My history major has helped me learn how to think critically about the past and the present. I’m often asked what I intend to do with my history major after college. I always answer that I don’t know yet, but that I’ll be ready for whatever it is. I didn’t come into college with clearly defined goals of attending med school, law school, or anything else. What I did know, though, is that I’d always enjoyed history. Throughout childhood, I loved history classes, the field trips to historic sites, and interning at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello just for fun. When it came time to declare my major, history seemed the obvious choice since I was passionate about the subject. I didn’t realize how perfect the History major would be for me. College has taught me that I am not a planner. I don’t think ten steps ahead; I’ve always embraced the idea that I will find my next step and figure it out. This approach to life invites a fair amount of uncertainty, and requires a lot of self-efficacy to deal with that uncertainty. However, I’ve derived that necessary self-efficacy from my study of history. To engage with the plot lines of history, students must constantly critically analyze what they’re reading and clearly communicate their thoughts about the subject. In other words, history majors learn how to synthesize information, draw conclusions about it, and then communicate those conclusions. Those skills apply to any job that I will ever have. So while I may not know where my next step will take me, my history major has assured me that I’ll be able to jump in and make a meaningful contribution to whatever it is.
Happiness
Creating a culture of well-being is a driving factor in everything I do. I’ve been interested in positive psychology since I first learned about the subject when I was 12. While exploring this field, I’ve identified systemic issues that cause distress among students across the United States. The most well-known of these issues is a culture of stress glorification, in which students feel peer pressure to push themselves beyond their limits as a method of social posturing. To mitigate this issue, I’ve dedicated myself to creating resources that alleviate stress and working to highlight the existing resources. Through my work as a Wellness Ambassador since my freshman year, I have spearheaded a campaign called FunMax, which encourages students to incorporate purposeful fun into their day. The campaign has many facets but focuses mainly on educating students about how psychology can help them be happier and creating opportunities for students to reflect on the self-care they already do. For FunMax to resonate with students, my team and I make the campaign fun to engage with, holding a digital presence and holding events that directly involve students. The best example of these events was a “Wellness Burst'' we held before finals last year. FunMax got a sponsorship from Sillybandz, a toy that was big among our age group when we were younger, and my team and I gave them out to students, provided they could tell us how they would take care of themselves during finals. Thus far, FunMax has been successful, and I can see a shift occurring at William and Mary. Wellness is slowly becoming ingrained into our daily lives, and that is work I’m very proud of.
