Viewpoint: Don't marry your major

Kara Sherrer | Vanderbilt University

You've had your heart set on studying film, but once you got to college, you felt like business classes were more interesting. Don't guilt yourself -- it's totally normal.

In high school, I knew exactly what I wanted to study in college; I was going to be a double major in English and film studies. For four years, I divided my time between reading the top 100 books and watching the top 100 films, between writing (laughably bad) poetry and interning at a film school.

Then I actually went to college.

Right away, I decided to knock out the liberal arts core requirements. Instead of taking film classes, I applied myself to geology and elementary French. I also worked part time, became involved in a couple clubs and started writing for the newspaper. Before I knew it, I was more than halfway through my freshman year. Since I wanted to double major, now was the time to start tentatively planning my course of study.

But as I thumbed through the undergrad catalog looking for the requirements, a couple other majors actually caught my eye, particularly the self-designed interdisciplinary major. I began to seriously consider it. However, if I wanted to self-design a degree, the number of hours required would keep me from triple majoring.

In other words, I would have to give up either a degree in English or a degree in film studies.

I have loved reading and writing ever since I was a kid and literally can’t imagine life without them. I was set on English, which meant I would have to drop film studies.

This possibility didn’t perturb me in the least -- and I couldn’t figure out why. After all, I was considering dropping an interest that I had been pursuing for years. Furthermore, I thought that I should be brooding about the decision, waffling from English to film and back to English. My agonizing about not agonizing was only compounded when I woke up last week and couldn’t remember my favorite Hitchcock movie (it’s Rear Window). That moment sent me over the edge of over-contemplation. I began to question myself: Why couldn’t I remember? What had happened to this part of me? Who was I after all?

As soon as I asked myself this question, I realized the answer. It wasn’t that my major had changed; I had changed. In fact, I came to understand that I hadn’t lost my passion for film at all, but rather added new passions that I wanted to pursue.

Maybe you are one of the many college students going through this transition right now. With so many new experiences crammed into four years, college is a time of discovering and reshaping your identity and passions. Since your degree is (hopefully) related to things you are passionate about, it only makes sense that your major would change as well. In fact, research cited by Penn State shows that up to 50% of college students change their major at least once.

It can be difficult to readjust to such significant changes in our identity. Many of us have been dreaming about and planning for the future since we were small. Maybe you always just assumed you would join the family law practice, but now you think you want to pursue economics. Maybe you planned on becoming an accountant and working for a large corporation, and then decided to start your own business.

Realizing that we are not who we thought we were is confusing and even distressing. However, tying your present and future selves to what you were in the past will only hinder your growth academically, socially and professionally. Change of all kinds, including your identity, is natural.

I may end up majoring in film studies like I always planned. Or I may simply pursue film through non-academic clubs and events. Or I may never pick it back up again (although that’s highly unlikely). I don’t know which path I will eventually take, or who I will eventually become. But by following my passions and changing my major, I’m being loyal to myself -- not loyal to my plan -- and that’s what counts.

Kara Sherrer is a freshman at Vanderbilt University studying English and a self-designed business program. She writes for several sections of The Vanderbilt Hustler and is actively involved in Design for America. If you'd like to start a conversation, drop her a line at karasherrer.com or on Twitter.

This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.

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