Whether you are already a Yale student or someone interested in applying, you will hear endlessly about the benefits of Yale’s liberal arts education that encourages breadth and discovery. While you will most likely become (if it is not already too late) very tired of hearing this, looking back on my first three semesters at Yale has shown me how beneficial that can truly be.
Before I had even been accepted to Yale, I had my mind set: I would be a Political Science and History Double Major at whatever university would take me, and everything would be perfect. Once I began taking classes, things rapidly changed. Though my Introduction to Political Science class that I took in my first semester was interesting, I came to the realization that it certainly wasn’t what I wanted to do for four years. When registering for Fall courses, I also registered for two whole philosophy classes - I had never done philosophy before, and I thought it could be fun in the name of intellectual discovery. Long story short: Philosophy is not for me. At all.
This is a photo I took at the beginning of my very first college class. It was super exciting and scary.
Ending my first semester, I was very lost. I no longer had any idea what I wanted to major in, and as such, I had no idea what classes to take. When Spring course registration rolled around, my answer to that paradox was to take whatever sounded interesting to me - something that seems intuitive but can be hard to do in a university setting where everyone around you seems to be so sure of their lifelong path. I ended up registering for two History courses that were Cross-listed as American Studies (a major I had never heard of before coming to Yale). I ended up adoring both of those classes, and fast forward to the end of the semester coming upon Fall 2024 registration, I was sure that it was the program for me.
Though this may seem like a pretty linear and struggle-free tale, it wasn’t. Like many Yale students, I was very determined and seemingly sure of my future path as a high school senior who didn’t actually know anything. For me, that path had always been to be a cool Political Science and/or History Major. It was very difficult to watch that same person not only question their path. In a single week in late October 2023, I mentally changed my major countless times (from History, to Linguistics, to Urban Studies, to Ethnicity Race and Migration, and the list goes on) before finally landing on American Studies, something entirely new and unexpected. In pursuing my true interests and watching where it led me, I found the best path, even though it wasn’t the clear one.
This is the Swensen Tower of the Humanities Quadrangle - a large classroom hub and home to fifteen Humanities departments at Yale, including American Studies, History, and Comparative Literature.
The story doesn’t end there, though. When registering for Fall 2024 courses, I had registered for an American Studies class that was unfortunately and abruptly cancelled just weeks before the semester began. Because of that, I was scrambling to replace it, and for reasons still unknown, I found myself very interested in a History of Art class. I had never before taken an Art History class in my life, but that only further inspired me to take the class and allow myself to expand my intellectual horizons. So, with no prior Art Historical knowledge and more than a little nerves at trying something so new, I registered for the intermediate class. It ended up being perhaps my favorite class I have taken at Yale. I was shocked to find myself falling in love with the field and methods of Art History, so much so that I got excited at the prospect of taking even more classes in the department. As such, I ended up taking it on as a second major - something I definitely didn’t think was going to happen, as I had never before even slightly thought about History of Art as a possible option for me.
A cool aeshtetic photo I took of the Yale University Art Gallery, fully embodiying my new annoying identity as a History of Art major.
My academic path and indecision at Yale was a source of stress for me, and at times, jokes from my friends, but it was necessary for important realizations about what I want from my experience. What’s more, it highlights an important aspect of a Yale education: discovery.
Though it’s true that time at Yale can feel very accelerated, it’s equally true that as Yale students, we are given so much time in order to discover what we are truly passionate about. Many, including myself at one point, believe that they must hit the ground running at Yale and we must stay absolutely hyper-focused on the goals we have set before we even knew what Yale would be like. That is not only untrue, but arguably harmful. Such haste can stop you from discovering and experiencing so many things that can benefit your academic and personal life. Had I pushed forward with the progress I had made in Political Science or Philosophy, I would be very far along in both, but I would have enjoyed my time much less.
Trying new things is scary, but it’s vital, and Yale has systems that encourage such exploration by taking the stress of grades and transcripts out of the equation. Yale students are given 4 things called Credit/D/Fails, which replace a letter grade on your transcript and have no effect on your GPA should you find yourself in a sticky situation. Further, we are given two extra ones that expire at the end of First-Year. Because of that, I highly recommend that when you come to Yale, you try anything that seems truly interesting to you, even if you have little to no experience with it. Yale has so many amazing and diverse majors and classes, and it would be a disservice to yourself to not pursue the ones that truly interest you and follow whatever new path you will make for yourself.
