It's OK to Change Your Mind & Your Major

 

When we get to college, a lot of people think they know exactly what it is they want to study. Some of us get it right, but many of us will begin to question ourselves and our major somewhere along the way. I was one of those students - I changed my major four times throughout my college career at UW. Throughout all those changes I learned that it is ok to change your mind and change your major, just do it wisely. 

I originally started college as a music education major. That lasted one semester before I swapped to business management with an emphasis in human resources. One year later I swapped again to a double major in sales and entrepreneurship. By the time I finally landed in my current major, marketing with a minor in sales, I had just one year of college left to go. Now that I am nearing the end of my college career, looking forward to the future and reflecting on the choices I made that got me here, I realize that I wish I had stuck with music education. You may be asking yourself, “How does that help me though?” Well, if you are like me, and are questioning your major, here is some advice to help you through the process.  

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1. Don't Be Too Hasty.

First off, I highly suggest avoiding changing your major in your first semester of college. The reason is that you often are not taking classes specific to your major yet but rather are just completing what are called gen-eds or general education courses and these will be relatively the same no matter what your major is. You may be taking one or two major-specific courses, but usually, the most fun classes don't come until you have reached the upper division levels of your degree path. I was taking several music classes in my first semester, but it was not the classes that made me want to switch it was the hours of sitting alone in a practice room that got to me. 

 

2. Evaluate Your Reasoning.

This gets me to my second point, if you are considering switching, identify what it is about the major that you do not like. Is it one particular class or maybe a specific professor that you are struggling with or is it a deeper issue? Is the problem temporary or will it persist throughout your degree path?  Understanding why you are feeling unfulfilled in your major is essential and it’s at this point I suggest talking to different people to get more perspectives to help you understand that question. The university is full of resources and people to help! 

 

• Your Advisor. Your advisor is there to help you through these exact decisions. You can contact them by reaching out through your college, or by emailing the ACES program at: aces@uwyo.edu and they will help connect you to your advisor. 
  
  
• ACES Career Counselors. If you are not even sure where to get started, talking to an ACES career counselor can really help you identify what you want to end up doing in life. They will be able to help you choose a major if you find yourself currently in the exploratory studies program or undeclared. There are many options for different majors you can choose and they will give you some different tests to help determine what you may be the most interested in.
  
  
• Your Friends. Your friends are a valuable resource throughout college. They are going through the same things you are. They may have insights into certain programs or classes that you could benefit from. Of course, it is important to remember that your friends are also going to have some misunderstandings about your situation, so take everything they say with a grain of salt and be sure to use their advice alongside some of these other suggestions. 
  
  
• Your Parents (or parental figures). This seems obvious, but when I was switching majors, I only told my parents I was going to do it, and I did not think to talk to them about the why. Your parents have been there. Maybe not specifically with college, but they have been faced with difficult and life-changing decisions. They may have some good advice on how to handle your situation.
  
  
• Counselors. This final suggestion comes from my own experience. If I had talked with one of the free counselors at the University Counseling Center, I would have learned that there was a better way to approach my dread of practicing than switching majors. You may not feel like you need to talk to a counselor, but it may not hurt to schedule one meeting.

 

 

3. Find Your Passion.

Finally, I have one more trick to help you figure out what you should be studying. I realized this trick too late into my own college career to implement it, but hopefully you can use it well. I dare you to ask yourself...

"What is that ONE thing you can talk about for hours? If someone brings up this topic, you can go on and on in detail. Whenever you see mention of this topic, you are immediately more interested in whatever it is you see."

Whatever this one thing is, it is probably what you should try to study more of. My advice, find a major that coincides with it. If you're unsure where to go from here, exploring all the majors offered at the University of Wyoming is a great place to start! For me personally, I realized I can talk about two things forever - music and content creation. I can talk about these things for literal hours without losing interest. So, if I were to start over today, I would find a major that related to those two interests.  

Whatever you decide, I wish you luck with your decision if you are going through this process right now. Just remember, it's ok to not know what you want to do right now. Use your voice and communicate with people. Your parents, friends, advisors and everyone here at UW all want to see you succeed. It is ok to ask for help if you feel lost and its ok to change your mind. 

 

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As for me, I am finishing my time here at UW and as the Social Media intern. I hope you have enjoyed my blogs and posts for this semester! And finally, I hope you all have a good life, be of good cheer, and I will see you all next time! Go Pokes! 

-Duncan Lewis