How did your research phase go? Did you find some good information? Were you able to eliminate at least one option? Better yet, did you choose a major that you are excited about pursuing?

If so, great! We can work on your education plan, which will be the next post. If not, read on for some pointers to help you look more closely at your options.

Often conducting research on college majors gives us the clarity we need and we can come to a solid decision.

Other times, we can be left feeling even more confused about what we want to do.

If so, what a drag – what was the point of all that effort?

Trust me when I tell you that this is perfectly normal! Putting this in perspective a little, we are talking about making a commitment to become an expert in one area that you will eventually pursue as a career.

And aren’t careers supposed to be BIG, scary endeavors where we do the same thing year after year until we are finally able to retire?

That might be what you feel like right now, so wonder making a choice is tough.

I’m here to tell you that careers are supposed to be something fun that we look forward to getting up for! They are dynamic and often change in ways that can’t possibly be predicted right now. You will get bored, change jobs, work hard, get promoted, get tired, work less, work smart, meet people, work alone…the list goes on and on.

What you decide on today is not likely to be your career twenty years after college. You might stay in the same field, but your job will change, probably sooner than you think!

So, what can you do right now to help solve this problem of choosing a major?

You can pay attention to what speaks to you and gives you a feeling of satisfaction. You can think about your ultimate intention, such as helping people or making sure all kids can read, and think about all the different ways you can meet that intention. Wanting to help people doesn’t mean you have to be a doctor. You can be an office manager who runs a fair environment, preparing employees with usable skills, and helping them allow their careers to grow.

You can be a counselor. A teacher. A dancer. A business owner who sells only environmentally conscious products. A designer of beautiful spaces for people to enjoy. If you can think it, you can be it!

Let’s get back to your list.

If you’re looking at your options and you’re still not sure what to choose as a major, try some of these tactics:

1. Get three blank pieces of paper. On the first one, list the majors in order from the one you are most interested in studying to the one you are least interested in studying. On the second piece, list the majors in order according to how much money you can make working in that field, most to least. On the third one, list the majors in order of the most to least predicted job growth. Compare the order of each list. Are any of them the same order? Do you see any patterns that concern you? If the major you are most interested in has the lowest salary range and the fewest jobs, is that something that you can live with? At the end of the day, are you willing to possibly study one thing and work in another field until you find something you really want to do? Consider how you would feel if you were unable to find work doing what you love. How important is the salary to you?
2. Carefully look at the research you’ve collected and see if anything closely related to the careers/majors sticks out that maybe you didn’t originally research, but that sound interesting now. Take the time to research them too and see if you come up with any new possibilities.
3. Write your major choices down and give the list to three people you trust. Ask them to rank your choices according to the one they can most see you pursuing, the second, and third.
4. Put your list away for a week and try not to think about it. At the end of the week, write down your thoughts on each major and see if you have any further clarity. If not, put your information in an envelope and in another week or two, give it to a friend and ask them to mail it to you. Once you receive it in the mail, look at it with the new eyes of time and keep open to any clarifying language.
5. If desperation strikes, write your majors on slips of paper and pin them to a dartboard. Which one do you hit? Which one do you find yourself subconsciously aiming at?

Don’t give up on the search for the right major for you. Will your choice be 100% perfect? Probably not! There are plenty of majors out there that require students to take one, two, even four or five courses that don’t excited us. That doesn’t mean that the rest aren’t worth taking or that the field isn’t worth getting into! There are plenty of sociology students who have to take Research and Statistics and hate it. But they don’t let it get in the way of their dream!

Feel free to send me an email if I can be of further assistance clarifying a major: sara@joyfulbydesign.com.

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