Major Decision Making

“Alright guys. We’re going to go around in a big circle and say our names, where we’re from, and our majors”. It’s a cloudy gray morning and thousands of freshman and transfer students are each sitting in mini circles containing fifteen to thirty people. One by one, each person announces their name, a town most of us have never heard of, and a major that almost always sounds cooler than our own.

Mechanical Engineering, English, Molecular and Cell Biology, Business. I can’t help but think to myself that everyone seems like they were always meant to go to this school. When it’s finally my turn, I freeze up and begin to turn a little red. How could I answer this question for a bunch of strangers, if I couldn’t even answer it for my myself?

When I had to answer that day, I swiftly said intended Political science. Even though that was on my application, that wasn’t something I had even wanted to do. The next few months after that, I stuttered between Political Science and Public Health, Public Health and Environmental Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Nutrition. Keep in mind, I’m only a freshman. After all these months, I have another answer. The thing is, I have absolutely zero clue what I want to major in, and it’s been that way for a while. (No matter how much I’ve tried to convince myself otherwise)

When I look around, it always seems like everyone is so confident in their choices. And then, there’s me. The girl whose sitting in the middle of a huge lecture hall in a subject I’m not even sure I like, with a huge question mark over my head.  What’s important to remember is, with each class I’m taking, I’m shaping my future more and more. I guess I would rather dabble in every single subject that I can instead of pursuing a career in a field I thought was meant for me.

There tends to be lots of days where I sit down and I ask myself—What’s my passion? It’s something my academic counselors, my friends, my teachers, and even my mom has asked me. Those are the times when I look back on what’s consistent in my life. I love the earth. I love working with kids. I love to eat. I especially love to talk. And, I love to write. But for now, I guess I’m riding a wave named Berkeley, forging my own path of self discovery.

So what’s my major? A little nervous. Sometimes confused. Definitely not chemistry. Undeclared and proud.

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