As a college senior, I’ve had to deal with a lot of change while preparing for moving from Kearney, finding a job and saying goodbye to the school and people I’ve known for the last four years. While change brings new opportunities and experiences, feelings of uncertainty about what the future holds can bring a lot of stress and anxiety.
It reminds me of the same feelings that I had when I was graduating from high school. At an already overwhelming time in my life, I was faced with many decisions that would have a significant impact on my future.
I’ve always struggled with making big decisions. The idea of having to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life was terrifying. I felt so pressured to plan my whole life and what I wanted for my future when I didn’t even know who I was or what my goals were.
The best advice I could’ve received in that time of stress is that it’s OK to not have everything figured out. Even though it felt wrong for me to not have made a decision, I can’t be more grateful that I decided to become an undecided major.
Many students feel this similar pressure in high school to have everything figured out. Since most high schools do not prepare students to make decisions on their futures, they are left questioning what they should do for their careers.
When people are pushed to make a decision that they may not be ready for, that often leads to them making the wrong decisions. Becoming an undecided major allowed me the opportunity to make the decision when I had experienced life outside of high school and get a better grasp on what I wanted.
High school students should not feel like they need to have everything figured out. College brings a lot of change and is meant to be a time of exploration and learning. These new opportunities, connections and perspectives may change people’s perceptions of what they want for their futures.
College also brings students more experience in their desired career field. Often, students have a certain expectation of what they want their careers to be, not knowing the reality of what it is like to work in that career field. This problem pushes many students to either change their major or feel stuck pursuing a degree in something they aren’t passionate about.
Despite what everyone says, sometimes it’s better to not have every answer. It’s normal and healthy for decisions to change, especially during this time of our lives. I wish I could’ve been confident in my choice to be an undecided major, as it was the best decision for me to be able to pick a career that actually worked well for me.
