Better communication is at the root of Nysheka Barry-Burnett's choice of majors.

Nysheka Barry-Burnett chose her special major long before she picked Mount Holyoke. Members of her family had speech impediments, and Nysheka had struggled to express herself fully. As a sophomore in high school, she told herself, "This isn't going to happen to anyone else. Whatever communication disorders people have, I want to help solve the problem."

Attracted to Mount Holyoke's campus and the communication disorders department at the nearby University of Massachu setts, Barry-Burnett took courses in anatomy and physiology, in the causes of and treatments for communication disorders, in the psychology of women, in education, and in African American history. The courses overlapped in sometimes surprising ways. For example, many children who speak African American English are treated as if they have communications disorders, but Barry-Burnett's knowledge of both fields will help her avoid such misdiagnoses.

A January internship with a Chicago speech pathologist showed Barry-Burnett how much she'd learned and prompted a job offer she plans to accept. "I was astounded at the number of people with communication disorders who can't afford help or are afraid to ask," she says.

A chance encounter with a geology class prompted Desiree Polyak to design her own course track.

The path to a major can start by chance. Desiree Polyak (left) planned a chemistry or biology major until her geologist roommate told her about the History of Life geology course and Polyak was captivated by the professor's enthusiasm. "I'd already taken many chemistry courses, and individual attention from caring geology professors helped me plan a combined major," she says. Her major includes courses such as Mineralogy, Chemistry of the Elements, Oceano graphy, Petrology, Planetary Geology, and Geochemistry.

"Even the act of choosing courses has been a learning experience," she says. "I had to think ahead of time where courses were going to take me. My friends are jealous, because with any regular major there are some courses you just don't want to take. But if a course doesn't sound interesting, I don't take it!"

"If I hadn't designed my own major, I might not have been as prepared to do research for my thesis," says Polyak, who's analyzing the iron content in rocks from Earth, the moon, and Mars. "I even took a graduate course last semester, which gave me a great taste of the future." That's likely to include graduate school in geology, though she's also interested in veterinary medicine. Polyak expects her special major to be an advantage after college. "You've already specified your exact interest, so grad schools and employers know you're serious."

After 16 courses in as many departments, Jenny Daley finally nailed down her own self-designed major.

Jenny Daley had too many interests; each of her first sixteen courses was in a different department. "I thought, this has to stop!" she recalls. But what's the common thread among art, environmental studies, geography, philosophy, sociology, and politics? Daley's mother thought Jenny's interests in art and biology might work well in landscape architecture, but a summer internship taught Jenny otherwise.

But even the dead ends steered her toward the right track. "A lot of college is about finding a field you're truly interested in," she says. Daley's focus has shifted toward architecture and urban planning, and she aims to attend Harvard's Graduate School of Design.

Daley also found that, because she has a nonstandard major, people are more willing to help develop her career. "People are always telling me, 'Oh, you should talk to so and so.' And professors take an interest because I'm actively deciding my education. I think they're more willing to work with me because they know I've already taken a step ahead."