Sometimes it feels like there is an unspoken rule in college; once you pick a major, you stick with it. Changing your mind can feel like failure, like you’ve wasted your time or you are falling behind. However, switching my major during my second semester didn’t set me back, it put me on the right path.
I originally came to college with my entire life planned out ahead of time. I was going to major in international policy, get an internship in a government office, go to graduate school in Washington DC and eventually join the US Foreign Service. I have always been interested in different countries and cultures, and have always had a passion for advocacy and social justice. A major in international policy felt like a perfect blend of the two and it also came with a lot of perceived benefits like financial stability, job security and, selfishly, my favorite of all: people are really impressed when you tell them you are going to work for the government. Initially, I was really excited about what I was learning and what this path in life had in store for me. I was confident in my choice and my future. Until I wasn’t.
As my second semester began I started to notice a change in the way I felt about my classes. The work felt more tedious, the days more draining, and the assignments became more of an obligation than an opportunity to learn. It was in the back row of my statistics class that I finally admitted it to myself: I wasn’t happy anymore. It wasn’t that the work was too hard or that I was doing poorly in my classes, I just wasn’t motivated to learn about these topics anymore. In fact, I found myself being more excited to go to work at my substitute teaching job than I was to be in the classes that were supposed to shape my future career. For the first time since I arrived at school I was beginning to doubt whether the path I had so meticulously planned out for myself was actually the right one. And once the doubt crept in it was impossible to ignore.
Unfortunately, admitting you are unhappy and actually doing something about it are two very different things. Changing my major felt terrifying. It felt like I was admitting to failure because I couldn’t stick with my original plan. I was worried that I would fall behind, that I would be wasting time and money and that I would be disappointing the people who had shown so much support in my original plan. I also feared the uncertainty of it all: what if I changed my major and was still unhappy? What if I made the wrong choice and was stuck with it? I had so many questions and so many conflicting feelings, for a while it felt easier to ignore them and pretend that I was still happy with what I was doing. Nonetheless, I eventually realized I couldn’t ignore my feelings anymore. Looking back now I understand that changing my decision wasn’t a sign of failure, it was a sign that I was learning more about myself.
Once I made the decision to change my major everything else changed too. My love for teaching at my job made me realize that I wanted to study early childhood education, a huge 180°, trust me I know. The relief I felt once my switch was finalized was almost immediate, like I was finally giving myself permission to do something that actually excited me. I found myself looking forward to going to class each day and engaging in class discussions and projects more than I ever had before. The confidence I had found in my new path began to spill over into other areas of my life too and It felt like I had finally found my spark again. The more I learned about childhood development, teaching strategies and the impact that teachers have on young learners the more I was convinced that this is what I was meant to be doing. The best part is that teaching has not taken away my passion for advocacy and social justice, but instead has reshaped and strengthened it into a passion for changing the lives of young students.
If there is one thing I have learned from going through this experience it is that changing your mind does not mean you have failed, it means that you are growing. College is a time when you are meant to explore who you are and what is important to you. You don’t have to have all the answers, and let me let you in on a little secret: no one else has all the answers either. It’s okay for your plans to change and for your life to look different from what you imagined. Everyone’s path is going to look different and there is no one “right” timeline. Changing my major did not put me behind, it put me on the right path and helped me to discover a new purpose. The bravest thing you can do as a person is admit when something doesn’t feel right and have the courage to try something new. And who knows, that decision could be the best choice you ever make.