Everyone knows that one of the biggest questions college students are asked by their peers is, “What major(s) are you?” Almost all of my friends are currently in a specific major, even though a couple of them have changed their majors already and very well might do so again. Then there’s me, who when it comes to figuring out what I want to do with my life, hardly knows anything.
I’m sure there are others who can relate to this. It would be easier if there was a particular subject in high school that I’d always been so much better at than other subjects, but that was never the case. In the humblest way I can say it, I simply did pretty well around the board – aside from PE, but all one really has to do to survive that is have the teacher realize not to expect much and then give the appearance of making a good effort. In regards to academic classes, I very quickly realized that foreign language wasn’t my forte, and although I really liked my physics class, it was unlikely that I was ever going to have an interest in being an engineer. Or a doctor, for that matter, even if my bank account hates me in another couple years.
When I tell people that I’m currently undecided, they usually follow up with more questions that can get tedious to answer. Do I have any interests? Am I leaning toward something? Am I going to be unable to pay off my debt at the end of college? Although some undecided majors have their trouble in trying to choose between two majors, I’m one of the cases where I don’t have much of a clue (which might make the answer to that third question a reluctant and disappointing yes). I thought I had an idea at one point, after I loved the psychology course I took in high school, but then I realized that I couldn’t think of a job in that field that I’m super excited to do later in life.
There’s a similar problem with being an English major. Although I love reading and writing fiction, I can’t stand writing analyses of various English and American writers from the 19th and 20th centuries. There’s also the problem of not being able to find a money-making job as an English major, as I’m sure everyone is aware. If I can’t figure out what Hawthorne and Hemingway are trying to say without a little help from Sparknotes, I certainly couldn’t become a college professor and teach others. With high school students, it wouldn’t be as difficult, but then I think about some of the people who went to high school with me, and I wonder if working at a Walmart might be better than dealing with that every weekday.
Being an undecided major isn’t so bad during the first term of college, since unless you might consider Biochemistry, there’s always plenty of time to work on Gen-Eds and take a few courses that sound like fun, even if they might not be helpful toward your future. Once the second term of freshman year hits, though, you become a little more stressed about the decision you’ll eventually have to make. It’s something that some people can push to the back of their minds, but it always comes back to the front at some point, often when you really could have done without the sudden hit of stress. I can only imagine what it might be like if I still have no idea what I want to do halfway through my sophomore year.
Overall, though, being an undecided major isn’t a bad thing. Plenty of people decide to change their major at some point throughout their time at college anyway. What’s important is that you figure out not what will get you the most money, but what you can stand doing until the day you finally get to retire and stop caring.
That’s what we all really want, after all.
