Amanda: Finding a Major

Hello! My name is Amanda Krakovitz and I’m currently a junior studying International Development at the Pennsylvania State University. A lot of people ask me what exactly it is we learn about in my major, or what I plan on doing with it. But I’d like to first start off with a story about how I found my major. Growing up, I’ve always had a wide range of interests. In school, I loved music and art, and even English and Math (sometimes). When it came time for me to come to college and explore my options, I still couldn’t seem to decide on one area of interest that I really connected with. I got really demotivated by it all, honestly, by the fact that I could only pick ONE part of life to study. That’s when I realized it was because life doesn’t come in separate parts; you can’t just learn about one thing, because life is about EVERYTHING, and everything is connected! I wanted to learn how everything fits together, not how everything is separated.

So this got me really conflicted, and I didn’t know what to do. Then I took a class in the spring of my freshman year called Eco-Food writing. While it was an awesome class, the reason why I am telling you this is because there was this girl in it that really inspired me, and she was a CED major (the major I’m in now). Her goals in life seemed to be similar to my goals in life. When I found out her major, Community, Environment and Development, I became really curious. Doing research on the major, it seemed like CED combined a little bit of everything; it was about how the world came to BE, how the world developed, and continues to be developed! This seemed fascinating and I felt like through this major, I could really make a difference on how this world is and how people interact with each other. I finally understood that my passion is for life, humanity and for the world as a whole. In college, this translates into how to create a more beautiful world where people (as well as all living things) can live beautiful lives in this remarkable environment that we are given.

Even though some people may not believe it, everyone has the power and potential to create a positive change in the world. Small actions go a long way. Everyone takes part in development. In a sense, development is a path of self-discovery; discovering our potential within ourselves, and within our communities. Throughout my college career, and even through doing volunteer work, I have come to this realization. While I’m slowing coming to terms with the fact that I can’t fix everything, and it definitely isn’t my responsibility to do so, I’m learning that everyone has the ability to inspire change and create a more positive and healthy world for everyone. This stuff is contagious. 

So what does this have to do with this class and going on a trip to Costa Rica? Well, because I believe that perspective is everything. How can we know the “best” way to develop if the only way we’ve ever known is our own? I remember finding out a while ago that Costa Rica is one of the happiest countries on Earth, and ever since then, I’ve been curious to finding out why. How does the way they live their lives create their happiness? I believe that in the United States, we need to adjust our development goals in a way that meets the requirements for happiness, not GDP. What does GDP really measure, anyway? Definitely not happiness. And isn’t happiness – or “success” – the biggest thing that should matter when it comes to development?