Let's get one thing straight: I always found the social pressure of figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life as a teenager to be more than a bit ridiculous. However, I kind of figured out what I wanted to do with my life before my freshman year of college. I decided on a double major in International Arts Management and Cultural Studies. Quite a mouthful, right? I had it set in my mind that I was going to go to school and get a Ph.D. and research, study, and teach university classes the rest of my life. And I was okay with that.

I always wanted to have a business background to fall back on, so that was never an issue for me. Over the course of the past month, I've been taking five classes, three of which are for my Cultural Studies major. After a couple of weeks, I started noticing a change. I was so unbelievably bored with Cultural Studies.

Backtracking to my first semester, I loved my Introduction to Cultural Studies classes. The discussions we had in class and the readings we did really interest me, and I was able to see myself in the field. But then I was thrown into the graduate level material as an undergraduate and these classes were so heavily based on research that I found myself so bored with the content. The workloads of those specific classes were causing me so much stress that I was having panic attacks. I found myself sitting in class and thinking to myself "I really don't want this to be my life."

I think having an identity crisis is something that happens to most teens and college students at some point, but I thought that it wouldn't happen to me. I was so sure of my path, that when I started doubting it, I completely broke down. I thought that I was past that point.

I most certainly wasn't.

I needed a change. What was the point in continuing to take classes that caused me so much anxiety and focused on something I no longer wanted to do? I decided that I wanted to withdraw from a class, drop my Cultural Studies major, and replace it with a minor that would suit me better. And this decision made me disappointed in myself.

In a way, I felt like I had failed. I have never been one to give up on something that I had set my mind to in regards to something as important as school, so coming to this realization was difficult. I called my mom and cried because I felt like I was disappointing my parents because I wanted to do something that would potentially lengthen my schooling.

But I went through with it. I withdrew from one class, dropped my Cultural Studies major, and now have a Creative Nonfiction minor that I am excited to start in the spring. I cannot express how amazing is felt to have this weight lifted off my shoulders from taking a step towards something I feel so much more passionate about.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't feel bad if it takes you a little bit longer to figure out what you want to do. I still don't know what I want to do with my degree once I have it, but I know I'll figure it out. And it's okay if you need to go to school longer to finish it, even if you have to go part-time in order to pay for it. I understand that this isn't an option for everybody, but if it is for you, then you shouldn't feel guilty using it.

As long as what you are doing is what is right for you, there shouldn't be any shame about it.