Choosing a major is, without a doubt, one of the most important decisions you will make in your college career, and, quite possibly, your entire life. So why do our educators insist that we make this decision as soon as we commence our college careers?

After all, as soon as we finish spending a year stressing about getting into college, the last thing that a freshman has on the mind is "What now? What next?" College is the means to an end for our entire high school career. As soon as you reach that goal, you have to start completely over. No matter what college you attend, there are limitless options open for freshman to study. Despite these options, and despite the fear it might cause, your biggest priority should be getting to know yourself.

What do you like? What can you do with what you like? Who do you want to be? These are all questions that, no matter your year, a college student thinks about daily.

These are all questions that we need to ask ourselves. After all, the responses should make up your answer to the all-encompassing question; "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

With this in mind, take the time, while you still have it, to get to know yourself at least a little better. Take some time to explore different classes and different fields. Sometimes, the most enjoyable and most rewarding classes are the ones that you weren't too confident about at the beginning of the semester. Even if you take a risk and you don't end up loving it, at least you have learned something new.

And for those of us who never seem to know what to study, keep in mind that while summer classes may be frustrating, it's better to spend some time exploring than to spend the rest of your time wishing that you had.

So whenever you start to panic about your major, keep four things in mind:

1. Four years is a lot longer than you think, and you can accomplish a lot in that amount of time.

2. Join new organizations and learn about different fields before you change all of your classes.

3. Every experience you have is an opportunity to learn something new about yourself. Even if you pick the wrong major, at least you know what you don't want to do, and you can go from there.

4. Never pass up the opportunity to learn something new.