Hi! My name is Elizabeth Christie and I am a senior, majoring in Biology and minoring in Spanish. I began my first semester at Indiana University in the fall of 1996. At that point in my life I really did not have any idea of what I wanted to pursue as a career. I especially did not know what major to choose. However, I am the kind of person who likes to have things planned out in advance. My dad pretty much convinced me to study Biology and work toward Medical School. Unfortunately, I soon realized that I did not enjoy my science classes. Not only did I not enjoy them, but I was not an excellent student in the sciences. My fear of changing my plans for my major and also my fear of being a "quitter" propelled me to continue studying Biology.

All of the sudden, or so it seemed, came my junior year at I.U. and I realized that Medical School was no longer a goal I intended to pursue. I did realize that my passion was for helping people, especially the sick. I enrolled in a special section of Q294, which is a course that helps students explore Health Care Careers. At this point I was frightened of not knowing what to do next. The instructor recommended that I see an Exploratory Student Services counselor.

After spending almost two hours speaking with the counselor, I realized that there was nothing to be ashamed of concerning not knowing what career I was interested in. My discussion with the ESS counselor lead me to explore my options and to really search myself to find out what career would best suit me. He made me realize that the smart course of action was to do as much research as I could and make informed decisions.

Now, it is my senior year and after searching myself and other sources of information, I think I know what is best for me. I plan to graduate in May 2000 and enter into Nursing School soon after. I am very happy with this choice and even though it took a lot of hard work to get to this point, I am satisfied because I can feel confident that I made the best decision for me. Now that everything is said and done, I think the best piece of advice I could give is to look around. Do not limit yourself and make sure to explore every option.