Before I started college, I wish someone would’ve told me it was okay to not know right away what I wanted to do with my life. When I think about my senior year of high school, I think about the free breakfast at 7 a.m.; the ugly mandatory uniforms I wish someone would’ve burned; the crush across the classroom I hope one day would notice me (he never did, but that’s totally fine). I even think about the magic school bus that I wish so badly I could have now. I was only 18, still a young kid who was obsessing over One Direction and thinking about how awesome it would be to finally graduate.
I remember the pressure I felt in making sure I picked and applied to the right schools. The constant reminder to make sure my SAT and ACT scores were perfect to even be considered—which by the way was a nightmare and I took several times. And even thinking about what I wanted to major in before getting accepted anywhere. Looking back now, I realize that though they are all important things to care about and to take into consideration, it is not the end of the world if every single step isn’t perfect; because we are not perfect and that is okay.
(Photo via @sarahgargano)
Before the start of my freshman year of college, I decided I wanted to be a Psychology major. It was a subject I found very intriguing, but also knew it was socially acceptable and would get me a job (so they said). I later decided that it wasn’t what I wanted and declared myself undecided, until I finally accepted that what I really wanted was to major in music. It was what I had concentrated on in high school and though many considered the field of music a lost cause and hard to get into, I wanted to major in something I was truly passionate about, so I did.
(Photo via @sarahgargano29)
A year later, after taking multiple music business classes and going through three-hour-long lectures, I slowly began to feel uninspired and uninterested. I learned the business side of it wasn’t the easiest or most appealing thing, and my creative side just wanted to be fulfilled in other ways, not bombarded with legal terms or documents. I loved songwriting and singing as a therapeutic outlet, but something told me it just wasn’t right as a career path for me anymore. As I slowly came to terms with this, I grew an interest in fashion. I wanted to know more about it and it soon affected my style and contributed to my self-esteem in a positive way.
(Photo via @brisaamarr)
My confidence grew a little more and I loved the feeling of creativity it gave me when I played around with my style. I put more thought into what I wore and my interest and curiosity for the fashion industry kept growing. In order to fulfill my interest, I decided to once again change my major, and this time I went into Communications. It was a field where I felt I could learn how to improve my writing, emerge myself in what was currently happening and somehow incorporate it into the fashion realm. I eventually came across CollegeFashionista which I thought was my chance to finally do something related to fashion. The opportunities in fashion here in Florida are pretty slim, and the fact that there was a place out there where I could do something I love was a sign for me that maybe, just maybe I could work in the field and be somebody.
(Photo via @cfashionista)
I say all this to show that it’s okay to change your major several times while in college. We are constantly changing our minds, our interests change, and every day is a new day to learn something new about ourselves. It’s unfair to force us to decide first day of freshman year who you want to be for the rest of our lives, let alone the four years of college. There’s so much to discover, learn, try and experience. And if we were to only make one decision and not having the opportunity to change it, we would be robbing ourselves from chances and opportunities.
I’ve changed my major about four times now. Though I always felt worried about doing so, I don’t regret it because it brought me to where I am now and it helped me grow as a person. There’s nothing wrong in not knowing what to do just yet, in fact I’m still trying to figure it all out. Unfortunately, there’s no handbook for how to deal with life, but if there were it wouldn’t be as fulfilling. Honestly, it’s a great thing being able to figure out what we like and don’t like, and what we want and don’t want.
(Photo via @torinergaard)
All in all, you got this!
