Changing and growing..

Over the past couple of days, I have been contemplating quitting psychology, actually possibly just not looking for jobs that my current educational qualifications will lead me to.

But change is hard. You’re hard wired to think in a certain way. Academia is wonderful but it also feels like a cop-out, which it definitely isn't. Because of Academia, I was introduced to a new way of looking at things.

I audited three courses in my third semester that were outside my department. They possibly changed my trajectory and future endeavors.

I had one course in Philosophy of Science. I thought it would be interesting to delve into this area even though I had decided to not study science in high school. My own subject of health psychology came under the School of medical sciences but so many people believed that it didn't. It was a soft science, barely a science, do you guys even do any tests or aren’t they all subjective’ a friend once asked.

The course was interesting and informative in so many ways but also my professor Professor Basu was a pretty cool person.It would take a while to put his character down in words but his entire persona always left his students awestruck.

The other two courses though they were from different departments beautifully tied into communication and connection. Health Communication by Usha ma’am was amazing. She was riveting. Her lectures often left me thinking about the power of communication. She was able to engage me even on topics that seemed dreary. Her ability to tell a story,hold your gaze inspired me to look at Psychology in a different way. We theoretically learn so much but in application,we sometimes fall through. Be engaging, think like Usha Raman. I could talk more about her but my other course was even more aligned to my own personal journey in rediscovering Art. The course was called Gender in Indian Films. We saw clips of movies, critiqued films, and had big discussions in class which was something most people don't encourage from their students. The course made me analyze films in a way I had never done before. I would watch some of the most horrid films possible, they were light and breezy and they didn't make me think a lot. I was happy in that world of enjoying simple cinema,I still am. But the course made me look at films like Quissa, Parched, Mother India and so many more clips from films that our teacher Professor Deepa introduced us to.

It has led me to consider Film studies and related disciplines because of the sheer joy I got in attending those lectures. I had near full attendance even though it wasn't a subject I would be graded on, and I had to go for it after all my scheduled classes in Psychology ended. I want to discuss some of the themes we spoke about in subsequent posts. I can now watch a film and reflect on things that I never really noticed before,I am proud but I am also curious. It is such a broad field and knowing even a little pulls you in.

Throughout my college years, I was interested in songwriting. I’ve had two bands and they have both given me so much joy. The writing bits especially.

The expression parts of songs are what drew me to storytelling. A song could be so much, the power of words truly did shine in music. For me at least. I am now going to go to research Screenplays and do some studying of my own. Always a student isn't such a bad thing if you get to study what you feel passionately about right?