day with people and their problems, then coming home and trying to have the energy to take care of a crying baby with the thoughts of his challenges always lingering in the back of my mind, and I just didn't see myself being happy or enjoyable to be around. Being a wife and mother are the most important things in my life and I wouldn't want anything to hinder my relationship with either Steve or Alex.

So after much thought, prayer, and talking with Steve, I've changed my major to a program I've almost completed with my existing credits-- Family Life: Home & Family Living Emphasis. I'm really excited to finish out this major! I get to take some fun, awesome classes: Floral design, landscape design, intermediate sewing, food prep in the home, family meal management, Religion in the home, and home and family living (intro class). The best thing about this new plan is that I only have to do a capstone class rather then an internship to get this degree. With this new path, Steve gets to keep working at the MTC full time during the summer, he can finish his internship, I get to enjoy my time with Alex this summer and not be stressed out beyond healthy levels ;-), I get to take some really fun classes I've wanted to take and learn some new practical skills, Steve and I can finally take a dance class together (one semester I'll need another .5 credit hours), we'll graduate at the same time next April, and if I wanted to later reapply to BYU I could finish my 2nd degree with simply completing an iternship in RMYL.

Even though it is a big change and means a bit more school for me, the decision feels good.