How did I Choose MY Major?

All of my family is sitting around the table. My parents are one side, my uncles and aunts, my cousins (from 8 years old to 47 years old) are present, and my nieces and nephews have all come to have a celebration at my house. As always, there is a ton of food and drink (with enough to fill all the tupperware my aunts have brought along). There is chatter, there is laughter, and there is plenty of chewing to be heard as my family enjoys their food with gusto.

From all sides of the table you hear questions that are all too common at a gathering: Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend yet? (if not, why are you not in a relationship yet). Are you pregnant yet? (yes, this is a serious question). Are you doing well in school? (which means are you on Dean’s List). With all these questions, one always stands out to me: Miggy (one of my many nicknames), what are you studying again? Advertising and Public Relations is my reply. Silence follows.

I will be up front and honest with the fact that I broke my family’s mold. My parents and godparents support my decision to want something that I am passionate about. My other family members, they are another story. For them, success is doing medicine, nursing, and/or engineering (where the money was at). But, of all majors, why did I choose advertising and public relations?

When I was deciding on my college major, I had two things on my mind: What do I enjoy doing and how can I help the most people? Initially, before going to college, I thought that medicine would be the most obvious choice. However, I realized that there are many ways you can help, being a doctor is just one option. When looking at the majors and minors Loyola offered while also evaluating my own interests, I realized that my true passion was for understanding and appreciating people’s’ culture different from my own and the importance of proper representation of minorities in the media and advertising. Being an ethnic minority myself, I believe that these both answer the question I posed above.

My major and two minors allowed me to fulfill both of my interests. First, with advertising. When I imagine advertising, I look for representation, equality, and proper portrayal of all identities of a person. Being a voice for the voiceless is something that I carry with me. This ties into my marketing minor. Taking classes like International Marketing and Consumer Behavior only solidified my choice for my field of study. As for International Studies, I love cultures. I am an ethnic minority that is a true “Eurasian”. I am Spanish, Filipino, Chinese, Pacific Islander, and Royal French. Being appreciative of my culture, I wanted to focus in two areas that meant the most to me, Latin America and Asia.

I believe, that these programs I am currently pursuing, are closely linked to my passions and interests. I know that I can become a voice for all minority groups, including my own. Properly representing minorities and having our voices heard is the best way to give back, not just for myself, but also to my country and heritage.

In the future, I want to pursue a graduate degree and having a career in either strategic communications, advertising, consumer behavior, or specialized intercultural marketing to ensure proper representation and for the chance for all voices to be heard and acknowledged.