As a college sophomore, almost halfway done with my college career, I have finally decided to declare my major. To most, this is old news, but to me, I've spent the better part of the last four years dreaming of being a psychology major. I love the human mind; it both fascinates and terrifies me. I've spent more hours than I'd like to admit researching graduate schools, narrowing down the field I love most, dreaming of my career as a psychologist.
You go to college to explore. At least, that's what I was told. I chose a small, liberal arts college in the middle of a corn field. Take that for exploring. But what I found was that every person I met had a plan. They'd known their life track since kindergarten.
In kindergarten I could barely decide which hand I wanted to write with or what color I wanted my big girl room to be (left-handed, Pepto-Bismol pink — including the ceilings — for reference). So, to follow the trend of knowing, I chose psychology. Since then, I've completed 90 percent of the required credits for that major, just in time to completely change my mind.
Sitting in a conference room, listening to one of my sorority sisters describe her life as a grad school student for (yep, you guessed it) psychology, I felt wrong, out of place. I kept telling myself, “you’re not cut out for this.” After taking some time to try to sort through my emotions, I recognized that I wasn’t just being lazy or taking the easy way out, my heart wasn’t in it.
Since then, I've learned some things. College isn't about knowing exactly what you're supposed to do for the rest of your existence on this planet. Seriously, if it were, we would need significantly fewer credits to graduate.
I've also learned that there is something I truly love. I could never pinpoint one thing that I'd like to do forever, but it's been sitting there, patiently waiting for me. I love to read, create, scrutinize, decipher, explore. Words make my heart flutter, symbolism gets my blood flowing, and I get fired up over the Oxford comma.
So, I declared a double major in English and psychology.
A close friend of mine switched to her "passion major," as I like to call it, right before her senior year of college. It's been tricky, but I've never seen her happier and more in love with every day.
So don't choose the easy major. Don't choose a major just because it will make you the most money. Don't major in what your best friend is majoring in just because it’ll be easier that way. Major in something that makes you excited to go to class. Choose a major where even when what you love feels like work, it’s the most rewarding work in the world.
For heaven’s sake, major in something you love.
