Every year, there’s a new wave of grade 12 students entering post-secondary. For many of these students, the concept of post-secondary is absolutely daunting. What will it be like? Will I make friends? Is the Freshman 15 really true? Will my professors care if I sleep in lectures?

 

And perhaps the most intimidating question of all: Am I choosing the right major?

 

Growing Up

Ever since we were tiny tots, we would always be asked, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” This question eventually becomes ingrained in our heads and we begin to believe that everyone has that ONE thing they were meant to do. We begin to search for a calling or a passion and as post-secondary looms closer, we begin to scramble. The fear is that if we screw up on the decision of post-secondary major, we screw up in life. However, that’s not quite the case.

 

The Truth

The truth is that post-secondary may seem like a one-way street to the future, but it’s really not. Post-secondary is the perfect opportunity to explore and find where your interests truly lie. Wanting to switch your major halfway through college/university does not mean you made a mistake. It simply means you’ve grown, experienced, learned, and figured things out just a little more. Research has actually shown that up to 73% of college/university graduates don’t end up working in a job that relates to their major [1]. The entirety of life is a learning process and what you choose your major to be today does not determine your future.

 

The Verdict

Most people don’t have ONE thing they were meant to do in life. Life has so many facets to explore, so why limit yourself to one? One person can have six different job titles at a time: coach, travel writer, author, speaker, teacher, mentor, and designer [2]. Does that mean they’re clueless about what they really want? No! It means they’ve figured out that nobody has one predestined purpose and that it’s all a process.

 

The future is not set in stone, nor is your passion or life goal. As Terri Trespicio said, “Passion is not a plan. Passion is a feeling, and feelings change” [3].

 

So stop worrying about what you were meant to do, and start focusing on living.

 

[1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2015/08/12/six-reasons-why-your-college-major-doesnt-matter/#5a5f46357977

[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannon-kaiser/3-unexpected-ways-to-find_b_5176511.html

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MBaFL7sCb8