Almost every college student questions their major at least once. It’s very difficult to decide at such a young age what you want to do for the rest of your life. Most of us haven’t been exposed to many different career paths during our lives, so it’s very difficult to know exactly what you want to do. In high school you just learn the basic subjects, so how are you supposed to know about the more unusual fields, like biomedical engineering or women’s studies?

I was lucky that I at least had an idea of what I wanted to do when I was applying to colleges. Many of my friends didn’t have a clue what they wanted to go to school for. Ever since middle school I knew I wanted to work with kids with special needs, I just didn’t know exactly doing what. When senior year came around, I narrowed down my choices to either speech language pathology or special education. I loved the idea of working with kids one-on-one because the thought of being in front of a classroom was kind of intimidating to me. I also liked the uniqueness of the field and that there were so many different aspects to it. However, I didn’t like the idea of taking a lot of math and science classes, and I’d heard that speech pathology classes are very difficult.

Since I was unsure between my two choices, I only applied to schools that had both majors. I finally decided on St. Joseph’s College because both programs had a very good reputation, and I decided I wanted to stay home for school. I decided on the child study program because that is what the school is known for, so it made sense to take it. The child study program certifies you in regular and special education for age birth through sixth grade. In addition, you have to take a concentration of 30 credits in any subject, so I chose a concentration in speech.

My freshman year, I only took core courses so I never really had too much thought about my major. However, sophomore year, I took several speech and education classes. I really liked both fields. They were both very interesting and I did well in both classes. The speech classes were definitely more difficult, but not impossible. What began to change my mind about my major was when I started student observing. I absolutely hated it. For some reason, it gave me a huge amount of anxiety. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the kids -- they were adorable. It just made me realize that being a teacher in front of an entire classroom, teaching lessons, was definitely not something I could picture myself doing.

I was afraid to change my major since I was so far into the program. I was also afraid that I wouldn’t be smart enough for the speech pathology classes, or to get into grad school. The uncertainty drove me crazy. I was constantly complaining to my parents and my friends about how I had no clue what I was doing with my life and that I felt like all I was doing was wasting my time. They assured me that it is very normal to feel that way, and that many people don’t end up getting jobs in the fields they went to school for. That just made me angrier though. I wanted to have an answer.

The breaking point came one night when I was at a friend’s house, and I was basically having a meltdown -- registration for the next semester was the next day, and I had no idea what I wanted to major in. My biggest fear was that I was going to have to observe in three different classes the next semester. Just one gave me anxiety, and now I was going to have to do almost triple the hours. After finally sorting my thoughts out, and deciding what I did and didn’t want, I decided it was stupid to waste so much time on a major that I couldn’t see myself pursuing. Sure, the speech pathology classes are much more difficult, but I decided if that was what I was interested in, then I would make it work.

The next day, I ran to my adviser in a panic that I wanted to change my major -- yes, the day of registration. Luckily, she was extremely helpful and planned a new schedule for me on the spot. Even better, I was already on track to graduate on time since my concentration had been speech. After making my new schedule, I felt so relieved. I felt like going to school actually had a purpose now, because I had a steady goal.

I know these next two years are going to be extremely rough, but I know it will be worth it once I get my degree. My advice to anyone thinking about changing their major is to follow your heart. If it is something you truly see yourself doing, then by all means go for it! Don’t let your fear get in the way. And if you don’t see yourself in the career you are pursuing, then you can always change your mind. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.