Contrary to the popular opinion, being in your 20s is a very difficult time. There is always that question of: What do you want to be when you grow up? Every answer is different but there is one that typically comes to mind right away but, at this age, is not appropriate for us to express...
We are forced to know what we want to do with our entire life by the time we are 19-22. You are fresh out of high school and are expected to have everyting in order. "I want to be a doctor", "I want to be a cosmetologist", "I want to be a nurse", "I want to be an anthropologist". But what about those that don't know what they want to do? What then?
There is little guidance for people who are unsure what they would like to do. Some guidance is offered but students are still pushed to make a decision by their junior year in order to graduate in the four year time frame that we have created. How fair is this to do when there is no guidance throughout their education either?
America's educational system is flawed. We spend 12 years going through a general education course that is supposed to have us prepared for a "higher education." For those who chose not to attend higher education, there is little to offer them besides for jobs that pay little (but you can work your way up to) or potentially attending a trade school of some kind. I am speaking on a basis of the education that I have received, so if your school was run differently, please share with me (I want to know the positives of our education system!). My high school ended up cutting out classes such as shop and home ed. These classes taught you life skills that are so valuable to know at a young age, especially if your parents are unable to provide you with the educational tools to learn these skills.
So budget cuts are made and these classes are the first to go. My high school offered a career center, where you could go and learn a skill/trade. This is a great idea, in my opinion. I believe that more of high school should be spent doing this. There were two issues to this system, in my opinion, that were flawed. One being that you had to wait until your junior year to sign up to do something and two being that you could not dual enroll (take college classes) on top of attending the career center. I feel it is important for students to dip their toes into both skill/trade classes and actual college classes. Why?
College is not for everybody!
If this is not something that people can figure out before they put themselves in a large amount of debt for, nothing will ever be solved. Our system allows for students to be sent out, at 18-19 years old and be expected to pick the right door to the rest of their life. It is unfair and puts a large amount of pressure on a very young person. if this person picks the "wrong door" (aka wrong major) and graduates with a degree in it but ends up hating it, what then? They're now in a large amount of debt with a degree that they dislike and probably will end up in a career that they also dislike. Now you have made a perfection concoction for miserable people.
So, now that my rant is over.
What do you do if you are unsure what to major in?
From my experience, it will be helpful to meet with your advisors, both on college tours and while in college (if that is the path you decide to take). Talk with them about what programs you think you are interested in. If you are unsure what specific program you like but think you know what job you would like to have, talk to them about the job and they should be able to help nail down a major that will fit that job. If you are not even sure what you would like to do in general, go on Indeed.com and look at the jobs that are being offered around you at a bachelor's level. Read through the ones that stick out to you and find out what you could be doing with bachelor's degrees in different topics. If you are already in college, do internships. They are so essential to the college learning process because you are actually able to do short term work and see how things function in the field you think you would like to go into. Most colleges have internship coordinators so set up a meeting with them and talk to them about what you'd like to do. They should be able to guide you down the right path.
The moral of the story is: ask for help. This is not something I believe people should have to figure out on their own. There are people all around you that can help, you just have to look in the right places. And trust me, there is nothing wrong with asking for help. Shoot, people think us millennials are helpless anyways, why not take advantage of that?
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