Hi all! We’re around a month away from the halfway point of 2023, as the school year ends and summer begins and students are caught in the limbo between one year and the next. I know that by this point, UCI’s class of 2027 have committed to becoming anteaters and are enjoying the limbo between high school and college. And to that I say congratulations! I’d imagine that during this time, you’d probably want to know a bit more about the place where you’re going to spend the next few years of your life. UCI is a relatively big school, with the number of students in the quintuple digits, so I wanted to zoom in and give you a glimpse of Undergraduate/Undeclared.
For this reason, I spoke with David Spight, who has served as the Director of the Undergraduate/Undeclared Office here at UCI for the past three and a half years. This isn’t David’s first rodeo – he’s worked with undeclared students at two other universities in two different states (University of Texas, Austin and Colorado State University). So, know that not only are you in good hands at U/U, you’re also not alone, as though every undeclared experience is unique, there’s a universality that transcends schools and even states.
One of the first things I wanted to ask David was what he majored in – I always enjoy asking this question as I feel it’s such an easy way to learn a lot about a person, what they value, and the experiences that have shaped them, and maybe it’s because I’ve spent a year as Undeclared myself, but I like testing those experiences and values against my own reasons for declaring the major I intend to declare. David said that he initially majored in History “as the result of having some great teachers in high school and a love of the stories” and intended on becoming a history teacher himself.
As you might be able to tell, David did not end up becoming a history teacher, instead figuring out that he would rather work with college students as opposed to high school students and eventually finding his way into working with undeclared undergraduate students. This ties into one thing that David wished he knew when he was in college, which is, “That major doesn’t matter. There’s so much focus on what we’re all going to major in while we are in college and in the end, we find out later, after changing careers more than once, that major didn’t really matter beyond needing to declare something in order to graduate.”
I think this is very important to remember although it’s a bit of a daunting idea, considering that major is something relatively easy to cling onto in college, considering that it’s what dictates the classes you take while and creates this bubble of being immersed in a path to a career related to said major. However, one thing I’ve taken away from speaking to David is that it’s okay, even good, to be uncertain, as long as you don’t let that deter you and continue moving forward and continuously setting yourself back on a path that is right for you. I’m someone who is prone to freezing (or trying to escape) in the face of anxiety, so I found that to be a very valuable message.
One thing I wanted to highlight is the motivation behind David’s work: he says, “I am motivated in my work by the chance to help a student find their path to becoming who they want to be; I have a great job in that I get to come to work each day to try to make the student experience better.” I think it’s quite reassuring to know that there’s someone rooting for you on the journey to finding yourself. For any soon-to-be U/U students reading this, know that you always have support behind you and people who have seen experiences similar (but never identical– your uncertainty is unique to you and your values, as daunting as that thought might seem) to yours. The people at U/U are here to support you and cheer you on!
And, finally, a piece of advice from David: “Participate. The reason to engage in and out of class, is that life offers up so much more to you when you try and put yourself out there. Participate in life and it rewards you in ways that can’t fully be explained. Don’t limit yourself because it seems to much work to participate. Don’t avoid engaging in life simply because you are nervous, anxious, or fearful of what might happen if it doesn’t go as you hope or plan. Be kind. Be generous. Be empathetic. [Carrie Newcomer once said,] ‘What we give in love and kindness is all we’ll ever leave behind’”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Shoutout to David for taking the time to talk to me and provide thoughtful answers! I really appreciated it 🙂