Passion, happiness, and enthusiasm are the three essential ingredients to consider when choosing a major or second-guessing whether your current major is right for you. Our college majors reflect our careers after graduation, so it’s imperative that we know we made the right choices.
Choosing a major when you’re undecided may feel like a weight on your chest that never goes away, but once you go with your gut feeling, the decision process will be easier than expected. It’s also perfectly fine to change your major before finding where you fit like a perfect puzzle piece. In fact junior English student, Caitlyn Hartigan, had this experience.
“I was two different majors before I finally settled on English,” she said. “I was psychology, and then I did education for two semesters. When I was thinking about switching to English, I just wanted a major that could be creative, because that’s my strongest ability and I love writing and reading.”
When reflecting upon your major, or deciding which one to choose, consider the phrase “do what you love”. Your skills and interests will guide you to the major that was meant to be.
Dylan Griswold, a junior computer science student, said, “There’s a lot of stuff you can make with a computer science degree, whether it’s coding, video games, simulations, or Artificial Intelligence. It really opens up my very creative mind.”
You don’t have to be an expert at a subject to major in it. The classes you take in your major will help you build your skills and grow your appreciation for the subject.
“I’ve always been good with computers, but when I came here to Monmouth, it was the first time I actually did coding. But as soon as I learned how it was structured, it became like any other subject,” Griswold continued.
When deciding upon your major, speaking with your advisor is the best way to determine which classes reflect your interests and what career paths you can follow with each major. Each major goes deeper than the surface, and you may be surprised at what careers would be the best fit for your major.
The Center for Student Success, located in the lower level of the student center, offers resources for those who are still undecided. As stated on Monmouth’s website, academic advising focuses on the student’s “development of his/her educational goals, objectives, consistent with personal interest, abilities, and values.”
If you’re second-guessing whether your major is right for you, ask your friends for advice. Sometimes, our friends know us better than ourselves and can give valued guidance. Listing the pros and cons of each major is also a helpful tool in considering a major.
Because everyone has different interests, everyone has a different process in choosing majors as well. Some may know right away what they want to do in life, while others are still searching. Everyone grows at their own pace, so don’t worry if you haven’t quite declared a major yet.
College is the perfect opportunity to find who you are, which eventually will guide you on the path to your perfect major. That’s the best thing about college- doing what you love and meeting likeminded people who will naturally help strengthen your passions.
You enjoy going to your classes every day, you receive outstanding grades, you love talking about your major to your friends, and you can’t see yourself doing anything else. That’s when you know you chose the right major. A major that perfectly reflects who you are and who you want to be will never stop motivating you as a college student. Our majors help shape who we are, and when we pick the right one, we are bound to reach success.
PHOTO TAKEN by Jenna Puglisi
