Everyone is quick to tell you that college is “the best years of your life,” but it seems that no one is willing to tell you that it can be scary as hell.
You get ripped from the comfort of Mom’s bosom with no guide except the crap you watched on MTV and life lessons you learned at the bus stop and now you’re supposed to figure out who you are, who you want to be and what you want to do with the rest of your life. It’s exhilarating and liberating and tiring and frightening all at the same time. It’s college and you are not alone.
The GainesvilleScene series “College Fears” aims to delve into these unspoken fears. You might laugh, you might cry, hell, you might even realize we feel the same way about shit that you do.
The Wrong Major
1. Did you pick the wrong major? Yes, you probably did. Now that that’s out of the way, start desperately googling shit like “does your major really matter?” You’ll choose to read and agree with the articles that say it doesn’t, but you’re still uneasy, aren’t you? The truth is if you don’t want to work on Wall Street, be an engineer or go to med school then it really doesn’t matter. Either way, you’re going to want to pad your resume with character-building activities. It’s your experiences that will get you the interview. A recruiter needs to look at your resume and say “I need to meet this kid.” That trumps whatever major you choose almost every time.
2. Nobody knows what they want when they’re fucking 18 years old. The fact that we are expected to select a career path in our teenage years is downright insane, and in all honesty your choice of major is not what will determine whether you experience a lifetime of professional failure or years of financial bliss. Choose something that interests and drives you, apply yourself and you will excel. What you major in isn’t even necessarily what your profession will entail. My dad majored in building construction, but has worked as a stock trader since he graduated college. Your major doesn’t matter as much as you think it does.
3. As you’re sitting through your microbiology final, you realize, while staring at the blank answer sheet in front of you, you fucking hate science. The only reason you picked a science-related major is because it’s going to get you into med school, bringing you closer to achieving your dream of becoming Meredith Grey. Coming to the realization that you may have picked the wrong major is completely natural. Don’t freak out. A college major doesn’t have to be a permanent state. You can change it if you want to, so instead of killing yourself trying to get through microbio with a C, just go do something you really love. Your dream is not dependent on your major — it’s dependent on you.
4. Major in something you like. If you are passionate about a field in the humanities, don’t avoid it because you are afraid of not making a lot of money or becoming a “professional student.” Yes, people will ask you what you plan on “doing with that.” Shake it off. Stay humble but focused. If you are studying something you love, failure is irrelevant. And no, you do not HAVE to become a teacher just because you majored in English or psychology. You just have to apply yourself.
5. Sometimes that “passion” you’re supposed to “follow” isn’t necessarily career-related. You probably know what you want to do for a living, and if you don’t, then pick something interesting and versatile, and run with it. You’ll find yourself in a career you are, at least, happy in. Decide if you want your career to trump everything else, provide a stable 9 to 5 or fall somewhere in between. Above all, don’t let “bad” grades scare you away. The problem with picking a major is that you assume your lifelong happiness rests in your career choice. There’s more to life, my friend.
6. It’s this whole mentality of right vs. wrong and success vs. failure that has our generation’s panties in a fucked up, twisted bunch. Since day one of kindergarten you were told to color in the lines. In high school you had to choose the “right” college and upon arrival, you had to choose the “right” major. The fear of failure, choosing the “wrong” answer, is very real. It can be crippling. When chasing a title, pride or dollar signs you’re often forced to turn your back on your passion. Passion is the only true answer, and when listened to, will always serve you best.
7. Out of nowhere you’re seated in front of a preview leader, tossed a newspaper full of course descriptions and expected to choose a path for your next four years. It must have available jobs lined up, a respectable paycheck, and here comes the staple argument: one that will make you happy. Choosing something based off of what makes you “happy” is almost harder than all the others, because its such a uncertain category. Your future is unpredictable — your happiness is what you make of it. Pursue something with gusto, and a life of fulfillment will follow.
8. I had this grandiose dream of traveling the world as a medical journalist. After spending two years of college scraping by in pre-med classes and putting zero effort into journalism classes, I realized that 1) I had fallen in love with the perception of a “dream job,” and 2) I didn’t know shit about what I really wanted to do. It was scary, but it helped me see that I was living in a future that didn’t exist yet instead of embracing every moment of the present. Regardless of your major or your “dream job,” the most satisfying way to find true success is putting your all into whatever is in front of you right now. You’ll be surprised at how the present effort shapes the future.
9. At this point, we’re expected to have enough of a grasp on ourselves and our futures to provide a confident answer to the frequently asked question “What’s your major?” Does that answer truly define us? Does the path that leads straight to a 9 to 5 career, a colonial and Fido make us who we are deep down in our core? When it comes to choosing your future, fight for what you believe in. Help others. Take risks. Fuck up. Try again. Ultimately, find something that you love, something that will make the early mornings worthwhile. You have one life, live it without fear.
10. I’m on my fourth major in two years of undergrad. I was terrified of leaving college without a degree that would guarantee me a job, so I continually threw myself into majors that I was told would be the right move, the fat wallet, the big name. I was decent at each of them, but I was miserable and quickly losing trust in the college dream. You will come to a breaking point one day, and you’ll find yourself back at page one staring at the passion you always knew you had but were afraid to pursue. When the sky falls down and the floodgates open on your life, you’ll know what keeps you standing. Be brutally honest with yourself, and find the one thing you were born to do. Why else are we alive?
11. Fear cripples some and motivates others. The fears of growing up into a functional adult, a fulfilled soul and a professionally successful being with health/dental benefits and a 401K all culminate when you graduate from college. You’ll walk the stage with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over your head because of the possibility that maybe you chose the wrong major and spent four years toiling at a useless task and a dead end. When peers and family members asked you “So what do you plan on doing with that major when you graduate?” you put on a brave face and joked, “I don’t know. Hopefully be a good Starbucks barista!” Now, however, that joke isn’t so funny anymore, because it’s a potential reality. Do what you can to regain a sense of humor, and take a deep breath because you’re fine — you’ll be fine. We’re all clueless and somewhat aimless. Things are always okay in the end, and if it’s not okay, then it’s not the end.
Featured photo courtesy of: BusinessAdministration
