# do you struggle with your choice on a major?



## valley_girl1919 (Jun 18, 2007)

I do. I guess i keep changing my mind because i dont know what suites me best. i like different things i just dont know if doing it as work will be good for me and make me happy, because of course like everyone else in the universe i just want a career that makes me happy. i work at a bank now and like it but definitley dont wanna continue with it much longer. how in the world do people find the major for them? i feel that fear keeps me from pursuing alot. i am so scared of failure that its rediculous. what about you guys, do you fear failure too an does it hold you back? how did you pick your major an what you want a career in? life is so difficult.


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## solasum (Nov 17, 2008)

peace.


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## shelovescliche (Dec 17, 2006)

I'm a pre-vet major, but I've pretty much known since I was 7 or 8 that this is what I'd be doing, and so far I love it. I have friends who started out as pre-vet majors this past fall but are switching (one is going into pharmacology, the other into business). Changing majors is a really common thing. You just have to try out what interests you, and if it doesn't work, move on to something else. Eventually you find something that fits :].


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## Perfectionist (Mar 19, 2004)

I have the exact same problem, I've picked a major (Cellular and Molecular Biology) and every day I wonder if it was the right decision. I felt a huge pressure to just _pick something already_ and get on with getting a degree so I just went in the direction I was currently interested in.

I started out in arts, switched into sciences after two years, and still am wondering if pharmacology or pharmacy would be a better direction because it's a really lucrative and stable career.

I think most people worry if their major was the right choice, and my suggestion is that if you're thinking of going in a different direction, take a course or two on that topic and see if it's really for you. Everyone eventually selects a major and finds something for them I think it just takes some people longer than others and I don't see anything wrong with that.


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## Dreamer'sHideaway (Jan 8, 2009)

I wanted to be a vet (I don't know if I still do, I do not think I would handle the schooling competition very well) and so I was in a Biomedical major. It has really interesting courses but they're intensive which doesn't go well with having social anxiety (with nausea being a common part of social anxiety for me).

*sigh* Right now I'm just taking courses out of interest. Anxiety dictates what I am in.


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## RedTulip (Nov 9, 2004)

I have the same problem. I currently major in Accounting. You see, I like working with numbers, but I realize that I don't need a bachelors in accounting. I'm in community college and haven't even gotten an associates degree yet. School is not my thing anymore. I realize I may just get a degree in General Business. I've been working for over 20 years already, not going to school faithfully. So, does it really matter? Who knows anymore. Can anyone relate?


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## lindsey (Jan 11, 2009)

when i first started college, my major was business. i've always wanted to be a teacher, but i was afraid i wouldn't be able to do it, so i just picked business because i thought it would be easy and that i would make decent money. but it's just not what i want to do all my life. what i want is to teach, and i'm going to do that. i'm going to overcome the anxiety and have my own classroom and interact with parents and other teachers like a normal person. it's all i want.


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## tribute311 (Apr 8, 2008)

yup. i came in undecided. i was pre-med though my freshman year. i hated it though; biology and chemistry were too damn hard. i hated dealing with other pre-med students; they were too competitive for me. 

sophomore year, this year, ive changed my major to civil engineering. i havnt taken any ce classes yet, just math and physics. i dont even know why i chose ce; i wanted to try engineering because i am decent at math and physics but civil was kind of a random choice. i hope its the right decision. this next semester i will be taking some ce classes.

argh i hate school


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## SilentLoner (Jan 30, 2006)

I'm double majoring in Anthropology and Criminology/Criminal Justice.

I came in as an anthropology major and thought I wanted to be an archeologist - but I found the subject pretty dull. So right now I'm trying to choose between biological or cultural focus, which is killing me. Career-wise I'd probably be safer with biological. 
I just really love the subject.

I came across Criminology/Criminal Justice by lucky chance when an advisor signed me up for one class as a CORE elective, and it was my favorite class my first semester. I kept taking more classes and finally realized I enjoyed the subject.

I'm planning to go to grad school, possibly for forensic anthropology.


