7 Things You’re Tired of Hearing if You Haven’t Declared a Major Yet

1. “You have plenty of time to make a decision.”

People still tell me this when I’m about to be a sophomore and I have no clue what I want to major in! One or two semesters to decide what I’m going to be stuck doing for the rest of my life isn’t exactly what I’d call “plenty of time.”

2. “What do you enjoy doing? What are you passionate about?”

People ask you these questions trying to help, as if you’ve never thought of them yourself. If I loved hanging out with sick people and giving people shots, I would know that I want to be a nurse. But it’s not that easy. I love animals, but I don’t want to be a vet. I’m good at math, but I don’t want to sit at a desk for eight hours every day solving math problems. It’s not always that simple.

3. “You should be a doctor/ the president/some other unrealistic career that you have no interest in doing.”

“Oh, thank you, I’ll go be the President of the United States when I know nothing about politics, I don’t like history, and I’m horrible at talking in front of people. How did you know that was my dream job?” You’re not going to pursue a career just because someone else wants free medical advice or something else from you. You might not know what your dream job is, but you definitely know some things you don’t want to be.

4. “Yeah, I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up either…”

…says about half of the middle-aged adults I talk to. First of all, you are grown up. Second, you have a good job that you enjoy. Third, if you’re trying to be funny, it’s not working. I’m pretty sure my high school guidance counselor even told me this, which doesn’t really surprise me.

5. “Since you’re undecided, you don’t have to worry about changing majors like almost everyone else!”

“You get time to try out different classes and really decide which major is best for you.” It’s true that most people change their major in college, but at least they can make choices easily! They know what’s best for themselves. Some people, like me, are not blessed with a decisive mind, so they take a long time to make choices, especially important ones.

6. “The ‘exploratory’ program contains more students than any other majors!”

Great, so now I know I’m not the only clueless one. That still doesn’t help me know what I should major in though. By the way, calling the group of undecided kids “exploratory” doesn’t make anything better. We still just take the general education courses and maybe an art class or psychology while we try to “find ourselves.”

7. “Did you decide on a major yet?”

Nope, nope, and nope. I think this is the most frustrated I’ve ever been in my life. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to declare a major, but my part-time jobs at a fast food restaurant and the dining hall have given me enough motivation to keep going to college.