So, I’ve always been interested in politics and philosophy. When I applied to schools as a freshman I applied strictly as a philosophy major and got into Middlebury, which I heavily considered. Eventually, I was accepted to Berkeley and was not a fan of how analytical their courses and department were so I switched to my 2nd option, political science. I didn’t really have a clear career goal in mind. I’m definitely not going into law school, but I was vaguely interested in things like PR specialist, consultant, working directly on political campaigns, etc.
I’m not set on a career path, but I love learning for the sake of learning and would pursue academia if it were financially and economically viable. I’m heavily considering becoming a high school teacher because my teachers are huge inspirations for me and made high school oddly enjoyable.
Anyways, I withdrew from Cal for a plethora of reasons. My 2nd option is UCSB, and if I don’t get accepted then I will return to Cal.
Which brings me to my next point, I am absolutely enamored by my religious studies class here at CC. And I come to learn UCSB has the best religion department in the state, while Cal recently retired their major. If I were to do religion at UCSB, I would throw in polisci or philosophy as a double major.
My philosophy professor coincidentally went to Cal and did a religion and philosophy double. He also had some criticisms of the department there and what to expect if I follow the same path he did (but he was surprised to learn Cal no longer offers religious studies). He did praise and encourage me to give Santa Barbara a chance, though.