Changing majors is a series in which people discuss the conflicts they faced when switching majors.

Violet Zhu

Conflict: Nutrition in Steinhardt to Psychology in CAS; Talent

Senior Violet Zhu decided to change her major from nutrition in Steinhardt to Psychology in the College of Arts and Science at the end of her sophomore year, because  even though nutrition was an interest of hers, she had a hard time grasping some of the concepts in her courses.

“At first, I thought I couldn’t give up because I was not doing well in one class,” Zhu said. “But then in sophomore year, I realized that the classes were only going to get harder and harder, and it was really a field that I was just not good at. And I also became less and less interested because I wasn’t doing as well as my other courses.”

At the same time, Zhu found herself more interested in psychology classes, after first taking it as one of the requirements for the nutrition major. Unlike nutrition, which required a lot of memorization, psychology was more about logical reasoning, which fell into Zhu’s strengths.

“Nutrition is something very specific and technical, not like math or statistics that I can relate to what I want to do in the future,” Zhu said. “For example, if I want to be in a corporate setting, my knowledge in nutrition field won’t make me more competitive at all.”

Despite her desire to transfer, Zhu was concerned her application to do so would be rejected, resulting in her missing out on another semester of psychology and potentially fall behind. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

As for the future, instead of being a dietician as she originally imagined, Zhu plans to work in human resources after graduation in the spring. Looking back on her decision, Zhu wished she would have made the change earlier.

“I wish I made that decision sooner,” Zhu said. “So I didn’t have to waste time doing nutrition-related internships or research, and instead, I could have done more human resources related or psychology related research.”

A version of this article appeared in the Dec. 7 print edition. Email Lingyi Hou at [email protected].