It’s finally here! The senior class is graduating from high school and moving on in their lives to bigger and better things: College. They submitted their applications months ago and received their acceptance letters and are planning it all out in their heads: The first-day outfit, the dorm room, and the dream setup to essentially make them a successful and wealthy living with a degree In a job they have always dreamed of. I was one of those freshmen just last fall.

I too dreamed of becoming my childhood dream, an RN (Registered Nurse) and had the whole thing planned out across my four years, and added on another two for nursing school and internships. When days until college were being numbered down to single digits, I attended orientation along with my soon-to-be classmates. I went to the section for S.T.E.M majors (Science & math majors), where they divided us into particular groups in different auditoriums to inform us all about what our college career would look like in order to obtain our dream jobs. Everything was going absolutely perfect. I was signed up for classes based on a four-year plan that would make it impossible to mess up my credit hours and would "guarantee" I graduated with the correct class at the most appropriate (soonest) time.

The first week of classes came, and college thus far proved to be exactly what I imagined and more. However, the academic demand was higher than that of high-school; going to college though meant you understood that things were not always going to be as easy as they have always been. Slowly but surely, after my first line of tests and test grades- reality struck.

I always knew I wasn’t the best at Science, but goodness I didn’t know I was THAT bad. I received my first failing grade in A&P, which is a prerequisite for nursing, and a lot of other medical majors. If you fail more than two tests- it is safe to say you will not make a passing grade, and if you do pass and it is not above a B, your chances of being accepted to the school of nursing are SLIM.

Picture this: first semester, freshman year, already knowing you will fail a class unless you devote every minute to learning the material. Doesn’t sound like much fun does it? STUDY, STUDY, STUDY. That’s what they put in our heads before we got to college. That it was all about studying….. But, in all honesty, it’s not.

I think your first semester uncovers so many untold things about yourself that maybe YOU didn’t even know. I can tell you when I had to tell my mom that my first test grade in a pre-requisite course for my life profession, nothing was scarier. Slowly but surely, class after class, I figured something out. I don’t like science? I had the heart and ability to be an RN but was I willing to melt my brain for 4+ years trying to learn things I didn’t 1. Find interesting, and 2. Find beneficial. No. The whole class kind of made me realize, I wanted to have fun INSIDE, and OUTSIDE the classroom.

I went and met with a counselor, who mind you is not the same as an advisor. These are people who do your aptitude test and help you work through your current time management problems; a little different than High school counselors who also advise you. There, I was given a personality test, to see what jobs my personality most lined up with. After meeting with the counselor multiple times, I changed my major to undeclared.

I am now a second-semester freshman and am on track still with graduating with my freshman class in the normal four-year span. However, I have learned many things. You change a lot when you enter college. Your friend change, your lifestyle changes, along with your eating and sleeping schedule. Time management being key to your success. No longer do you have someone telling you that you have a curfew, or that your laundry is piling up, or that you need to do the dishes after you use them. But also- academically- don't be afraid if your interest change. One class can decide your whole outlook: good or bad. One class was a thump on my head that this was not something I really wanted to do, but instead, it was something I wanted to try out. However, it may be the opposite for you. Perhaps one class mentally reassures your whole career plan. Either way, going undeclared was the best thing I ever did.

Being undeclared, allows me to pick a major I am interested in, and take exploratory courses under that degree plan. Also, I have an advisor who only meets with undeclared majors and is not affiliated with any ‘college’ within the university. Most the time, these advisors were also undeclared at one point too- and look at them being all successful.

I write this to all the incoming freshman, but also to all the students who are dreading their majors or are simply unhappy or uncomfortable with straying from a solid plan that they no longer are passionate and interested in. I reiterate the saying that you should be able to have fun inside and outside the classroom. You should love what you’re studying and also be able to have a social life and not have to dedicate every hour of the day trying to force yourself to remember something about a subject you don't really care about.

Eventually at a certain amount of hours, the university will require you o declare a major. I fully believe when that time comes, I will full-heartedly be ready to say exactly what it is I am passionate about- and declare a major based on how life in college has shaped me.