In about a week, I’ll be moving out of my freshman dorm room, having completed my first year of college, which is crazy, because I haven’t even gotten used to calling myself a “first-year college student,” and soon I won’t be one anymore. Yikes.

This past year has had its ups and downs for me, but I know it could have been worse. Maybe not much, but it definitely could have been worse.

I came to UNC-Chapel Hill (#born #bred #dead #theceilingistheroof #nattychamps #inroywetrust) in the fall, willing and (mostly) ready for all the opportunities, dreams, and other shiny stuff that awaited me. T-minus four years and it’s off to New York, journalism degree in-hand.

There’s where this year could have been worse for me - I came to UNC knowing almost exactly where I wanted to end up. Within the first few months, resources on campus helped me smooth any traces of confusion about how I would earn my degree and left me ready to make my way into the magical land of adulthood.

I’ve heard horror stories of students getting two years into their time in college, wasting money on classes they wouldn’t need while trying to decide which direction to take their lives. For some people, like myself, that revelation of where you see your life ending up happens early in life-- before starting college, anyway. But, that isn’t the case for some people. Choosing a major doesn’t always come naturally. Sometimes it isn’t an easy, clear decision. So, what do you do in that case?

Get involved!

There are tons of ways to get involved, especially on a college campus. Take advantage of all the clubs, research opportunities, seminars, and organizations that are abundant on campus. The easiest and cheapest, way to find your passion is to get out there and try new things.

Explore your options.

If you have no idea what your major should be, there are ways to explore different subject areas. Earning a college degree isn’t limited to taking general education classes and your major and/or minor classes. There are these wonderful things called electives. Take a Women’s Studies course. Take a creative writing course, a city planning course, a religious studies course, because you never know where inspiration may find you.

If you do have some sort of an idea of what you like, use the first few semesters to narrow that idea to a specific field of study. Even if you know exactly what you want to do, be sure to take some courses that will challenge you to think in new ways. Discover new passions, maybe consider a double major or a minor.

Whether you go to college fully committed to a field of study, or hopelessly waiting for fate to take its course, there are options available for you.

Choosing a major can be scary. Your life depends on it, your wealth depends on it, your happiness depends on it. This one choice could change everything. Okay, not exactly, but that’s how it can feel. Understand that your degree is worth much more than its name and when it comes to entering the workforce, your major isn’t always going to be your best qualification. You could end up working in a completely different field than the one in which you studied.

Whatever you choose, be sure it’s something that you’re passionate about. It’s much better to be poor and happy, working in a career you love than to be rich and stuck in a job you have no emotional drive for.