Everyone knows that it is not necessary to officially declare a major until the end of one’s sophomore year. It’s even encouraged that students try new things when they get to college because students often change their majors a few times before finally finding the right fit for them.

But is this really the best option for students—going in with the mindset that they don’t really need to figure it out until halfway through college?

After my first semester here at Linfield, I changed my major from psychology to mass communication, to biology.  But was this really the best choice for me?

Because I didn’t realize going in that I would become interested in becoming a dentist, which requires a student to major in biology I was unable to properly prepare this year and therefore did not sign up for the biology class.

Because of this, I will be taking classes during the summer, so that next year when I double up on my workload to major in biology, while still graduating on time, it won’t be so hard on me.

Now, I’m not saying that students should know exactly what they need to do from the moment they set foot on campus. But shouldn’t it be encouraged that students at least have a general idea before signing up for classes?

I feel as though some students fall back on the idea that it’s okay to not know for a few years, and therefore don’t take their education as seriously their first year of college. (talk about the tone this sets for the remaining three years?)

This leads to stress during junior and seniors year and can lead to students having to stay another semester or even  a year and graduating late.

Although I’m not saying this applies to everyone, I feel as though students should be encouraged more before coming into college to figure out their passions in life or what they want their future careers to be.

This would require high schools to prepare students, but I think that colleges should encourage students to have a better idea before coming in as well. This way, students can come to college more focused with a better mindset of how their college years will play out.

I am not sure there are many people advocating for two years for students to dabble in different disciplines.

The feeling I got from Colloquium was that from day one we were to be throwing our energy into stuff that we were passionate about, but if that didn’t pan out or we didn’t like the classes, we were then to look into pursuing a different path.

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Samantha Sigler/News editor
Samantha can be reached at [email protected]