When I applied to college I had no idea what I wanted to study. I applied to an interesting medley of universities, ranging from art schools to schools with really good engineering programs to schools with all around great programs. Maybe I wanted to be an architect. Maybe I wanted to be an engineer. Maybe I wanted to be a writer. I wasn’t really sure, and that was okay!
Coming into Notre Dame, I decided to start off in engineering to test whether or not I would like it. I also read that it was easier to transfer from engineering into another major because of the various requirements. After my first semester I decided that engineering wasn’t for me, so I did what any Notre Dame student unsure of their major would do: I transferred into Mendoza. It’s the number one business program in the country, so why not? My parents were all for it, giving me the okay to give it a shot. A small voice in my head kept saying, “You won’t like it! Don’t do it!” But I did it anyway. Now in my first semester of sophomore year I have realized that Mendoza isn’t for me either. Accounting is boring and tedious and the thought of taking Accounting II next semester makes me cringe, I’m terrible at any kind of math, and Finance sounds horrible (though I am curious to see what all the fuss about Professor Ackermann is about).
Out of all the classes I am taking this semester, there’s only one I like: my Italian class. When I took my first Italian class last semester I realized how interesting I find languages, and that ultimately helped me decide that I wanted to major in Romance Languages and Literatures with a minor in Journalism. I told my mom straight up, and she was supportive of my decision. I started meeting with deans and advisors and got the paperwork I needed. Last week I turned everything in and I was happy. I had never been more excited to register for classes. I felt truly happy, something I hadn’t felt in a while in any other major. However, I was most nervous about telling my dad, expecting him to be upset. But he was very supportive, and with his support I finally felt like I was walking on sunshine. Not even the unexpected early snowfall could bring me down.
What I mean to get at with this whole story is that it’s okay if you don’t know what you want to do with your life right now. I was the most unsure about my major out of all my friends. And I still have no idea what I’m going to do with my life. I think people probably wonder what the heck I’m going to do with my major after I graduate and I honestly have no idea but I don’t care because I am happy. Some of my friends have their entire lives planned out and others are doing business or something else they don’t like only because of the security of a job after graduation. However, I kind of like not knowing what I’m going to do. Sure it’s scary sometimes especially with the rising unemployment rates right now, but I think there’s something romantic and movie-like about it. For all of you ladies (and men) that don’t know what to major in, you are not alone and it’s not the end of the world. Find what you love. Take random classes. If I hadn’t decided to take Italian I probably never would have known what I wanted to do. We are young and there is always time to figure everything out along the way.