Changing majors is scary. Although in the end, it doesn't really make or break our lives, it still feels like a big deal. It's scary leaving behind what we thought we wanted to do, and plunging into a completely new subject that we don't necessarily know anything about. So, here are the stages of changing majors.
1. You begin to question everything you’ve ever known.
Why am I learning this? What sort of job will I even get?
2. You try to convince yourself that you still do, indeed, love your current major.
But then when you start applying for internships under that major, you realize that you don’t want to do any of them. Or you sit through your first major course and realize you would rather pull out your eyelashes one by one than deal with this stuff for the next four years. Or you just find the love for the major slowly die out throughout the semester in your cold, deadened heart.
3. Out of curiosity, you go to your university’s list of majors and mentally note down ones that you’re interested in.
And there are so many interesting ones! You suddenly want to major in everything except what you’re currently majoring in. Maybe at this stage, you also take a million of those career quizzes. Buzzfeed is definitely reliable for guiding your future.
4. You think to yourself almost as a joke, "Hey, I could switch majors!" But then that idea sticks. And you simultaneously want to immediately ditch your major while also never wanting to leave it, still.
No more security! You never even considered this. You planned for this to be your major all along.
5. You run in a panic to your academic advisor, or your friends, or your parents.
You inevitably have a talk about the meaning of life and your place in the universe and are forced to confront the transience of human existence.
6. You write out a very, very, very tentative alternative four-year plan, and it looks so much more doable and fun.
Whoa, college doesn't have to be four years of pain and meh! Who knew?
7. You look at some classes that you would switch into, and they look amazing!
These are the classes that you were really hoping to squeeze in for fun! And now it actually counts!
8. You sign up for the gateway course of what might be your new major. And it doesn't go exactly as you planned.
It might suck at first. Everyone seems to know so much more than you, and everyone's all friends with each other already. You suddenly regret everything. You wonder why you changed majors at all -- it hadn't been so bad.
9. But then you grow to like your gateway course.
It’s just different, is all. And different is what you wanted.
10. You take another course. And another. And another. And soon, you've caught up with everyone else in your major.
11. Although you still feel a sort of kinship with anyone who mentions that they’re in your old major, and you temporarily go blank when people ask what your major is, you’re proud of your new major and you wouldn’t change it for the world!
(Unless you do change again, in which case, repeat steps 1-10 and don't panic.)
