Peter LoDuca 11/30/12
First Year Seminar Ms. Watson

Majors and Career Essay

In today’s world, people are living for a purpose, a meaning that they may or may not know. People of all sorts from teenagers to adults are still trying to find themselves today. They don’t exactly know whom they are, what they want to do with their lives or what they were meant to do. It is important that when the opportunity presents itself, you take advantage of it and start exploring the possibilities and discover what is out there for you. The majority of the time your college years are the first steps in choosing a major and career path that will carry you on for the rest of your life.

My name is Peter LoDuca and I am a freshman attending Gallaudet University. Born and raised on Long Island, I am a hearing impaired student – athlete that attended the Village School in Great Neck, NY. Growing up as a hard of hearing student and mainstreamed into public school I always had difficulties hearing and capturing what was going on in class. However, I maintained a high academic average throughout my years in middle and high school, but I was never able to really enjoy my time at school because of the struggle that I had to endure everyday. As I began to start thinking about my future I questioned myself and tried to figure out how I was going to set a plan that would work out and be the best for me. Once I heard about Gallaudet University, I knew better things were going to be coming my way. After visiting the campus, touring and sitting in on some classes I decided at that very moment, the university was the place for me. Ever since I was a young child, I always relied on my visual rather than on my hearing. If anybody asked me what kind of learner I would consider myself, it would be visual. In matter of fact, according to the VAK Learning Styles website, the survey I took classified me as a visual learner. The website talks about how visual learners absorb information and the way they think amongst themselves. Visual learners rely on diagrams, charts, instructional videos and pictures to gain knowledge on different kind of subjects. Here at Gallaudet, the whole campus including faculty members, staff, teachers and students rely on sign language to communicate with each other and learn. My academic as well as my social life was the perfect fit for this school, which would allow me to do the things I do by minimizing the stress. Another reference that assessed my skills and classified me into specific groups was the MBTI. The survey asked questions based on learning skills, preferences and our comfort zones. After the completing the survey, I was classified as an extrovert, sensing, thinking and perceiving student. These different learning styles are a part of who I am and how I go about doing things. My learning styles allow me to create goals, meet my standards and to strive to continue raising my own bar.

At the age of 5 years old, I already knew what I wanted to become and do for a living once I got older. I wanted to be a professional baseball player. Every night I would dream the life of a big league ball player, how much fun the game is and the luxury of being able to play the game for a living. Growing up as a kid I always admired and looked up to Derek Jeter as a role model. He sets an example for his team, on and off the field. Jeter is a leader in the business industry and supports himself with income from different sources besides baseball. The way he has established himself as a baseball player and a man is indescribable. There was a point in my life though, where I realized that you couldn’t play the game forever. Eventually a playing career comes to an end as your body starts to age. I gave myself a reality check and started to prepare a back up plan. Besides baseball, my passion is politics and government. I love watching political debates on T.V or the