Going into college is already one of the biggest stepping stones that the majority of us take. When you apply to a school and get accepted, you think that you have everything figured out. Most of us go into school with an idea of what we want to do when we graduate, or what we have always wanted to do since we were little. But then, you sign up for classes that sound interesting to you, you sit down, and something new captures your interest which you have never really considered before. The plan changes. Soon, it will seem like everyone, including yourself, will be asking the question, “So, what’s your major?”
The feeling of being lost and stressed will soon become all too familiar, especially when you have meetings with an assigned advisor that will haunt you with the very same question. Embrace the fact that you are now walking down a different path. Accept the fact that you can’t plan everything in your life. Finally, get comfortable with those feelings until you claim your major. Understand that just about everyone at your university has felt the same way at some point; you’re definitely not alone.
Those nagging feelings of stress will only intensify when you realize that, whatever major you pick, it determines what the rest of your life will be like. Is the 40-year-old version of yourself going to thank you for your new-found major? Is that major going to provide financially stability 20 years from now? These questions are extremely important, but what is equally important, which should not go unconsidered, is if your major is your passion. You need to find something that you truly love doing, something that compliments the person that you are, and something that you won’t get tired of doing. Something that you will look forward to doing every day.
It’s going to be all too easy to slip into the mentality that you have time. Your professors and advisors will preach about how you have a seemingly unlimited amount of time to find your major. But they will leave out the little details, like how universities and colleges only have so much money to give and they cut off students when they reach a certain credit amount. That greatly impacts your decision. You can’t take an array of classes year after to year to assure yourself that there is undoubtedly nothing else you would rather get a degree in. This decision needs to be made sooner rather than later.
So what happens when you still don’t have it all figured out? I admit, this is the most stressful topic and it probably will be a little touchy for some time, especially when you meet people that have declared their major and are on the fast track to living the life they have always planned. But keep in mind that classes are only taking up a portion of your day.
Spend the rest of your day pushing yourself into finding what you genuinely enjoy doing, and what you can picture yourself doing later on in life. You will find something that resonates with you, eventually. When you do come across your ideal career, chase it. Don’t let go of that dream. Soon you won’t be dreading the question “So what’s your major?” Instead, you will be anxiously waiting to answer with a grin.
