It was the first week of my first semester of my freshmen year of college. All of the new freshmen that were admitted into the Honors program were gathered in one of the big lecture halls to listen to our advisor welcome us into the university and how we were among the "top students in the school." She continued on to congratulate us and then said something along the lines of, "I know you will do well in your chosen fields unless you are undeclared. There is a secret shame to that." At the time, one of my friends was undeclared and I looked over at her and I saw her sink down in her seat a little. I, on the other hand, had entered college as a kinesiology major with plans to become a physical therapist. My thinking at the time was, "Okay, yes I suck at science, but it will all work out in the end. I did okay in science during high school." I couldn't have been more wrong.
General chemistry was the hardest class I had taken in my entire life. I barely scraped by with a C. During the middle of that semester, I did some thinking. Did I really want to spend my entire college career working through classes that I didn't like because I liked the idea of doing something as a career? Should I have entered college as a science major when my strengths align with social sciences? Once I realized that the answer to both of these questions was no, I changed my major right away. Now I am an International Security and Conflict Resolution major with an emphasis in Justice in the Global System. I feel so much better learning things I am actually interested in and having some fun while doing it. And as it turns, I'm actually dropping out of the Honors program. Funny how things turn out.
So, you may be asking yourself, what was the point of me explaining all of this? Let me try to put this in perspective here. In high school, we're expected to take all of these AP classes in order to prepare ourselves for college while also participating in all of these extracurricular activities in order to give ourselves a better chance of even getting into college. Along the way, we're expected to find some interest in a field that we barely know about and that somehow translates into us knowing exactly what we want to do with the rest of our lives. For some people, they figure out what they want to do very quickly, but for others, it's not that simple. For most people, they have so many different interests and passions that they have no idea what they want to and end up picking a major because it sounds impressive and they form a forced fascination in the field.
If you are one of those students that have no idea what they want to do and feel ashamed for applying as undeclared, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. The thing is, most people have no idea what they want to do for the rest of their lives. This even includes many students who have majors. About 80% of college students will end up changing their major and some will even change their majors up to three times before finding one they are truly passionate about.
If you're a high school student who can't choose a major they want to apply for, or if you're a college student stressing about being undeclared, I'm going to give you some advice. Don't worry. No one should expect an eighteen-year-old or nineteen-year-old to know what they want to do, and you don't have to. Take classes from different fields and really find yourself. Once you find a field you really like, take more classes from that department. Learn about the program from the undergraduate advisors and current students who are in that specific program. You'll know once you find that right fit.
So, is there a secret shame in being undeclared? Not at all. If anything, there's a secret shame in choosing a major because you feel that that is what is expected of you. I'm glad I realized that when I did.
