I am, I was, and I will always be a Physics major. I did it. I spent 4 years of hard work, late nights, grueling exams, and probably knocked several years off my life, but I did it and no one can take that away from me.
In the 2 and a half years since then of hardly doing a single Physics problem or exercise, I think I've lost it all. I still have the fundamental intuition that will hopefully never fade, but can't really do it anymore. I can't walk the walk anymore. I can't list off the postulates of relativity, find the eigen values of a matrix, solve a non-linear differential equation, simplify a wave equation, know the shortcuts for solving even and odd functions, use the cross product to find the flux through a loop of wire and with that calculate the magnitude of the magnetic field created, I can't do any of it. It's all been slipping away and what's worse is that there is no indication that I will need to use any of these skills in my line of work so they will slowly continue to completely disappear. I still proudly say that I majored in Physics and will do so whenever I am asked until the day I die, but my foundation that backs up that statement has fallen away.
In the 2 and a half years since then of hardly doing a single Physics problem or exercise, I think I've lost it all. I still have the fundamental intuition that will hopefully never fade, but can't really do it anymore. I can't walk the walk anymore. I can't list off the postulates of relativity, find the eigen values of a matrix, solve a non-linear differential equation, simplify a wave equation, know the shortcuts for solving even and odd functions, use the cross product to find the flux through a loop of wire and with that calculate the magnitude of the magnetic field created, I can't do any of it. It's all been slipping away and what's worse is that there is no indication that I will need to use any of these skills in my line of work so they will slowly continue to completely disappear. I still proudly say that I majored in Physics and will do so whenever I am asked until the day I die, but my foundation that backs up that statement has fallen away.
Your college major doesn't have to be directly related to your life. Don't forget your father was a forestry major. You will find, however, that there will be times it will find relevance in your future, most of all with all the special friends and professors/staff you grew up with in school. Everything we do contributes to who we become, whether directly or indirectly.
ReplyDeleteThanks. You're right and deep down inside I do know it and believe every word of it. I wouldn't have had it any other way and while I'm sad that I'm forgetting it all, I'm still always moving forward.
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