Probably the important part about psych vs. comm is that in a psych class, you really have to think outside the box, and not only memorize facts, but really delve in and come up with your own hypotheses about things. Communications, I learned, is more about teaching you how to use software (Dreamweaver, InDesign, etc), and how to write in a strict news format. If I were to return to the comm major, I would focus solely on journalism writing, to get away from the computer aspect of it.
The advertising and marketing classes in the comm major are very, very time-consuming, but with little intellectual exercise. So it's not that you're studying, but rather completing projects and developing faux ad campaigns. I got burned out quickly on that busy work with no intellectually creative output. I like to do deep thinking and decide where I stand on something that may have multiple views and perspectives. When I don't have that option (ie. in an advertising class), I tend to get bored. I think psych is going to fit much better. I'm excited to keep learning how people tick, and especially when I become a lawyer, that element is going to be important.
One species in particular that scares the living crap out of me, but also makes me intensely curious, albeit from a distance, is the sociopath. Highly manipulative, no sense of right or wrong, and no guilt felt, ever, they're a rare and dangerous breed. For this reason, they're a sexy additive to most crime shows at one point or another, and my reaction to these characters is, I think, how horror-film junkies feel when they're watching a good one. It's the shiver running down the back of your neck, the paranoid looking over your shoulder, even when you're quite aware there's just the wall. But the idea that this world is right here, 2 feet away from you on the screen, it's a bit of an adrenaline rush.
I'll smoothly transition on that note into my next topic here at Lindsey's House of Ramble. I was talking to a friend the other day about rock climbing, and I mentioned how I loved the rush, but I'm really not normally an adrenaline junkie. He pointed out that I had just said, essentially, that I was. And it got me thinking. I've spent most of my life being the one kid who's worried someone's gonna hurt themselves, and doing whatever I can to avoid those team-building tree-climbing activites at leadership camp. When guys do backflips off the pool diving board at a party, I'm always the one who's shouting, "now wait a minute before you jump, make sure he's out of the way!" That's me. Ever cautious, ever avoiding danger, ever avoiding risk. But in the past few years, I've really started breaking out of that little zone. I started rock climbing. Granted it's been a while, because my climbing buddy moved and I had a stress fracture last summer, but I'm still into it. I plan to keep it up when I go back to school, and a major motivation for my current diet and exercise plan is to be strong and light enough to really get into climbing.
There was this point about 14 months ago where I suddenly stopped being scared of physical activities. Maybe it wasn't "sudden," but I started saying yes when people asked me to do that I've always avoided out of fear of embarrassment or injury. Climbing, running, four-wheeling, swimming, etc. And I've learned that I really like that rush I get from it. Does that make me an adrenaline junkie? I think it just makes me ALIVE. But there's this moment I clearly remember, when I was top-rope climbing for the first time at the EWU climbing wall, and I'd gotten really high. When I start to climb, there's this zone, or rhythm I hit, where I just zero in and keep climbing until I can't go anymore. So all of a sudden, I looked down and I was really high up. I wasn't scared, but I was ready to come down. In order to do that though, I had to let go of the wall, and trust in the rope and my partner. I distinctly remember this rush of, not fear, but thrill, and of freedom as I pushed off the wall. It was overwhelming and I remember getting a little giddy about it. Like I had conquered the world. My world. I felt that way when I first went skydiving, except here, it was much more real, because I knew I could climb right back up and feel that again. That's why I love climbing. Running is fun and relaxing, but I don't get the same rush of accomplishment from a route well-climbed. So maybe I am a bit of an adrenaline lover, but I don't think I'm an adrenaline junkie, yet. I think I still have too much caution in me to really go over the edge.
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