The Prologue
It’s your high school graduation; stringy caps are flying out to the sky ready to be forever frozen in mid air by a million cameras. There is laughing and congratulating, and dinner plans are in motion. Your grandmother gives you 100 dollars for “making it”—your arms feel heavy from golden awards and lifetime achievements. Things are exciting and, most importantly, safe. Then suddenly…it’s time. It seems your whole life has been leading up to this very moment. All your being is sucked into that black hole that is red cups, caffeine, and monthly existential crises. This is college and it welcomes you with open teeth—I mean, arms.
Top most overused-pseudo lies- probably said to you by movies or society about college:
a) You’re supposed to go in knowing what you want
b) This is the time where you’re supposed to find yourself. You may not have figured it out in high school—but this is certainly the time, so get to choosing a brand for yourself
c) This is where you decide what your life will be from here on out.
d) If you don’t make a solid choice now, your life is basically over so you might as well drop out after your third try to pass Pre-calculus
The Facts
Certainly some aspects about college have been hyped up—especially the abstract, gooey ones we learn about in made-for-TV college movies. For example, we have literally all the time in the world to find out who we are, and then change, and then find out who we are again. If you were as lost when you came in as when you came out of college, that’s fine. You’ve still got about 60 years to keep evolving anyway, right?
The biggest myth, though, is probably the most important career wise. And this is that you’re supposed to magically know, as if you had been branded by the career fairy, what it is you’re supposed to study as soon as you enter college. For a lot of people, the transition from high school to Uni was a fairly smooth one. Those who liked to solve problems and get down with numbers probably went for engineering or a calculated science. Those who liked to dissect dead things probably studied some biological life science. Those who lived to paint murals or invent new colors studied disciplines related to art. And there was no straying from these paths; no matter how hard the math or how stressful the cramming, this was the goal and the goal was achieved. These were the determined, the un-strayed and un-swayed rarities that made it through unchanged. Interests and passions were unfaltering and triumphant! Or maybe they were just lucky.
The truth is that with the majority of people, classes and stress are enough to make them think twice about things—tear the seams of their brains, so to speak. Questions begin their harassment: Is this what I really want? I mean I haven’t tried anything else. Am I supposed to just get through a major without actually enjoying it? In fact, and this trumps any feeling of stress or hardship a person can momentarily feel (due to calculus and those other wonderful courses that fill us with glee), many students consider they aren’t doing what they really love or would do in a scenario where money didn’t exist or parents weren’t so easily disappointed. Surveys have actually demonstrated that students choose majors based on influence-such as parental, from peers or the media- and assumption rather than through an understanding of their own personal goals and values.
Furthermore, according to studies, about 75%-80% of students end up changing their majors at least once at one point or another. This may seem like an overwhelming number, but it also looks like a logical one too. As writer Adam Kotsko astutely observed: “We ask 18-year-olds to make huge decisions about their career and financial future, when a month ago they had to ask to go to the bathroom”. In other words: going into college for the first time is harrowing stuff, and the process should be taken in one small, unthreatening gulp at a time. What these 75 -80% figures really show, then, is a reaction- the constant itch our brains have to experience and concrete things for themselves, as opposed to being force fed possible career options it really knows nothing about or has no passion for. After all your brain will most likely not budge or cooperate after a few years of mental torture, and then you’re both in for a pickle.
The Example
And who says the choices you make now will be the ones you have to drag on with later on? In fact, another disproportionately huge myth is that whatever you study in college will be what you must pursue after you graduate, regardless of the detours that may pop up along the way. Industrial engineering student Bryan Santiago debunks this myth wholly.
Bryan, with his cool gait and confident speech, is in his sixth year of college, but his second year of Industrial Engineering. He originally entered Colegio through a double bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering and Industrial Biotechnology. After four years of pure science, Bryan had an epiphany: As he spoke to some friends one day he realized that where his passion truly lay, where it was hiding all along, was in film. Now, we’ve all had side thoughts about little hobbies and endeavors we would like to pursue if the choice was ours or we had all the time in the world to do so. But with Bryan, this wasn’t just a side thought, it was full blown idea. As the thought kept broiling and growing in his head he researched engineering fields that would most closely relate to film and found the managerial aspects of industrial engineering closely linked to the production side of film. By this time, though, he had absolutely no interest in the calculated field. “It wouldn’t have taken much for my family to come over here and fill out the engineering application themselves. This (family) is the only reason why I’m studying engineering and not film, because honestly, I have no interest in engineering whatsoever.” In truth, every extracurricular activity, program and internship he’s participated in and subsequently will participate in have all been film related. “I have no real experience in my area of concentration (industrial engineering); all my energies have gone towards adding work to my portfolio for grad school”. Bryan finished Colegio’s Film Certificate program in May of this year.
Following his graduation in 2016, Bryan aims to attend NYU’s prestigious graduate Film school, with eyes specifically set on film production, or as he calls it “’the making of’ of film”. When asked if he’s had any regrets in terms of his career paths he gives a confident and resounding no. “I feel very accomplished with what I’ve done so far. Maybe if I had changed to industrial engineering sooner, I would’ve been farther advanced time wise; but other than that I have no regrets. I feel confident with the decision I took.”
This glimmering example of the diversity of paths is enough help anyone realize that decisions don’t have to be static, but instead they grow and mature in dynamic settings. What you choose today does not necessarily reflect what you’ll choose tomorrow. What you choose today may complement the totally different thing you choose five years from now. You may be completing a degree in literature with the hopes of becoming a heart surgeon (totally doable). You may be dealing in the dark arts of computer engineering only to find out graduation day you want to pursue international law (totally doable too). You may, like Bryan, be dealing with numbers and ciphers and Excel sheets your entire bachelor’s only with the intent of pursuing an artistic career afterward (refer above for doability). In short, the possibilities and combinations are infinite.
Image from purePotential blog
The Gist
Overall, the reflection of indecision and uncertainty runs high amongst students worldwide and indecision usually leads to insecurity, and insecurity can lead to the death of motivation- a big, red, alarming sign that things are going downhill. For this reason it’s monumentally important to stress how usual it is for students to be undecided their first year of college, as well as how totally OK it is to change afterwards if they feel what they’re doing isn’t really ruffling their feathers. It’s important to thank these 75 to 80% figures for existing and helping us realize it is sort of a natural human thing to experience uncertainty and a drive to discover other potential passions. Because decidedness is essential and important, but decisions have to have firm bases otherwise they’ll crumble and fall. So: to be or not to be? How about being both and finding out for yourself?
Image from weheartit