My reasoning

This is something I've been thinking about quite a bit recently, in a reflective way, because I often wonder how my life would have been if I had made different choices. This isn't because I wish I'd made those choices, it's just that I've realised that seemingly small decisions can have much larger effects. Thankfully for me, everything has worked out pretty much how I want it so far.

Anyway, this brings me to the reasoning behind what was probably the biggest decision of my life so far. My choice of University course (and of course, University.) Throughout my last 4 years at school, I'd been torn between two great loves, academically. Language, and science. My A levels were an even split between the two, and both fascinated me. I'd also been assured I would be capable of both at degree level, yet both were so different I HAD to choose between the two.

A great, great deal of thought went into that decision. Months and months and months. It had been in my subconscious for longer, that someday I'd have to make that choice, but in sixth form it suddenly all seemed so much more real and immediate. I found it incredibly difficult, even considered taking a gap year to give me some time to think about it.

And then, in July of the summer between lower and upper sixth, I had my epiphany, so to speak. I made my decision. I realized that, I want to learn. And I want to learn a lot. And once I'd learnt the skill of the language, I wasn't sure how much there would be to learn. But the beauty of science is, you have the opportunity to learn things nobody has ever made before. You can do your own research and, if successful, you can discover something totally new. I felt that, through science, I could be a more beneficial person. I could do medical research, or conservation work, or something, that could leave my mark. I couldn't do that as a linguist.

So I guess the reason I chose what I did was in the hope of getting that rare, almost impossible opportunity. Hopefully, (however unlikely it may be) my knowledge can make a difference one day.