Mathilde Magga
Guest Writer
I decided to create my own major because my two main interests, Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Native American and Indigenous Studies, were only minors at PLU. I added them as minors right away, but it felt wrong to have my biggest passions as only minors.
I did not know that creating my own major was a possibility until I met another student who was doing this, Jess Alley. She helped me create my individualized major proposal. Once I began the process, and had multiple professors who helped me finish it, it was definitely achievable.
However, I think that Pacific Lutheran University needs to do a better job to show students that this is an option. Often when I talk about my major, people are surprised and ask “Is that even possible? How did you do that?”
I am so happy that I ended up doing this because I got to pursue my true passions, which I feel like every student should have the possibility to do.
Students that might just choose a random major, because they do not feel like any major truly fits them as a person, should know that as long as you are willing to work a little bit extra and find faculty who are willing to support you (which is pretty easy at this school), they could do so much more. It is an amazing opportunity that more people should take advantage of!
