Hi! I am currently a second semester freshman at a state flagship university in the honors program. I came into school with a good amount of credits, which puts me in the position of being able to graduate a semester or possibly a year early. I am interested in doing so to help myself and my family financially, but I have no idea what I want to study yet. I came into college thinking I was interested in history, and possibly political science. My first semester I took some required classes, as well as Calc 2 and Macroeconomics and a Political Science class to see if I was interested in any. I wasn’t in love with any of my classes, but I didn’t hate them either.
I had the idea of taking more business pre-req classes to switch into the business school here at the end of last semester, but I ended up dropping those classes and instead switching to take the prerequisites required for the education major. I have taken 2/3 of the education prerequisites, but have to take the third next semester because it follows one I am currently enrolled in. Because of this, I cannot take any more required education classes because I have not yet been accepted into the major. This leaves me with a whole semester that I have no classes to take besides my one education pre-req, because I have finished my gen-ed requirements.
For the education major at my school, a primary second major is required. I know I need to decide what my second major is, but I'm honestly stressed and uninspired at my options. In school I pretty much enjoyed and excelled in all subjects, and I wouldn't even say I necessarily had a preference (besides for a certain teacher or something). I am fairly confident about wanting to teach, but on the other hand I am scared that I am making the wrong decision or I am just going into teaching because it is comfortable and familiar to me (my mom is a teacher, I have 3 young cousins who are all pursuing teaching, I have babysat for years and taught swim lessons and worked in a preschool for a year). I also know I need to plan on getting my Masters to teach, so at this point I am wondering if a major in education is even worth it.
I have considered most majors at my school. I know for sure that I don’t want to do nursing, and probably not foreign languages. However, nearly everything else is up in the air. I know I don’t have to make a decision right now, however, I feel like I do because I don’t want to waste time taking classes I don’t need, especially if I have the option to graduate early. My parents are super supportive and tell me that I should just explore my interests, but I cannot help feeling like I need to methodically plan out my course load so it makes the most sense. I also know I am not an anomaly in feeling this way, but I’m honestly feeling depressed and panicky at the fact that I am not working towards a concrete goal like most of my friends are now. I feel unambitious and aimless without having even a slight idea of what I want to do, or even what interests me.
I'm sorry, I know this is rambly, but I feel like I keep seeking advice from people who already know my background and are inclined to say certain things. I honestly don't know what to do at this point. I have heard all of the common "think about what you would want to do every day" and "choose what you love" but it leaves me more confused in the end. I know making a decision is going to be hard for me at any point, and I want to figure out next semester in the most practical way possible. I just feel like I don't know which subject to turn to to take more exploratory courses, and I also feel like my time has run out to take exploratory courses while completing my gen-ed requirements. I know most students change their major many times, and I know the major I pick isn't set in stone. However, I don't want to blindly pick something or waste time. I honestly can't stop worrying about this, and I feel like I become preoccupied with a possible major for a short time period before finding pitfalls of the major that make me feel like I need to find something that matches me perfectly. Thanks for reading this, and any thoughts at all would be extremely appreciated.