There are a lot of things that make being a senior difficult, like picking a prom dress or filling out FAFSA. However, a big thing that many seniors struggle with is one of the biggest decisions they have to make: picking their major. It can seem daunting to make a decision that could affect the rest of your life at only 17.

Most students are influenced by their parents or family members. Senior Ava Junkas said, “When I was a kid, people would always tell me that I would be a good lawyer because I was good at negotiating with my parents. So I thought political science would fit that well,”

Students often come into high school with a general idea of what they want to do and take classes they believe would be beneficial for their ideal path in college. Junior Meghan Walker says, “Most of the clubs and classes I have chosen are because of the future careers I want to go into.”

Being exposed to different careers in your underclassmen years is encouraged by our college counselors here at DGS. College counselor Daniel Mustari said, “We encourage students to take a variety of electives. When they find a class or subject that they excel in, they should follow that path with additional classes, activities and outside opportunities that support those interests.”

Freshman at Northwestern University, Juliana Conyer, used the different classes in order to discover her passion for journalism. “In my junior year, I realized that I really enjoyed journalism and that in part came from the experience I was able to gain while being part of the Blueprint staff. But also the help from Ms. Long, who encouraged me to pursue journalism,” Conyer said.

However, even if you believe that you have a good idea about what you’re going to do with your life as you move through high school, things could change. “When I started applying for colleges my senior year I began to question whether political science was really something I wanted to do. I also really liked being creative and designing logos for my dance team so I began to look at marketing and business,” Junkas said.

Junkas ended up changing her path that she had been committed to since freshman year and applied to business schools instead.

However, not all students discover that they aren’t as passionate about their initial major as early as Junkas does. In fact, Mallory Shealy, a sixth grade math teacher at Lakeview Junior High, originally started college as a meteorology major. But she realized that she had another talent, teaching math.

“In that class [Calculus lll], some of my peers were having a hard time with the material, so I started helping tutor them during study sessions. One day, after I had been explaining a concept, one of my classmates said to me, ‘You make math seem easy to learn—you should really be a math teacher.’ That comment really stuck with me because it made me realize how much I enjoyed not only doing math, but helping others understand it,” Shealy said.
Eventually, Shealy changed her major and began her journey to becoming a math teacher.

Shealy is not the only person to change her major in college though. In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, 30% of undergraduate students who have declared their major have changed it at least once.

As for why it is so common for undergraduates to change their major, it is a time where students are just beginning the discover new things about the world.

Shealy continues with this idea, “I also believe that expecting someone to decide what they want to do for the rest of their life at 18 years old is a little unrealistic. College is a time where you grow, learn more about yourself, and reflect on what truly motivates you. As I thought more about the moments in school that I enjoyed the most, I realized they often involved helping others learn,” Shealy said.

Some students who do not feel passionate about one single major, or simply want to wait to make the decision, will go into college undeclared, which is a temporary status where a student does not pick a field of study right away. According to U.S News and World Report, about 20% of students begin college undeclared.

There are many advantages to this, “It eliminates the pressure of pursuing a major they aren’t 100% bought into, and it allows them the opportunity to explore the options before making a commitment,” Mustari said.

More and more students are beginning to choose this route because they do not want the pressure of making the “right choice”. To many colleges is a time for exploring and self-discovery and making sure you are getting everything out of your education. Conyer is doing this by choosing to double major.

“I plan to double major in English Literature because I truly enjoy reading and I feel that it will go right along with my major of journalism,” Conyer said.

By doing this, Conyer is leaving the door open to her other interests and not allowing herself to get tunnel vision.

It can be difficult and daunting to make a decision that can effect the rest of your life, however by using the tools around you like school, your trusted adults or even just being honest with yourself everything will fall into place.