I made one of my biggest mistakes three years ago, at the beginning of my college career. Well, it was technically years in the making. Since middle school, I knew that Industrial Design was my dream job. I had researched the career and was convinced that it was the perfect mix of creativity and engineering. After being accepted into my dream university, I applied to their Industrial Design program, and, to my delight, was accepted.
That's where the delight ended.
It took about 2 weeks for me to realize my mistake. Even though a lot of the creative concepts and visualization strategies were interesting, I couldn't quite understand the underlying, vaguely expressed expectations, and I was struggling immensely. The students around me were excelling. I was not. I limped through the rest of the semester, feeling out of place and fed up. I got B's in every single Industrial Design class - much to my inner perfectionist's chagrin.
The Recovery Process
Once I realized my dream choice of study was actually a nightmare, I had wasted a whole semester on 4 classes for the wrong major with no backup plan. I needed to pivot, and I needed to do it fast.
I used a 4-step process to bounce back from my mistake. First, I discussed it with my mentors and the people I trust most. I talked to my older sister, who was attending the same university at the same time I was. I called my parents, who are my greatest role models. I discussed my major with my then-almost-fiancée for hours on end. I knew that consulting experienced people who know me best helps me better understand my mistakes and evaluate my options.
Second, I did more research. Thanks to my support system, I typically have a pretty good idea of what research to do. For this situation, they advised me to look into other fields of study. Maybe Psychology was the right move? Perhaps Spanish Translation (because I’m fluent in Spanish)? My research unearthed introductory classes for those two, along with an Advertising class and a general career exploration class that would at least offer me some options.
My research helped me formulate a plan which was the third step in my process. I decided to sign up for the classes I had found and use them to find a major that fit my skill set.
Unsurprisingly, my final step was to both implement the plan I formulated and then adjust it based on incoming data. In this case, I took the classes I had discovered. I had an absolute blast in my Advertising class. I thrived on the structured creativity and people-focused research and messaging. By the end of the semester, I knew more than just what I wanted to study: I knew what I wanted to do with my life.
What I had thought was a costly mistake ended up becoming a powerful gift. I’ve learned that mistakes, when handled correctly, are actually opportunities.
