It’s Okay to Be Undecided

There are two common questions that people ask college students. “What is your major?” is always the top one and coming close second, “What are you going to do with that?”. I am here to reassure you that being undecided or uncertain with your major is a perfectly normal feeling that almost all students go through at some discernment on whether their major is the right major for them. But, one of the most stressful part is trying to pin down which one? It’s easy to get overwhelmed and anxious with the number of choices available to you. Luckily, with the help from your academic advisor, your mentors (professors/faculty members), and most importantly knowing yourself; you will be good to go! For the purposes of this blog post, I will give you three tips to help you narrow down your search:

 

• What Classes Did You Enjoy in High School? High school is one of the best times to begin to discover the classes that you enjoy and the ones you wish were over already. I was fortunate enough to go to a high school that offered an extensive selections on courses and electives that I could take to help me get a better grasp on my interests. It was during this time that I was able to see that mathematics and science courses were not my strong suit (except AP Environmental Science). Instead, my other courses, like English, History, and Foreign Language (Spanish) were all classes that I enjoyed and did well! I realized that I could become a historian, a communications specialist, a marketer and so many other options. By delving deeper into these courses, the more I realized that a coursework in the STEM field was not for me but one that dealt with helping people in a unique way was more in line with the direction I was heading. The tip to trying to find that course is by being honest with yourself about what you want and what you want to achieve. I was initially a pre-med, psychology student when applying for college (mostly from pressure from family members outside my immediate family). But, when the time came for my orientation at Loyola I realized that this was not I want and I immediately switched over to International Studies and Communications. That was when I knew that I had to pursue my interests and my passions to switch from medicine to Advertising, Marketing, and International Relations (all things that I enjoy very much)!

• What is your Passion? It sounds cliche but it is true! Passion helps fuel your fire and gets you up in the morning to get stuff done. For example, I decided to get into Advertising and Marketing because I was passionate about proper and equal representation of minorities in all forms of media. As an ethnic minority myself, I felt it was important to see people who are not typically seen on ads. This has encouraged me to get into multicultural marketing and advertising. People want to be able to see themselves since they too are consumers of consumer products/goods.

• Seek out Mentors who can Help You! When you start your first year at Loyola it is important to establish connections and increase your networking skills. Mentors can be your professors/faculty members, members of a religious/extracurricular organization on campus, your supervisor at work; and so many others. One person I suggest that you seek out as a mentor is your academic advisor. This individual is here to help you succeed during your time here at Loyola. They are the ones that help to make sure you are on track to graduate, prepare you for your time to study abroad, and, most importantly, they are there to be a friend/mentor for their student. I was fortunate enough to have such an amazing academic advisor that the two of us are still friends and we still help each other out! Aside from your advisor it is also important to be connected with your professors. Yes, this does seem daunting, but the professors here at Loyola actually care about their students. Many of my professors, such as the one I had for Ethics and Communications, has become a great mentor and friend of mine. Likewise, my marketing professor helped me find internships and entry level jobs by pulling together her connections and databases that she compiled. Professors are here to help you! Many things I would not be able to do without the help of my wonderful set of teachers, supervisors, and academic advisors. When looking for research opportunities, job opportunities (especially after graduation or during the school year) these are the people you need to talk to.

If you want more useful information about the majors/minors that Loyola offers to find the right one for you be sure to check out the link provided: https://www.luc.edu/academics/depts.shtml