“What do you want to be when you grow up?” We’ve been asked this questions since our youth, and some of us have known from kindergarten, and some us of, as adults, are still looking for a clear answer. One of the challenges students face in picking a college is often that, at 17, they don’t have a clear idea of what they want to major in, or what they want to do professionally with their adult lives- and that’s perfectly OK.

College is intended to do many things- it’s there to broaden your worldview, to introduce you to a wider swath of people, and to expose you to folks from wildly different backgrounds than your own. Ideally, it should teach you how to become an active, engaged, and lifelong learner. Certainly, it teaches you how to be more independent, and (hopefully) how to learn and grow from your mistakes, and build on your successes and accomplishments.

The one thing every college students receives is that they learn how to delve into (at least) one subject in great depth, and this becomes your major. What to major in, however, is a subject of much stress and consternation for young adults. What should I study? What’s the right choice? Should I pick something I love, or something that’s easy to get a good job in? The broader question therein is this: How relevant is your major to your eventual professional path? The answer seems to be that, for most of us, the connection is rather loose, a notion that may seem daunting, but, we believe, should provide some reassurance.

According to US News and World Report, the average college student changes their major at least twice (which averages in all the people who do it 3 or 4 times with those who change it once, or not at all) and, according to a longitudinal study by Gallup, approximately half of us end up pursuing a career that’s related to our field of academic study. Another way to look at that is to say that half of us do not.

Ultimately, you should study what you are interested in. Perhaps you know what that is now, perhaps you’ve narrowed it down to a couple possibilities, or perhaps you’re interested in nearly everything, but almost nothing specifically. That’s OK- that’s part of what college is for. This is also why, at Catalyst, I encourage students to think about the college or university that’s going to be the best fit, rather than the “best” school- figure out what you’re looking for, find a school to match, pursue the people, activities and ideas you are excited about, and most of the rest of it will work itself out over time.

This blog will talk more about “best fit” schools in the coming weeks. Thanks for reading, and contact me if you could use some help.

-Jess