I think as students we become so consumed with the idea that we NEED to know exactly what we want to do with our major or let alone just have a declared major in order to be successful. Why do we waste energy stressing over something so narrow-minded?
The reality is, whether you know what you want to do when you get older or not, have a declared major or not, or even just second guessing what you want to or currently doing, nothing is certain.
The more we learn and the older we get, the more we understand ourselves and our interests. We become exposed to more opportunities. Just because you are in college does not mean you are supposed to have it all figured out; these are actually the years where you will make the most mistakes but also experience the most growth.
We need to allow ourselves to be open-minded and not be so hard on ourselves if we don’t know what we want for our future just yet. But this also does not mean just sit around and hope it’ll one day just all come together, that is not how progress works.
If you want to figure out a future for yourself, you need to try new things and experiment on activities and subjects that move you out of your comfort zone. Coming from someone who still is far from having it all figured out, especially after changing my major three times, I am still making that progress. That’s because I tried out something that interested me and if I realized it wasn’t for me I worked to figure out why.
You really don’t know what you’re missing out on until you try it. In regards to this, if you are questioning the path you’re taking, slow it down, take a deep breath, and figure out the source of it.
College really tests us with trying to do multiple things at once; it’s almost impossible to go through the motions without feeling like you have to go at the fastest pace. Yes, at some point during college you are going to have to make this broad decision of which field you want to pursue a degree in, but until you try out a few things don’t be frantic, most people are uncertain.
Even if you graduate with a specific degree, life goes as far into depth to tell us that we are still able to act on any spontaneous idea and do anything we choose with the countless amounts of possibilities that exist, as long as we put in the work that is necessary and have the right mindset to go along with it.
Go out and take risks, try new majors, knock out what you hate, and note what you thrive on, you’ll get there, just be patient and put in the effort. Do not let ‘not knowing’ scare you, again, nothing is certain, and think about it, if you knew everything you were going to do in the future what fun would that be?