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The Major Stressing Series: How
to Choose Your Major I spent most of my first year and a half of college telling friends and family that, no, I had no idea what I was going to major in, but not to worry — I still had lots of time to make up my mind. My indecision was usually met with understanding smiles and encouragement. "Oh yeah, you have time," a lot of them would agree. By the second semester of sophomore year, though, those understanding smiles I'd grown accustomed to changed to raised eyebrows and expressions of disbelief. Rather than comforting words, I started getting responses like, "Still?"; "Well, don't you even have an idea?"; and my favorite, "Better get cracking — unless you plan on staying in college forever." Talk about grating on my last nerve. When they saw how frazzled I'd begun to look, well-meaning friends directed me to advisors and reference books. The most common piece of advice I heard was, "It depends on what you want to do." If I knew what I wanted to do, I wouldn't have been in this dilemma in the first place! Eventually, an advisor told me to take classes in the fields that interested me, in hopes that would help me decide. So I went on a mad dash to take all the classes that might potentially become my professional calling. I tried a creative writing course, since I loved writing when I was younger. The outcome: I learned that I don't take criticism well, a characteristic that would definitely cause problems if I pursued a career in writing. I then shot through a series of potential majors — English, sociology, history, social work — before I finally stopped at psychology. Why psychology? Because, to me, it was the most interesting subject. I've always enjoyed trying to analyze people. I've always liked trying to figure out what made them the way they were: their past, their parents, their community, ethnicity, etc. Psychology appeals to my curious side. Now, I'm not saying that should you feel a bond to a certain subject — a bond you know could only have been ordained from above — that you've found your major. But you should be able to go to your classes without having a feeling of dread, or at least with somewhat less whining than usual. You should actually enjoy what you're studying. When it comes down to it, choosing your major shouldn't be a nightmare. It should be about finding out what you're interested in and focusing on it. I eventually picked something that I actually liked — not something that everyone else thinks is great. After all, those people aren't the ones who will have to suffer through all those courses; you are. Most of all, remember that when you pick a major, you're not making a final decision about what you want to do with your life. Choosing a major is merely the start. Lots of people end up doing something that isn't remotely related to their college major: Picking one won't be an end-all decision for me, and it shouldn't be for you. Love this
column? Hate it? Tell
us all about it. The Major Stressing Series: How
to Choose Your Major © 2000 Student Advantage, Inc. |
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