Lauren
Coming into college, nursing was at the forefront of my mind and I knew it was a time-intensive, stressful, and challenging major that would prove difficult to balance among extracurriculars, work, and social life. However, I always knew that I wanted to study Spanish and incorporate it into my career.
At Binghamton, nursing and Spanish have virtually no overlap (except for Advanced Medical Spanish, which proved to be one of my favorite courses so far in college) and are in completely different schools (Decker and Harpur). It seemed that out of any of my nursing friends that were pursuing a minor, it was only Forensic Health or Health and Wellness, the two minors offered in Decker.
In combination with my long list of Gen Ed's yet to be fulfilled, pursuing a Spanish minor took a lot of finessing and a lot of advising appointments. However, as a first-semester junior, I have one class left for my minor and zero Gen Ed's left, despite a botched study-abroad plan and other unexpected obstacles I had to hop over.
6 TIPS TO PURSUE A MINOR YOU'RE PASSIONATE ABOUT
#1: Plan, plan, and plan some more
If you want to graduate at a certain time with as few hiccups as possible, PLAN. I planned out my entire 4 years during my first semester of freshman year on a little page of loose leaf and a lot of my own research on the Binghamton's website and the BU Brain. I knew there was limited wiggle room with electives and time for Gen Ed's with a rigorous nursing program, so I had to be as strategic as possible.
#2: Use advising resources to your advantage
I may be a little biased, but Decker's advising network is such an amazing resource with many different perspectives. When I was trying to work out exactly what path I should take with my minor, I looked on Decker's website and realized one of the senior peer advisors was a Spanish minor and immediately went to her walk-in hours. She helped me realize that this was a feasible goal and gave me valuable pointers in navigating coursework I wasn't sure on. The language department also was very eager to help in guiding me through my plan to study abroad.
#3: Find ways to combine requirements
It seemed like I took all the wrong AP classes in high school because I came into Binghamton with very few Gen Ed's fulfilled. This was definitely intimidating, but I learned that with enough research and willingness to adapt, you can work your way around requirements. Choosing minor/major classes that also fulfilled Gen Ed's was HUGE for me. As a couple of examples, SPAN 344 fulfilled my Humanities Gen Ed and SPAN 382B fulfilled my nursing elective (which I learned after already taking my nursing elective, oops!). Use BU Brain and degree works to your advantage, you can learn so much that professors and advisors won't necessarily think to tell you.
#4: DON'T get discouraged!
Part of my eagerness to plan my entire college career revolved around when/where/how I would study abroad. Studying abroad for a full semester is almost impossible as a nursing major, but I wouldn't let that stop me. For 2 years I planned to study in Madrid, Spain in the summer of 2020. I was researching an amazing program through Binghamton that seemed perfect, but was discontinued in 2019. Many more months of research, planning, and applying later, I was accepted (with my best friend) to another program through Stony Brook in Madrid in June 2020. However, as you may guess, it was cancelled due to COVID-19. Instead of pitying myself and giving up, I did my best to be resilient and take online classes at home instead to keep me on track (hopefully I'll make it to Madrid one day).
#5: DON'T compare your workload to others, even in your own major
Nursing is a tough major, and even tougher when you fill any free time in your schedule with more classes. You'll make yourself crazy if you compare yourself to others. You may miss a few nights out, have to wake up a little earlier, buy a few more coffees, but you will not regret the countless hours you put in. Keep your head up, go to the library, and work hard - it will pay off!
#6: Choose this because YOU love it, not to impress anyone else
Don't get pressured by your parents or friends to do a minor (or anything) you're not passionate about because it will never stick. I stuck with doing this because I really loved what I was learning about and the opportunities it would give me. If in your heart you know it's not for you, don't do it! But if you're like me and it didn't feel right to not give it a shot - go for it! You can do it!!!
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