According to a College Student Journal survey, the number-one influence college students have for deciding their major is this:

Family and peer influences. Let that sink in for a moment.

Going into freshman year, I was a declared Chemistry major, on the Pre-Med track, and looking into a Biology minor. Second semester rolled around, and I dropped the Chemistry major idea, still on the Pre-Med track, and now was looking into a Bio major. After crying tears of joy for getting a C in Bio—the Bio major was a definite no—I started first semester of sophomore year with a plan to major in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience. I dropped Neuro after two weeks. I am about to be second semester sophomore. Can anyone guess what my major/minor is now?

You’re most likely wrong.

Communication Major with a double minor in Creative Writing and Journalism.

It takes many months, sometimes even years, for most of us to finally say "yes." Say "yes" to our passion, what makes us excited, what brings us the most joy. And why is this?

Why does it take years to finally say "yes" to what we were made for?

I couldn’t come up with an answer myself. So, I asked various sophomores from universities around the country to help me out. Check it out and see how their answers may resonate with your own:

Why do you think people are so hesitant for to pursue what they’re passionate for?

“People are hesitant to pursue what they want because of pressure from parents, or pressure from society to pick the 'perfect” major.'” – Petey Fabian, Wake Forest University

“People are scared to pursue what they want because of failure and because they have a fear of being poor and not making money. There is pressure to fulfill those two goals.” –Amelia Fritsche, Clemson University

“People get caught up in what they are expected to do versus what they want to do. It’s hard to break away from the beaten path and pursue something if it’s different from what everyone around you is pursuing.” –Shana McLaughlin, Georgetown University

“I think people are hesitant to pursue what they’re passionate about because they are afraid to choose what they want to do over what they think they should do.” – Erin Terry, Wake Forest University

“Not sure. I think that sometimes people are hesitant to work hard to achieve what they want. But sometimes you need to forget about it and just go for it.” – David Kocher, University of Maryland

“Passionate is defined as 'showing or caused by strong feeling or belief.' I think that people stray away from what they’re passionate about because it is so incredibly scary and undefined.” – Livi Stigen, University of Minnesota Duluth

“No one really likes change--so not many people are able to see the future playing out in other ways than they expected. The more [you] talk about [it] with other people who don’t like the idea of you changing, the more self-doubt [you] will have.” – Sophie Sitar, Villanova University

“I think that people are slow to pursue their passions because it can be such a big risk. Going for something that may be less certain is scary.” – Wil Griffin, University of Mississippi

“I think a lot of people don’t do what they’re passionate about because they’d rather try and make more money or because others pressure them into taking a different route.” – Hunter Hughes, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

“People are scared to stick with what they’re passionate about because we still believe that your major correlates directly to your future job selection.” – Katie Dickens, Wake Forest University

“People, myself included, are terrified of failure. We are so afraid of what people will think of us, and we can’t stand the thought of sacrificing our reputation to chase our passion.” –Alex Rousseaux, Clemson University

We all know the reasons. We want status. We want wealth. We want security. We want others to think we’re something. We desperately desire to achieve “greatness.” But I finally want to ask you—what truly is greatness? Is greatness wealth and status? Or passion, joy, and fulfillment?

My final words of wisdom: You aren’t married to your major. Find your passion, and forget what everyone else says.

Go for it. Because soon, you’ll look back and wish you went for it a long time ago.

“I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I'm more afraid of succeeding at things that don't matter.” - Bob Goff