I entered college directly after high school. Like everyone else, I was told to pick a major. Looking back, I can’t imagine how I handled the pressure of deciding the rest of my life at 18.
Traditional
I’ve come to resent the term “traditional student.” I don’t disagree with the notion of 18-year-old high school graduates entering college, picking a major, graduating in 4 years, and heading off into their careers. That’s fine. But the word “traditional” throws an awful lot of shade on the rest of us (75% of students) who took a different path.
Explore
Technically, I changed majors 4 times my freshmen year. I applied, and was accepted to college, for Philosophy. I wanted to help people, and thought that maybe ministry was the path. Philosophy would prepare me for graduate seminary. I had a hard time connecting to the topics listed in the required courses. It didn’t stick. I actually changed majors before I even attended a class!
Next, I tried Communications. I thought Journalism and Public Speaking were interesting, and I could enjoy them as a career. I spent the Fall of my freshman year studying these topics. Then my Jeep broke down and I discovered my love of all things mechanical.
I switched majors Spring of freshman year: General Engineering. If I hoped to graduate “on time” (4 years total), I’d need to stay for summer school. I stayed (I still didn’t graduate in 4, another story).
By Fall of my sophomore year I landed in my fourth and final major: Mechancial Engineering.
Pressure
Where’s it come from?
- Social – we want to look like we have it all figured out.
- Fear of Change – we hate change and avoid it even if our current situation isn’t good for us.
- Parental – we want to impress the people who support us, and often pick the same major as someone who raised us.
- Financial – college costs a lot and anything that threatens to increase the cost is risky.
- Career – we want to pick majors that map to a job and are afraid if we don’t see a clear opportunity ahead of time.
Truth
One of the best things that college offers is a chance to explore. A chance to try things out and see what really fits. There are so many nuances to this decision – which is why we’ve got counselors and career centers all over campus!
Nobody has it together, they’re all putting up a front somewhere in their lives. Fear of change often points in the best direction we could go. Your parents don’t have to go to work with you for the next 40 years, you do. It’s not as expensive as you think, I just paid off my 5th year and I don’t regret a penny of it. There’s a way to turn any major into a career, that’s part of what they’ll teach you as you study it.
Do things. Try things. Test the water. Make a mess.
Failure isn’t getting it wrong the first time. Failure is realizing you got it wrong and letting fabricated barriers stop you from changing to what is right.
Cue Robert Frost.
