I know so many people who are uncertain about their futures, even as juniors and seniors in college. It stresses them out.
But here's the thing: It's normal not to know what you want to do after college.
We talked in one of my English classes about the idea that, while we are in school, we are pushed to get ready for the next stage of education. In preschool, it's kindergarten. In middle school, it's high school. In high school, it's college.
Even before preschool, parents work on getting their kids ready to start school.
For most of our lives, we are looking only so far ahead — and only at schooling. College can often be the same way.
So, the idea that we need to decide something so huge is new to us. And the whole idea of no longer being in school is a little frightening and daunting.
We go to school for almost the first two decades of our lives, and maybe even longer. The idea of having to be prepared for the real world, rather than another semester or year of school, is foreign to us. Not only that, but there aren't many classes that help us in the real world.
And the biggest decision we were really allowed to make before this was about college — whether to attend it at all, and if so, which one to go to.
After that, the big decision was about majors and minors — which is one of the hardest decisions to make. I changed my mind multiple times already, and I know many college students struggling to narrow it down.
It's normal for people to have their hearts set on a certain career, but why can't it be normal for someone not to?
It is normal, and no one should feel so pressured to choose. People should be allowed to figure it out without feeling the pressures from society, especially when there isn't a pressure of time. There isn't a right time to declare a major.
It's OK to go to college undecided, and it's OK to not know until your junior year what your major and minors are. It's OK to find out what you really want to do after you graduate.
College can only help you figure it out so much. You need real-world experiences to do the rest.
So, if you are stuck and unsure of what to do, please don't stress. Take it one semester at a time and find out what classes you enjoy taking.
