MY TESTIMONY

As is the case with most people, growing up my parents always emphasized the importance of helping others. As I got older I started to realize that it was more than just a simple life lesson, but rather a true passion of mine. I always loved math and science and in seventh grade I decided I wanted to study biomedical engineering and help develop medicines to treat autoimmune conditions. However, life doesn't always work out the way we expect. As I worked my way through college, I began to realize that I wasn't in the program I was meant to be in. The excessive work and grueling all-nighters didn't seem to be getting me any closer to my goals. I missed having time to focus on the creative pursuits I had enjoyed in high school such as writing, drawing and painting. I was stressed, overworked and didn't have time to take care of my mental or physical health. And so, the summer before my senior year at Mercer University, I made the truly terrifying decision to change my major.

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As part of the engineering curriculum, I had already had to take a few technical communication classes and decided to look into the program a bit more, and I fell in love with what I found. It had everything I was looking for: the ability to write and be creative, the chance to stay in the world of STEM which I loved so much, and most importantly the opportunity to help others become the best versions of themselves possible.

I was enraptured by every class including technical editing, social media management, multimedia, instructional design and even international technical communication. Everything about the program drew me in. I was given multiple opportunities to work with major real-world clients and for the first time in four years I finally felt like I was learning how to make my mark on a professional industry.

As I began taking the classes offered in the program I found myself enamored with one class in particular. Usability offered the unique opportunity to apply my creativity and hobbyist's passion for psychology to a tangibly scientific method of study. I was able to conduct multiple usability studies and decided that that was the field I wanted to build a career in. Every step I have taken since has been with that end goal in mind. I decided to minor in mathematics to better analyze quantitative data, I continued to study psychology in my spare time, and most importantly I took an independent study in UX and was able to not only continue learning necessary skills and how to apply them, but also conduct graduate level research and write a recommendation report which aimed to understand the advancements which may be imperative to the evolution of in-person and remote usability testing.

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As I finish up my time at Mercer, I can finally look to the future and feel confident in my ability to add a truly valuable perspective to any work environment. And so, I can definitively say that while changing my major a month before senior year was terrifying and stressful (and in all honesty, ill-advised), it was also the best decision I have ever made.