As a kid, I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. At 5 years old, my brother knew he wanted to be a journalist, and my sister knew she wanted to do something with music at age 3. I, on the other hand, had no idea what I wanted to do. In all honesty, I thought I was going be a princess and just have fun. However, this same mindset of just wanting to have fun has followed me into college. I'm at the point where I am kind of worried about where I am in this process, but I'll declare a major when I have to. With this in mind, here are some common things I hear/experience from being undeclared:
1. "Major in ________ with me"
The majority of my friends have different majors, and they are constantly encouraging me to step on the bandwagon and join their major. I've noticed how each department really tries to reel in undeclared students to join their field.
2. "Why are you here if you don't have a major?"
I hear this because, like myself, other people have the assumption that you follow your childhood dreams in college. But when you don't know what you want to do, it doesn't hurt to already be in college.
3. "You are so smart for being undeclared."
This makes the most sense to me because I can get all of my general education goals out of the way. I heard the average college student changes their major three times at most. Until I have to declare, I don't have to worry about the possibility of taking classes that won't count towards my major. I'll only take the classes that interest me now.
4. "Your professors are going to love you!"
Well, they already do because I'm a relatively good student. But, what they actually mean is that they will try to get you to join their department. I'm okay with this because part of being undeclared is that I want to see which professors and students can best sell their major to me.
In all honesty, being undeclared is stressful, but my advice to other people like me is to stay calm. You'll find what you want to do on your own terms and ONLY your terms. Trust the process.
