Choosing a major is arguably one of the most important college decisions you can make. Choosing a major can cause a lot of stress for students. Often times, students may feel like they are alone in this process, especially those who want to switch their majors, but this is far from the truth. Today, the Wildcat Wire shares a student’s perspective on how they came to the choice of their major while struggling to find their way and interests.

Going from a major in Biology to English was a drastic change. This student realized that the number of classes they had to miss due to health concerns at the beginning of their collegiate career was immediately causing problems with missing essential foundation classes. Following this, discussions about meeting scholarship deadlines, staying in school longer or going into more debt, and catching up in classes became more of a harsh reality. The student notes, however, “With the work of my wonderful advisors, I’ve managed to make the switch and, even though it was relatively late in the game, I should be able to graduate in accordance with the requirement of my scholarship.”

Often times, student’s are influenced by the opinions of their peers or family when making a decision regarding their major. “Once I finally did decide, it was harder still to make myself go after the degree I’ve always been passionate about, as I’d been shot down in the past for wanting to major in English.” Despite other’s opinions, they are happy about the switch because they have had wonderful discussions and remarkable professors, which they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

While they do not know what career in particular they strive to obtain, they are leaning toward “taking a position at my animal shelter and doubling in animal care, which is my passion, and communications aspects of adoptions, which ties into my degree”, providing support that an English major doesn’t just mean going into teaching, writing, or editing (although these are still of interest to them).