I Changed My Major and Here’s Why: Chemistry to Health Promotion & Disease Prevention

By: Sanaa Alam ‘25

When I started college in August of 2021, Chemistry was my favorite subject because it allowed me to understand the world through many dimensions and equations. Despite loving numbers, when I stepped into my CHEM 115a class freshman year, I realized that college chemistry is not the same as it was in high school. 

In high school, my teachers worked to make the topics accessible and fuel our curiosity. In college, however, the professors teach in a formulaic, systematic manner that leaves very little room for that interest to be nurtured. The content taught in my first college chemistry class didn’t make sense to me, even though I understood the same concepts in high school. Was my love for chemistry strong enough to endure the weed-out classes at USC?

Halfway through my freshman year of college, I reignited my love of chemistry by connecting it with biological concepts that allowed me to understand how human bodies work. Learning about processes like the Krebs Cycle and glycolysis fascinated me, and eventually, I switched my major to Biochemistry. 

Unfortunately, when I spoke to my advisor, I learned that the credit requirements for my new major left no room in my schedule to explore a minor or double major–something that was an important part of why I decided to come to USC. Though it was disappointing, I loved the subject enough to decide to see it through.

Towards the end of freshman year, my friend told me that they had switched majors from Neuroscience to Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP). Having never heard of that major before, I researched HPDP and other health majors for undergraduates at the Keck School of Medicine. I craved the opportunity to see the application of my newly acquired biochemistry knowledge within my community, and I found that HPDP would allow me to take classes like “Biological Behavior of Diseases” where I could study not only the biology of diseases but why certain groups suffered from diseases at higher rates. I ultimately scheduled a meeting with the advisor of HPDP students to see a sample four year course plan and considered another switch. 

I discovered that HPDP is an intersection of community outreach and application of lab sciences–the two most important aspects I was looking for in a degree program–but also has fewer major requirements than Biochemistry. This offered the chance to pursue a minor, study abroad, or add another major during my senior year. Since I switched my major, I’ve found that Keck offers their students more information about individualized opportunities like clinical research because more of their students are on a pre-health track as wel. As the first person in my family to pursue medical school, these resources are vital because I wouldn’t know where to start without the help. 

As a sophomore, I’ve really been enjoying the pace of the Health Promotion courses, and I’m excited to see my growth as a future physician within this major. I’m also planning to add a minor in Marshall in Performance Science, and I’m so happy that I finally have the space in my schedule to add it to my course plan! If you’re looking for a major with fewer requirements that still allows you to pursue community health service, I would recommend looking into Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.

Want more from Trojans 360?

Visit Trojans 360 on Facebook & Twitter to stay up to date with more student content! You can also Ask A Trojan an anonymous question, and we’ll try to answer it in a future post. And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!

Trojans 360 is USC’s official student-run blog. Content created by students, for students.