The stress started my junior year of high school.
“I want to go into pre-med!” “I hope to get a history education degree.” “I am applying for biochemistry.”
I guess it must have slipped my mind that I needed to choose a major in order to apply to my list of dream colleges. And it seemed as though I was the only in this situation. All of my classmates knew exactly what they wanted to do since they were a freshman in high school and on the other hand of that was well…me: clueless and switching my possible major every other day.
I am the most indecisive person I know. However, I also like to believe that I am multi-decided. I love theatre, psychology, history, art history, writing, making films, women and gender studies, animation, counseling, etc. But throughout my senior year I was panicking. I couldn’t narrow down the list enough to get to a single major. As the applying deadlines approached, so did my time slot to find the perfect major.
The term “undecided” is terrifying. From my point of view, it means that you have no idea what you are doing and no one wants or likes to admit that. But the reality is, no one knows what they are doing. Seriously.
The fact is, everyone struggles with their future in their own way. I legitimately have a document on my computer that lists five possible majors and nine minors. But I trust the process and understand that I will find my perfect combination.
I go to a college that uses a fancy term to describe their undecided students. They call it the “Exploratory Program.” This resonated with me and it was in their panel discussion that I decided that I was undecided. Exploratory allows students to “explore,” “search” and “navigate” throughout the different classes offered in order to come across ‘That Perfect One.’
So if you are a junior in a high school, a senior in high school or even in college now and you think you might be undecided here are some tips from me to you (I had to make this like the Nickelodeon show in some way).
1. Breathe.
2. Evaluate your options.
Go through all of your interests and write them down on a piece of paper or on your computer. Seeing a list of all your options helped me to narrow it down from twenty majors to five. This also might allow you to see a combination of interests that would be a perfect fit for you. This is what mine looks like…
Interests: writing, psychology, theatre, film and production design, playwriting, education, counseling, business (kind of), animating (kind of), screen-writing (kind of) and women and gender studies.
3. Evaluate your college selection(s).
Go through your college(s) and check to make sure that your passions line up with what they offer at the school. If you want to be a lawyer and they only offer law as a minor, you might want to reconsider that particular college choice.4. Don’t be pressured to choose a major when applying for a college.
Fifty to seventy percent of college freshman change their majors in the first year of college. And most college students will change their major three times before graduating as a senior. You are doing yourself a favor by being undecided because then you won’t have to start over from the beginning of your sophomore or junior year.
5. Allow your mind to CHANGE ITS MIND.
As I have previously stated, then you know that I am indecisive and switch my major every two seconds. So allow your mind to explore every major that it comes across. And it’s also okay to rule out majors that you don’t like. They won’t get offended, I promise.
6. Breathe again and GOOD JOB!
Once your college applications are submitted or that major request form has been sent in or even that list has finally been made, breathe one more time. You did it! Congratulations when you get accepted in that college or that major! Congratulations! You now know what some of your interests are and can start working towards them! Congratulations! You are one step closer to figuring out what you want to do in life!To re-cap, being undecided is frightening. It’s hard to allow yourself to say that out-loud when others know (or seem to know) exactly what they want to do. But trust the process of being undecided. Find the people who you can rely on. Visit with your professors, have frequent visits to your faculty advisor, ask people in classes why they chose their particular major and don’t be afraid to ask people for advice. You’ve got this! Keep exploring!
