Of all the important decisions in life, choosing a major definitely ranks in the top 5, right after choosing a college. After you choose an area of study, you’re going to be in that department for four years.
You’ll delve deeper into the subject than you ever though possible, you'll get close with those professors, and you'll meet other people with that same interest, not to mention you'll spend almost all of your time there. So you better hope you choose a major that you are actually interested in.
When I was going into my first year of college and already had a preliminary major chosen, I came across this piece of advice, which I've carried with me every step of my college career:
“Don’t choose a major that you think will get you the job, major in what you want to learn about.”
I was surprised to hear this piece of advice since it seemed to contradict everything I'd heard up until that point. Usually, all you hear about earning a college degree is that it will be your ticket to a job.
Following that logic, adults typically tell us that we need to choose a major that would correspond with the kind of job we want after graduation. For this same reason, the more ambiguous majors out there (i.e. English, Spanish, sociology, communications, telecommunications, journalism, psychology, anthropology, philosophy, women's studies) that don't line you up for one specific job (like an accountant or an architect) are often criticized.
But since you are going to be spending so much time in your major, if you are passionate about anthropology, declare that major.
This is not to say that you shouldn't be thinking about what kind of job you might want when you choose a degree. That's never a bad idea. But don't make that the only factor in your decision. Think more about what you are curious about, what you want to become an expert in, what you're good at, and what you want to be great at. Because for whatever major you choose, there is some job out there that is a perfect match, and chances are if you love your major, you'll love that job too.
