What you choose to major in does not determine how successful you will be. You alone are responsible for that.

In my First Year Seminar class during my freshman year, my professor told my class not to go into an industry that they believe will earn them a lot of money, nor one that they think they'll immediately find a job in right after graduating.

Instead, he told us to major in a field that we are passionate about and that we care about because if you care about something, he told us, you'll find a way to make it useful to the world around you.

This profound advice has stuck with me ever since. It's a notion similar to the one I'd been told countless times by my family members, who have always been supportive of me, a journalism major.

The scary reality is that so many people give up on their dreams because they don't think they'll be successful when they leave school if they actually go to school for what they want. So they major in fields they believe will land them a job on Forbes' Most In-Demand Jobs list. But the reality is that simply majoring in information technology doesn't immediately guarantee you a six-figure job more than it guarantees, say, a studio art major one.

You ensure your success. If you want to be an interior design major or a computer sciences major, then by all means, go for it. No matter what, study something you are passionate about. Remember, you alone are responsible for the outcome of your future. The hours of hard work you put in – dedication in and out of the classroom, by interning, asking questions, and absorbing as much information as you possibly can – are what make you successful.

You have everything you need to be successful right within you. Go out there, work hard, and believe in yourself: you've got this.