There’s a lot of pressure at the beginning of college to have this definitive, four-year plan mapped out. This made college an intimidating concept for a 17-year old me; I had no idea where I wanted to spend my next four years nor what I wanted to study. When it came to choosing my major, I picked Political Science; people had always told me I excelled in History and English, and a combination of the two might lead me to a successful career.
Big mistake. My first week of college consisted of last-minute advising appointments, dropping my major, and many meltdowns. I simply wasn’t interested in what I was learning. I dropped Political Science as my major and continued as undecided. Although this reigns as the most spontaneous decision I’ve ever made, it is one of most useful things I did to decide my career path.
My schedule that year consisted of classes in subjects ranging from Economics, Earth Science, History, Engineering, and Statistics courses. Not only did I find myself able to easily narrow down what I wanted to continue studying, I found myself gaining a well-rounded understanding of a variety of subjects that I was not well-introduced to in my K-12 education.
Two years later, I’ve finally decided on a major: Statistics [I have no regrets on that choice thus far!]. I still don’t have that “four-year plan” written in stone, and that’s okay, I don’t expect to. While a weight has been lifted off my shoulders having some certainty in my life, a present certainty doesn’t eliminate a future of uncertainties. There’s never a set time to start a “new beginning”, but there’s no better time than to start now. To those who may be in the same situation, I’m here to tell you it’ll all be okay. There’s no pressure to have your life figured out at this very second. Take each day with an open mind and one step at a time, and you’ll make it out alive.