As students progress in their college careers, they start to figure out if what they originally came to school for will end up being their calling. Jacob Restanio, senior engineering mathematics major, is one example of a student that spent a lot of time thinking about if the path he was headed down was truly the right one.

Restanio was a sophomore when  he decided his passion was leading to a different path than his previous major in secondary education in English.

“I decided that I did not like the idea of being in the public education system,” Restanio said.

Restanio came to the decision to change his major at the end of his third semester at Waynesburg University.

“I evaluated, do I want to do this, is this the career I want and I think that is something you should ask yourself at least constantly, but definitely towards the end of your sophomore year, if you’re going to make a change, that’s kind of the last time you can make it,” Restanio said.

Restanio began his college career at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He had second thoughts when the school raised its tuition. Restanio fell in love with Waynesburg and the welcoming arms of the faculty when he was looking for other colleges. Waynesburg was set apart when the school offered him freshman status, and according to Restanio, he was sold.

“Waynesburg gave me the opportunity to come here, rather than the other way around,” Restanio said.

Restanio’s path to changing to a different major didn’t scare him. He felt his position was the best time to make the big decision of switching.

“I figured I was in a good enough place to be able to change majors because I was fortunate enough to have a lot of avenues to go,” Restanio said, “So, whenever I decided it was time for a change I looked at it like ‘well, what do I want?’ ‘what am I good at?’ and ‘what do I enjoy doing that wouldn’t be so time-consuming?’”

Although he moved passed the education path, Restanio hopes to one day go back to that side of his spectrum because he enjoys teaching others.

“Perhaps education is still on the table, hopefully one day I could be a college professor because I really do have the passion for teaching people,” Restanio said.

Restanio said that Brian Carr, director of the center for student success and disability services, helped him in making the process of switching majors very easy and less stressful.

“He was really helpful,” Restanio said. “He sat down with me and we laid out the plan for the next three years to make sure I could get out of here before my scholarship ran out, which is a huge worry whenever you change your major. So, we sat down and he was really helpful with making it all work out – really knowledgeable and it really made the process easy.”

He also liked Carr’s honesty when making the decision.

“I totally felt if he thought changing my major at that time was a bad idea, he would’ve told me, which I appreciate,” Restanio said.

Carr said that students have a mindset that they are going backwards when changing their major and that is not always the case. He said that there can be parallels to some programs when making a transition into a new major and that’s what needs to be investigated when switching.

For Carr,  even when students are deciding to change their major, some majors have parallels that will lead them where they need to be, just not on a perfect path.

“Sometimes the path is not linear,” Carr said. “It’s not always ‘this leads to this,’ it’s ‘I started here, I ended up here, I can go here and end up doing the same thing as someone who followed this path, which was much more linear,’ to allow the flexibility of sometimes you can end up in the same place doing a completely different thing, with a parallel, similar degree.”

Carr expressed the importance of finding something you love to work at to the point where the ‘work’ aspect disappears.

“When you find that passion, when you find that niche, you start to see student success follow that because when you’re passionate about something you’re passionate about what you do and what you’re learning and it doesn’t even feel like work anymore,” Carr said.

For anyone thinking of switching majors, Restanio suggests getting acquainted with current and future department faculty when switching.

“[Students should] get to know the faculty from their departments or any future departments that you plan on switching into and really talk to them before making any kind of change,” Restanio said.

In addition to getting to know faculty in each department, Restanio suggests that students  looking into minors with their previous major, so no time is lost spent in prior classes taken, when switching.

“I have an English minor, if you switch majors, look for a way you can add a minor in from your previous major because you already have those credits,” Restanio said.

Restanio said that it is important for students to make good on their college experience.

“You have to decide on a major that you enjoy that is also good for you, college is an investment in yourself but you have to make sure you make a good investment,” Restanio said, “Whether that be some people get a lot out of college and it doesn’t matter what their major is exactly. Some people go to college to really hone in on a major and get into that job market so it depends on what you’re looking for.”