Collegewise Alumni: How My Broken Foot Made Me An English Major

Many of our counselors share how their past and present students often "wow" them—whether it's via a hard-hitting or inspirational essay with an interesting perspective, or through a fun story that they share, years later, as they look back at their college experiences.

Every month, we're featuring stellar writing by some of our former students (we like to call them "Collegewise Alumni").

This month, we're featuring Camille Wold, who learned that what you think you want, is not always what you end up pursuing. She switched her major three times, but learned so much about herself along the way.

Everything I did revolved around my dream, from what I prioritized to the friends I chose to hang out with.

So, when I first sat down with my counselor at Collegewise, it was pretty easy to answer the question “Do you know what you want to major in?” Before I could even think twice, "DANCE” came out of my mouth. 

I ended up applying to almost every school to study dance. I prepared to take on audition after audition.

Then senior year came around.

I hated dance.

I wanted nothing more than to graduate and end my competition days for good. Unfortunately, in a few months, I would be flying around the country, spending my days trying to pretend I was the perfect fit for every school’s dance program...a program I suddenly wanted nothing to do with.

But then a blessing-in-disguise came weeks before my second audition: I broke my foot.

Now most people would cry if they were told they might never dance again, but I saw this as an opportunity for something great. My counselor had always made sure I had backup options—just in case dance didn’t work out. And it paid off to have that backup. I ended up falling in love with the one school I didn’t apply to as a dance major, Texas Christian University (which I'm proud to call my new home)!

I'm currently a biology major with a Spanish minor, two things I would have never considered or knew I was good at if I didn’t have senior year to find myself. All of my life, I created a dream and a fabricated reality that dance was the only thing I was good at...and the only thing I would ever be good at. But my counselor always pushed me to see other options—and believe me, I was stubborn—but then...my injury helped me decide.

When I got to school eager to take STEM classes (throwing liberal arts to the wind) it was a lot of work, and I didn't know if it was a track I wanted to pursue. I kept at it, and to counter my stress, I started blogging and writing again. I always had a passion for writing, and it was a great counterbalance to my STEM work. Well, a lot of people around school started to read my stories, and they saw that I was actually a good writer! Now I plan on switching to be an English major (after learning even more about myself).

I encourage friends and incoming students to step outside their comfort zone, because you really can surprise yourself the first semester of college: you find out what you actually like. It takes time, but eventually, we find something we're good at, then we can stick with it.

About Us: With more than twenty years of experience, Collegewise counselors and tutors are at the forefront of the ever-evolving admissions landscape. Our work has always centered on you: the student. And just like we’ve always done, we look for ways for you to be your best self - whether it’s in the classroom, in your applications or in the right-fit college environment. Our range of tools include counseling, test prep, academic tutoring, and essay management, all with the support of our proprietary platform, leading to a 4x higher than average admissions rates.