A lot of you are about to go into a whole new world called college. In college, you make memories that last a lifetime, friends that will last forever, and choices that you will remember for the rest of your life. You may be readying to go and looking forward to the next chapter in your life, but some of you may be a little stressed out. You may look around at all of your friends who are going to college with you who know exactly what they want out of their college experience, starting with their major. It seems everyone has it together while you are still floundering in the water, trying to figure this whole thing out. I need you to know that it's okay not to have everything figured out. Most of the people who look like they do really don't. It's scary trying to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life, but it is okay if you're not totally sure as you enter your freshman year. To help you out with this process, here are a few do's and don'ts of choosing your college major.
Do: Find something you're good at.
It is very important to find something that you are already doing or already know that you are good at. You can love something all you want or be interested in something all you want, but if you're not good at it, then you are never going to be able to make a living out of it. Whether or not you want to accept it, the major you pick to get your degree in will ultimately be what you will be doing for the rest of your life.
Do: Pick something you are passionate about.
If you're passionate about it, you will always find joy and purpose in what you are doing. If you long to do that one thing for the rest of your life, then you are going to work to make it happen, and you are going to work to make yourself better at it. Passion is one of the most important components of choosing a college major because you will be able to see yourself doing that thing for the rest of your life if you are passionate about it.
Do: Pick something broad if you are unsure.
If you truly cannot find something that you can see yourself doing or find yourself passionate about, and you don't want the mysterious title of "Major Undecided," then a broad major like business or marketing or psychology are always great choices. There are multiple different jobs that you can acquire with a degree in any one of these fields, and they are all good fields that can help you with even just day to day life when you go out into the real world.
Don't: Pick whatever makes the most money.
I cannot stress enough how important it is not to pick a major based solely on the fact that you will get paid a lot of money. A major that is promised a large salary is also promised a lot of work and the need for quite a bit of knowledge retention. For example, engineering is one of the highest paid majors out there, but it is not for the feint of heart. It requires you to retain all of this information about math and science that you need to remember all of because you will definitely need to use it in your everyday life. To be honest, I don't even understand what most of the engineering majors say half of the time at my school. If you pick a major because of the money, you will miss out on doing what could bring an immense amount of fulfillment to your life based on what you are passionate about doing.
Don't: Pick something just because you love it.
I know that everyone says to choose what you love when choosing your college major. I am here to tell you that that should not be the only thing that dictates what career path you go down. I'm sorry to say, but there could be something that you are absolutely in love with, that you are actually very bad at. For example, I love science, but I should never be allowed in a lab by myself because there is a good chance that I would break something or take off my own eyebrows. If I tried to make a career out of being a scientist, I would probably be fired before I could even really start.
Don't: Stress out.
I understand that this is easier said than done, but it really is true. You do not need to stress out about the fact that you are unsure what you want your major to be even though it's the summer before freshman year. Some Juniors don't even have it figured out yet. There is nothing to worry about.
