Did you know that (depending upon the study you read, sometimes less, sometimes more) the average college student will change his or her major 2 times before they graduate? So, if you are doing the math properly, they will have tried out 3 different majors before graduating.
Again, some change less, some change more.
That sounds like a lot but if you think about it, it sort of makes sense. Really, how many of us truly knew what we were doing in school, and knew who we were going to be once we were done? We had experienced such a small portion of reality and yet were expected to just “know” what we were going to focus on for the rest of our natural lives.
It’s a pretty impossible decision.
Add to it the pressures that come with the actual COST of college, and suddenly making that decision becomes even more stressful and impossible.
At the same time, coming to that decision to change ones major midstream could be considered pretty brave when you factor in the previously mentioned considerations. Is the change going to cost me extra before I’m done? Probably. Is it going to cause me to take longer before I’m done with school? Probably. Is there any guarantee that, one, I will be any good at it, and two, that this will be the last time I need to change based on the outcome of number one?
Choosing to make a change is serious business.
Which means, the reason for our change had better be very clear and very honest.
“Well, duh.” I hear you say.
Well said.
But remember, before we are less than honest with someone else, we’ve usually lied to ourselves first.
Being clear about what and why we are doing something, and honest about it to ourselves and others, is kind of a big deal. We will often tell ourselves we are doing something for one reason, when in fact, we are doing it for another. We realize maybe it’s not the best reason, so we convince ourselves we’ve thought it through more thoroughly and come up with some other reason that sounds more, um, reasonable.
When I went through college, I changed my major once. I started out as pre-med, but ultimately graduated with an art degree. How did I go from “I’m going to be a doctor” to “I’m going to starve for a living”?
It’s simple.
By not having great motives for change.
When I decided to apply myself, I was a pretty good student. I received good grades when I decided I should probably do that. But, then you make friends, get involved with the ladies, and suddenly getting 4.whatevers isn’t at the top of your list anymore.
But what really sent me off to the registrars office was an event that happened after I’d been in college for a couple years.
Here is where I do something strange. I’m not going to tell that story. Don’t worry, it’s nothing scandalous. It’s just that, it would be disingenuous and disrespectful to the people involved and those who were close to those involved. And, honestly, the details of the story are completely irrelevant for the point. Perhaps one day it will be appropriate to talk about it.
What I will tell you is that one of my friends died. It was a horrible time for everyone who knew this friend. It effected everyone profoundly and we all suffered in various ways, many worse than I did.
The semester it happened, I was changed. Whether I liked it or not. My world changed. And not in any perceivably good way. I’m sure if I was super creative I might be able to find some… thing… that I could twist and contort and say “well, if it hadn’t been for that, than I wouldn’t (insert positive thing: here)” But I’m not going to try. I’ve never tried. I never will. It would be of poor taste, and quite frankly, this far removed from that time, it would be pointless.
What matters is what happened after.
I pretty much stopped studying. Sometimes I went to class. Sometimes I didn’t. Finding motivation to be in class was difficult. It seemed so pointless and meaningless. Who cared if one could program their calculator to do advanced Trig equations as my professor was so excited about? Or if you could make crystals grow in a glass dish simply by mixing chemical A with chemical B and adding fire to it? (Actually, all of those are awesome. Now.)
What I wanted to do most, was just hang out with my friends. I needed to be with my friends. To see them, laugh with them, have random idiotic fun with them. Skip class and go give plasma so we could eat Taco Bell and read comic books. Or see a movie. Or play video games. Or literally do anything else.
Who cared about home work? There were people to see and relationships to nurture. The people mattered, lab write ups didn’t.
So, I did something that made one of my teachers very happy, and the rest of my teachers confused, and my family groan a little. I changed majors.
I decided to study art. Commercial Art. Drawing, painting, airbrushing, sculpting, desktop publishing, graphic design and layout. Art history.
There was this one art class that everyone was required to take. It was fun. And, as it turned out, I was pretty good at it. My teacher kept telling me I should pursue art more seriously. I said “thanks”, but told him I was busy becoming a doctor.
Well, he was pleased when I told him I was going to be changing majors and he helped me work out my schedule and all that goes with it. And, I was pretty good with the art thing. Not the best. I’m not THAT arrogant. But better than average. It came pretty easy to me. Ever since I was a kid, I loved to draw and had an aptitude for it. I could focus for hours on a drawing. I had talent.
Now, do you want to know the real reason I changed majors?
It’s because I could complete the rest of my college experience with virtually no homework.
That’s right. I changed majors simply so I could avoid homework.
I only got away with it, because I was actually good at it, not because I had this overwhelming passion that I just couldn’t quench.
I didn’t want to study anymore, so I found a way around it. I wanted to goof off with my friends more. It’s the thing that truly mattered to me. Not art. Or school. Or my future.
One could argue being people focused is good. And it is. But there needs to be some responsibility in there as well.
I changed the course of my life because I simply didn’t care about school anymore.
Now, we could argue that it turned out for the best. And, perhaps it did. But not because I was making good decisions at the time. Maybe I should have changed majors. Maybe Art was the right choice. Maybe. But not for the reasons I did it.
Change, for the sake of change isn’t necessarily good. Change for the sake of selfishness is definitely not good. Change because you want to cheat the system is probably a little suspect as well.
Change should happen because it needs to, and because you desire it to, AND because you’ve thought it through and it’s the right thing to do. Because it’s the best thing for you. Not because it’s the easiest, but because it’s the best right thing you can do.
Selfish change changes nothing. It’s simply a mask. It’s an illusion of growth.
What makes it so tricky is that sometimes, we actually have good reasons behind those bad decisions we make. In my situation, I probably really did need to make a change. I don’t know if I truly needed to change majors or not. Maybe I did. Maybe not. I’m very happy with how things have turned out, but they didn’t turn out good because I was making sound decisions at that time.
Recognizing that something needs to change is profound. Making sure the reasons are honest and correct is wisdom. Getting these things to align properly is a sign of character and integrity and maturity.
Choose to change.
But choose to change wisely.
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