Have you ever taken a road trip without using GPS just to see where you'd end up? Well that's kind of how I'm tackling the whole "life" thing.
“What’s your major?” seems to be a popular question for just about anyone I’ve met since college started. As a soon-to-be sophomore with absolutely no specific career path, when people ask me what my plans are for the future, like most students who have yet to declare a major, I internally freak out a little. Okay, a lot. I'm only going into my second year of college(!!!!). I don't even know what my plan for this weekend is!!! How am I supposed to know exactly what I want to do with my entire life!! Okay, calm, calm, calmmmm.
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In response to their questions, when I say “honestly I really don’t know yet”, they throw out their "helpful" suggestions like, "why don't you become a doctor, a lawyer perhaps?" Which leads to more internal freaking out! As viable as those career choices are, they just don't seem to fit into my undecided life plan. Obiv. There is SO much life has to offer, so narrowing down the choices is the process right? I'm 19, so there is so much I haven't seen, so much I haven't done, and so many people I have yet to meet. It's not like I haven't thought about what I would like to do with the rest of my life. I just haven't put a stamp on what makes me the happiest. The goal in life is happiness right?
The world is a huge place and there’s a lot of options for what I could do with my life. I could LITERALLY study animal scat if my heart truly desired (but it doesn’t. I think.). So why would I want to end up in a dead-end job or work in a cubicle from 9-5 just because I decided too soon without really knowing. So why do I have to have my mind made up when I'm not even old enough to sit at a bar and order my own drinks.
Being undecided has given me the opportunity to experience so much in just my freshman year. Only having to take general educations classes, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my free time, so I played a sport I've never even heard of before, I joined the climbing club when I'm terrified of heights (that didn't last long), taken credits in multiple different fields (astronomy seemed cool at first), and to my surprise joined a sorority, which has allowed me to meet all different kinds of people with different majors and interests, and get firsthand knowledge of the different majors I can choose from. Not having a plan allows for the opportunity to try a variety of things, which makes you well-rounded.
All of these new things I have tried and different kinds of people I have met have only brought me closer to figuring out what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. I've learned that spending my days reading the course requirements for every major from criminal justice to zoology, or relying on BuzzFeed quizzes to tell me my destiny, won't help make my decision any easier and it's just not healthy, but getting out there and actually doing something about it has given me the chance to not only broaden my options, but better myself along the way.
So if you're in my boat, take a deep breath because it's all going to be alright. Not everyone really knows what they want to do with their life. Just because your freshman year roommate is set in stone about being a neurosurgeon, doesn't mean you have to be too. Take your uncertainty about your future as a blessing and go out there and get inspired. Make connections and try new things. One day you'll find your niche and everything you've experimented with, every trial and error, will be worth it.
You don't want to look back one day and regret your decisions. So if you're not sure, embrace it. Tell them confidently, “I’m undecided.” And no, I'm not scared or worried because with my hardwork and dedication, I know somehow in this crazy world things will fall into place. And then I will be truly happy.
And that is why I can't just choose major. My plan is to create myself and discover my passion to do something worth doing. Like taking a road trip without a GPS, you'll be presently surprised where you end up. Even if you have no idea where you are or how you got there, you'll always find something enlightening about yourdestination. Life is a journey, so don't be afraid to travel without a map.
