Throughout my senior year of high school, I was set on what I wanted to study in college—or so I thought. The student newspaper at my tiny high school was my heart and soul, and the reason I actually wanted to get up and go to school in the mornings. The rest of my classes were just fillers that I tried to get through so I could make it to journalism class. From writing all genres of stories, taking pictures and laying out the newspaper on Adobe InDesign, I loved it all. 

This meant that picking a college major should be easy for me, right? When it came time to apply to colleges, I was searching through all the journalism programs in Michigan. I wanted the perfect college: one that was in the right location, just the right size and had a journalism program that would teach me about the broadcasting and writing world. 

Of course, when acceptances started rolling in I decided on Northern Michigan University’s Multimedia Journalism program for all of these reasons. I had the next four years of my life planned out, from what classes I wanted to take, to what type of jobs I wanted to look for after I graduated. 

When I arrived at college, it was everything I hoped it would be. I began making friends, I was enjoying my classes and I even got a job doing my favorite thing: writing! After some time though, I started hearing what my new friends wanted to do with their majors, and what my friends from high school thought about my career choices. “You’re never going to make any money, Elizabeth.”

As the year went on, I began questioning my major and my abilities. I was surrounded by people who knew exactly what they wanted to do, who excelled in writing and broadcast journalism, which I had never touched before. I started second-guessing what I wanted to do with my life, and began thinking about trying different things like majoring in Business, English or even becoming a teacher. I felt like I was a failure, because I didn’t think I would be the type of person to change my mind about what I wanted to do. I knew I loved journalism, and I thought passion was all that I needed to live a happy life. 

However, now I have come to terms with the fact that it’s okay if I change my mind. College is a place to learn, grow and try new things. In fact, it’s encouraged to take different classes, join new clubs and meet new people that will help you decide on what degree you want to pursue. Most importantly, I will take it slow and take a few classes in journalism and other departments before I make my decision.

No one is going to be the same person they were in high school, even after just a month of being in college. It is okay to still not know what you want to do after moving to college, or graduating with your degree, because picking a major is not the most important decision of your life. It’s all about what you decide to do with it.