I grew up wandering around the neighborhood with a notebook and a pencil in my hand. You couldn't tell the color of my grandma's refrigerator without lifting up a copy of something I wrote. I was writing complete stories before I knew what a division sign looked like.
Since I can remember, I have always wanted to be a writer.
How could I go on to major in anything else besides English or journalism?
If you were me, would you have considered possibly pursuing a career in engineering? Or chemistry?
Well, state Sen. Jeremy Ring must not have taken these things into consideration when suggesting a change to the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program requirements. And I can't see how he would think Floridians would go along with it.
I'm sure you've heard of him by now - the guy who wants to take money away from students majoring in fields such as political science, art and history and give it to the engineering, math, nursing and education crowd.
I totally support giving students an incentive to study in areas that our state and country is lacking, but please, find a better way.
Many students, with very different majors, benefit from the Bright Futures scholarships. For the 2006-2007 year alone, more than 148,000 Florida students had some portion of their tuition money paid for by the program, according to Bright Futures statistics.
That's close to $350 million for the year.
And, about 84 percent of Florida students who were eligible to receive one of the three levels of the award accepted it and attended a Florida college or university.
Unless Sen. Ring wants this number to decline, he probably should not mess with the system.
And if I remember correctly, wasn't the scholarship program enacted in 1997 with the sole purpose of keeping Florida students in Florida schools?
If this potential change to the system had been enacted four years ago, I might have gone to the University of Michigan like I had originally planned.
But no, I chose UF because the majority of my tuition would be covered and because of its excellent journalism program.
I wonder how many other students can say they would have changed their minds, as well.
I may be making a generalization here, but I don't think we ask ourselves "Which major would be cheapest?" as we scroll through the academics section of our hopeful university.
What we do look for are things that interest us - areas of study that would make the best possible use of our talents.
While this issue may not pertain to me anymore because I am a senior and just received my last disbursement of my Bright Futures scholarship, I am thinking of my younger siblings and future students.
I also think it is completely absurd and unfair to try and sway someone's interest using money.
Take, for example, a high school graduate who is a talented artist. If this student decided to reduce his tuition by majoring in math instead of art, it would be a complete waste of his talents. A person should not feel punished or disadvantaged for having an innate ability to draw or write.
What I want to know is: what would be the senator's determining factor for which majors would receive the scholarship incentive and which would cost more?
Maybe he should take a step back and really listen to what the people in Florida - those he was elected to serve - are saying about his plan.
Rebecca Ganzak is a journalism senior. Her column appears on Thursdays.
