What’s your major? If you’re a sophomore, or even a first year, not only are you likely to hear this questioned, but you also might not know how to answer it. Everyone has to choose a major at some point in their college career. At first, picking a major can be overwhelming because it feels like you are committing yourself to that subject for the rest of your college career. Many people start college intent on majoring in politics and end up changing to history or chemistry, where the major you started with and the one you ended with are often completely unrelated. What I have recently discovered is that even after you declare your major, you can still change it. It is a preconceived notion that once you declare, you cannot change your mind. What I am realizing more and more often, is that there are very few things you can get involved in that will not allow you to change your mind if you decide it’s not for you.
I came to Scripps intent on double majoring in biochemistry and English. After taking an extremely challenging course my first semester, entitled Introduction to Biological Chemistry, or IBC for short, I got a glimpse of what science would be like for the remainder of my time at Scripps, and what it would mean for me to, not only be a science major, but pursue another major on top of that. Recently, I have been questioning everything. Should I double major? Should I dual major? Should I just do a major and a minor? Hearing my advisor tell me that I could change my major, even after I declared, was such a relief. Even if it’s not ideal, it’s still possible, and that makes it feel a whole lot less binding. There seems to be a preconceived notion that you can’t change your major, which makes the whole process seem that much more intense and stressful.
Lately, it has become more and more common for adults to expect that teens and young adults know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. This puts so much pressure on students and makes them feel as though they must make a decision, or they will fall behind. I know personally, I feel somewhat behind not knowing what I’m going to major in yet. When people ask me, sometimes I wish I could just say this:
The truth is, it’s okay to not know what you’ll major in, or what you want to do in the future. The beauty of going to a liberal arts college is that you have the opportunity to take classes in so many different disciplines, and at the other colleges, that you can figure out what you like and what you don’t like. In addition, there are so many events and opportunities for internships and other jobs that might open a door to something that you end up falling in love with. On the other hand, if you are set on one specific major or field of study, it is important to keep your options open and be willing to fall in love with something new.
If it’s any consolation, even Chandler didn’t know what he was going to do with his life, and he was in his late 20’s, which is supposedly when we’re supposed to have it all figured out.
The road to finding your passion is long and is subject to change, but know that whatever you do, you should love it, because that is a sure way to be happy.