When today’s college students are faced with choosing a major, advice givers are always quick to say, “just do something that you genuinely love,” but the fact is that society has made it extremely difficult to follow your interests when it comes to picking a career path. College students are expected to earn a degree and immediately start making large sums of money, and with extremely expensive student loans they don’t have much of a choice. This means that students are forced to choose a prospective career with high starting salaries and job availability.

So what’s the problem? When it comes time for college students to choose their future career path, they are encouraged to pursue an option that will make them money rather than a profession that they would actually enjoy. Society’s pressure to be financially successful has caused students to forget about what really matters: their happiness.

Any college student knows that the notorious “what’s your major?” question is one that you’ll hear time and time again, and if you did not choose to study a field that is known for having high income jobs, the judgmental looks that follow are equally as infamous. As a result, students draw away from studying “unrealistic” majors like anthropology, music, or film because they are not perceived a big moneymakers.

I am currently majoring in journalism. Because journalism is often referred to as a dying industry, I can relate to these students who choose to pursue typically lower-income career paths. After many of my friends and family questioned my decision and whether or not it was realistic, my confidence regarding my major began to fade. Because of this, before I left for college, I had serious second thoughts about my major and after much debate I (very irrationally) convinced myself that I absolutely needed to transfer schools and study dentistry in order to have stable future.

Luckily, I didn’t act on this epiphany. I realized that I had I had no interest in dentistry whatsoever and that I had forgotten about my own happiness. I have been writing for school newspapers since my freshman year of high school and have always been interested in exploring professions in journalism. Though the pressure to find a high paying career path, like becoming a dentist, can seem intimidating, in my eyes it is extremely important for college students to choose a major that they express interest in. Once students do this, the success will follow.

Today’s society is so heavily focused on money that students are sacrificing an enjoyable future for a profitable one. Many things influence students when choosing a field of study, but I believe that potential financial stability should not be one of them. Countless graduates end up unhappy because they base their decisions for their future around what would make them the most money after college rather than what they would actually enjoy doing for the rest of their lives. At the end of the day, as cliché as it sounds, money can’t buy happiness.