Jennine Guanchez

Jennine Guanchez

If you recall last year’s feature about Jennine, she lamented the fact that she had yet to figure out her major. This year, Jennine is no longer clueless about what she plans to focus on. “I came to Rice with the intent of taking premed prerequisites and was very unclear as to what my major would be. I was interested in natural sciences and engineering, but I didn’t rule out social sciences and humanities majors because of my experiences at Brown University. I attended a summer program at Brown called ‘So you think you want to be a doctor?’ The program allowed me to explore the various fields of medicine and gave me a greater understanding of what it takes to become a doctor and what to expect. Medical schools these days are looking for well-rounded individuals who have a life outside of medicine. There is a misconception out there that to go to med school a student should be a biology major.

“So I registered for the premed prerequisites here at Rice and then took classes in other major areas to find what I was interested in. I took psychology, sociology, English, Japanese, university classes, etc. Each week I would change my mind about what major I wanted to pursue, and I would look into the requirements for the major and the different classes available. It wasn’t until I enrolled in the Career and Life Services class [HUMA 212]—which I would recommend to everyone who is lost!—that I got some real help,” explains Jennine. “In HUMA, we took personality and interest tests that told us what our strengths were and suggested possible careers. I also received much-needed advice and assistance from Nancy Laidlaw and Jackie Hing, my teachers and career services advisors. I took this course my sophomore year, so I had to decide a major and quickly.

“Nancy and I had a meeting one afternoon, and within an hour, I had a major! We discussed my interests and what she thought I should do based on what she knew about me and saw on paper. She actually told me that, truthfully, after getting to know me and seeing what my extracurricular activities were, she thought I should be a party planner! We discussed my love for planning and organizing events and my love for medicine and decided that maybe I should be a hospital administrator. Then we took the General Announcements catalog and discussed every major in there. While looking, I discovered policy studies in healthcare management. I really liked all the courses required for this major. It includes medical ethics and public policy, sociology of medicine, etc. And since policy studies is only a half major, I needed another major. I then looked at the courses and found that there were majors in which the classes crossed. So, I finally decided on policy studies and sociology and turned in my major declaration paper the week before it was due.

“So far, I do not regret my decision. I love my teachers and classes. My major is something that really interests me and makes me happy, and it’s acceptable for med school. I have yet to lock down a particular career path, and I have kept my options open: I can become a physician, physical therapist, nurse practitioner, or hospital administrator!”