Senior year of high school is an extremely stressful time. You're trying to decide what to wear for your senior pictures, who to take to prom, how well you're going to do on the ACT/SAT, and you have to pick where you want to go to college if that's your preferred route. Along with making a college decision, you ALSO have to declare a major.
WHAT?!
Yeah, it's one of the joys of "growing up" and becoming a college student.
So, you took some art classes in high school that you enjoyed, but do you want to do that for the rest of your life? Or you received a great grade on a history paper last semester so maybe that's the path to take? Or what about accounting? You've always enjoyed calculating at numbers and equations for hours on end.
It's hard. Most of us fill out our college applications with what we think we want to do, but do we truly know? 17, 18, 19, is such a young age to decide what career you want to focus on until retirement. Some are lucky and what they chose under that little selection box ends up becoming their career. Others have been planning their careers before they were even out of diapers and are confident.
Then there's the rest of us thinking....what the hell are we supposed to do? Everyone else seems to have it figured out.
NEWS FLASH!
It's okay to not have it figured out. It's okay to be undecided. It's okay to go to career counseling. It's okay to switch majors, yes you can still graduate on time.
However,
It's not okay to be wasting time, money, and energy on something you hate or doesn't suit you, etc.
I switched majors THREE times. Yes, three. Is it a record, no, but it always wasn't the end of the world. Yes, I will still graduate on time (with some added work in the summer), I went to career counseling, and I am finally happy and secured with what I am studying.
Did 17-year-old Makayla see herself studying Family and Consumer Sciences when she selected Music Education as her major going into freshman year? No, of course not, but I am glad that I am now. I took the step that I knew I needed to be successful, happy, and content with my future. Sure, I disappointed some people and lost some scholarships on the way, but I gained a lifetime of loving relationships with my future students teaching them something that I am truly passionate about.
So, if you've been looking for a sign to change your major, or to schedule that career counseling appointment, here it is. Just do it. Your happiness is what matters in the end, not your parents, professors, roommates, etc.
Study what you love so that you can work a job and have a career that you love.