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## J.T. (Jan 9, 2009)

I've comtempled many different majors. It is hard to decide what to major in because of SA. I worry that I won't be able to handle the social requirements of certain jobs. There are many jobs I won't even consider because of the social requirements. 

I started out as a engineering major, then I changed to kinesiology. Currently, I'm a business major, accounting concentration.


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## bezoomny (Feb 10, 2007)

I'm a classics major (likely double major in art history). I don't struggle with it because I know that classics is something that I'm very very good at. This is what I wanted to study since I was 14 or so. It just seems very natural. Choosing another major, one that I didn't have any skills in, would feel very unnatural. I've heard that my major is impractical, but I really don't see it that way. Not everyone is cut out to study engineering or pre-med. 

I've basically put the thought of finding a job out of my head, it's irrelevant right now. I'm pretty sure I'll teach, but nothing's certain. It'll be years before I'm completely out of school and can hold a steady job, anyway (I plan on going to grad school).


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## UnartfulDodger (Jan 15, 2009)

I worry about changing my mind, I worry about avoiding majors that I know will suck with my SA, and I worry about picking a major because it feels "safer".

I'm pretty much set on being a college prof/librarian, since those situations are comfortable for me, but I think I'll take more psych classes and trying to keep up my interest in doing clinical psych... even though i talked myself out of it... I thought therapists couldn't be messed up themselves, how naive. ha.


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## yellowpaper (Nov 13, 2007)

*I can tell this will be a long response.*

Yes. And I'm glad there's others like me apparently, because everywhere I go it seems everyone's so confident in what they're doing (and if they decide to change majors down the road, they seem confident in that too).

I'm a biology major (getting my AS this semester). I've been just going this direction thinking I'll pick something... pharmacy, nutrition, ?!? anything?!? But now I know I don't want to do anything medical. And it all ends up being.. medical. I don't want to do anything in a lab. And I don't want to do do anything BIOLOGICAL. I'm currently in human anatomy and organic chem... these classes are NOT. EASY. and NOT appealing to me AT ALL. But I have this neeeed to get an A in all of my classes. I have this overwhelming sense of dread, because I feel like this is the hugest waste of my life. I've NEVER even liked biology/science to begin with (+ have the hugest fear of all things concerning blood and hospital environments) and I have no idea how i ended up on this path (I guess it's bc everyone I knew went this direction, and I was just following the herd until i "figured it out") (oh yeah.. it was also bc it was the only degree that didn't have a speech requirement, ha. ha. ha.)

Last semester I realized.. what I'd rather do is be an accountant, financial advisor, etc --some sort of business degree. But I'm afraid of the speech classes. I'm afraid of the work environment (socially). I'm afraid to change my major, waste the classes I have under my belt, start over. I'm just afraid. It's basically who I want to be, but who I am not. And I'm afraid to take a risk, and turn away from a subject/career path that is highly unappealing to me. I'm also afraid that if I did make the change, I'd discover that I hate that too and/or do poorly because of the speech classes.

It's an endless problem inside my head, and there's no way to stop time. It sucks.

So there's confusion and being hindered by fears for you. Thanks for the chance to vent


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## Phronima (Jan 17, 2009)

I'm a biology major now but I used to be in electrical and then later mechanical engineering. I think I was capable of doing those but I was always getting pretty depressed due to my isolation and anxiety. I think my major now may actually be making me depressed again seeing as I probably will not be able to find work at all. Also, being more interested in the environment and organisms and learning how much is hurt by humanity doesn't help. I am being pushed to be a teacher but I don't think I could ever do that with my anxiety. If I can at least get my degree, I might see about joining one of those teach English abroad programs like in Japan. Maybe that could give me some teaching experience at least.


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## solasum (Nov 17, 2008)

I really put too much thought into this. I can't decide between English and anthropology. English would be a cinch to complete because it's in the humanities with French. But with anthro, there are a lot of social science classes that I have to take. I'm enjoying my anthro classes right now, but I have to choose between English and anthro.  I really want to do something where I spend my time researching, and then write about my findings. :b I'm completely against teaching, medicine or social work. I feel so undecided because I'm not sure how secure any field in anthropology is - unless it's a teaching position, which is out of the question.


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