“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Every child hears that question. I, like most kids, had various answers during the different stages of my upbringing. My youthful career prospects hopped around from veterinarian to environmental researcher to teacher, doctor, public health guru, physical therapist and physical therapist for horses and dogs. As I got older and started thinking about college, I knew I wanted to major in biology. I felt that it was a very practical degree to pursue, and that it would give me a great foundation for anything I wanted to do. If I could go back in time and tell my 17 year old self one thing, it would be “Think bigger!” I was so wrapped up in the practical- what would give me the tools I needed to have a good career- that I didn’t give a single ounce of thought to my true interests. In my mind, my hobbies and interests had to be separate from my college degree and future career.

In college, I would spend an hour or two studying for organic chemistry and then spend the remainder of my night trying to teach myself foreign languages. For every science flashcard I made, I made a flashcard for Spanish, or Norwegian, or whatever language I happened to be interested in that week. During my junior year of college, some of my friends were taking an introductory linguistics class. They would talk about it during lunch, and I would sit silently intrigued (and somewhat jealous) of what they got to learn. One night in my dorm room, I started a folder on my computer of potential graduate programs. I was scrolling through the list of SDSU’s masters degree programs, saving Biology and Environmental Science to my folder, and as I scrolled through the alphabet on my way to the “M’s” for Microbiology, Linguistics caught my eye. I clicked on the link, read over the description and saved it just for fun. I thought, “That looks great, but it could never happen. I’m a biology major.” For four years it just sat there.

I graduated with my biology degree in 2009 and took a couple of years off to really figure out what I wanted to do. I finally applied to an immunology program and was flown halfway across the country to interview for it. I heard the other interviewees talking about how much they loved cell signaling and how they couldn’t wait to be published scientists, and I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. As soon as I was back in my hotel room, I called home crying because I just knew it wasn’t right for me. Sitting alone in that Marriott four states away from home, I pulled up that old folder on my laptop and double clicked on the little header that said, “Linguistics SDSU.” That was the moment I finally realized two things that are foundational to why I am getting my masters in linguistics today: 1. With hard work, I really can be anything I want to be- not just what I think I should be, and 2. Linguistics is far more scientific than I ever gave it credit for years ago when I casually bookmarked that webpage. I applied to SDSU and got in, even without a Linguistics background. Family and friends kept saying things like, “Alicia, this just sounds perfect for you,” and “I wondered why you chose biology- I always pictured you doing something more like this.”

I am brand new to the field of Linguistics. Two weeks, to be exact. I believe that God has a plan for my life that is bigger than anything I could have ever thought up for myself. I also believe that majoring in biology was a necessary step to get me to where I am now. The road to this masters program was definitely not straight and was full of many tears and frustrations, but I’m starting to realize that all of my passions- words, languages, music, science, teaching, people- will be things that I can explore through Linguistics. I might even try to tie it all back to science down the road and go into cognitive science, but who knows? I don’t have it all figured out, but I do know that what I see before me right now is very exciting. I am right where I belong.