We live in a world that expects us to go to college. In the same world, we are expected to know exactly what we want to do the minute we graduate high school and to have a five year plan, without changing your mind once. There isn’t time to change your mind because you have to earn as many degrees as you can before you start a family. 

That is where the problem starts. They expect us to know what we want to do for the rest of our lives, when just three months before that, we had to ask permission to go to the bathroom and had to have a parent call to “check us out” from school. 

Then you pick a college, you pick a major, and you start your journey. 

However, what happens if you realize you don’t like your major or you aren’t cut out for that career choice? You either take a change of course and select another field, or stay stuck in the one that you’re in. 

If you change, you tend to be made to feel like a traitor to your program or you are made to feel bad about yourself because you couldn’t “keep up” like the rest of your classmates could. However, if you choose not to change, you may begin to give up, because you don’t have the drive to keep going in a field that doesn’t have your interest anymore. 

Here is the thing though- this is your life. If you realize that what you started in isn’t meant to be your final destination, then change your plans. Transfer schools if you need to, talk to other advisors, take a few classes that are part of another field of study, or check out what it takes to be a part of a different major. Change isn’t bad, but we live in a world that frowns upon it. 

If the thought of uprooting isn’t an option, check into what your current degree could get you into. Maybe your biology degree can lead to your future job as a nutritionist, or your psychology degree could support your plan to go into administrative education. Often times, graduate programs will allow other people to apply and get accepted, even if their bachelor degree is in something completely different. You can even go get multiple bachelors, masters, or doctoral degrees. You don’t just have to stop at one and make that one choice your entire future. It is also okay to finish a degree, even if you know it isn’t what you want to do after you graduate. Sometimes reaching that finish line is easier than starting back from the beginning; where as, sometimes, starting with a blank slate can be the best choice for your new path. 

Studies have shown that barely any first time college students stick with their original major. Most will change theirs at least once in their time at a university, but some will change it even more. That is okay! 

As someone who has changed his major four times- two of those times being changing back to the same major, I can attest that it isn’t easy to make a decision that big when you have interests in several different areas. Just realize, you can always change your mind, and education is something that is always growing. Opportunity to further learning doesn’t have to end at your four year mark, and you don’t have to stick to one major just because it is where you started or it makes other people happy. You have options regarding your education- remember that.