When someone discovers you’re a university student, do you cringe at the line of questions you know are about to follow? What kind of career do you plan to have? What kinds of jobs are out there? What are your future plans? At the very least, you should be able to provide them with your major — but sometimes, it’s not that simple.

I’m twenty-five years old, and until a year ago, my major was undeclared. Like many students, I entered university right after high school. But for me, choosing my major meant choosing my career, which then meant choosing my life. I felt royally unprepared to make that decision. So, I dropped out. 

Like so many students, I had good intentions entering university and was interested in so many different things. But because of my wide range of interests, I switched my major more than once and, characteristically, my greatest fear was choosing a career path — I didn’t want to feel trapped. 

I believe it is important to have flexible career paths that reflect the inevitable changes that may affect both work life and personal life. We spend most of our lives working to live. Instead of waiting, I find it necessary to find ways to put life into our work.

With this in mind,  I chose to enroll at the University of Saskatchewan in the fall of 2020, where I learned two things. First, computer science is not for me. Second, with the help of Literature and Composition Reading Culture with Joanne Leow, I realized that the English Department is where I belonged.

I’ve always kept a journal, but I never considered my journaling a skill that I could turn into a future career path. It seems silly now, but until that course, I hadn’t realized how multidisciplinary studying literature is. 

To study literature is to study history, theory, people, their positions in the world and even our own perspectives. It’s like reading others’ well-articulated journals. A new light switched on inside me that term, and I finally chose to declare my major as English. 

For students experiencing uncertainty about their major, here are a few points I wish I knew sooner that I hope can provide some relief. 

First, remember to listen to yourself. I spent too many years listening to people like my parents — though I love them — warn me about the risks of not taking a “practical” degree outside of the arts. Like me, if you listened to someone else when choosing your first major, know that it isn’t too late to switch. With the help of an advisor, the transition is much smoother than you may assume.

Choose your major based on what’s important to you. I’m doing an English major with a French minor because I love to write and travel. And I didn’t come to that conclusion overnight — looking back, it felt more like thousands of nights. Spend the necessary time looking into yourself and I bet that it will help you decide a lot faster than I did.

Third, remember that life is impermanent. Things will always be changing and decisions will always need to be made — welcome this. Even after I declared my major, I spent the following year debating between honours programs and minors.

Lastly, education is a privilege. Don’t take for granted the value of any education regardless of whether you’ll use it later in a career. Odds are, anything you learn will come in handy somewhere in this unpredictable life. Or else, what’s wrong with studying something that’s simply interesting?

Your choice of major will not determine your type of life. Your work ethic, curiosity and passion will drive you to seek out opportunities — just don’t make the mistake of waiting for them to find you.

Don’t let the world of the undeclared and in-between be a stigma —  be proud of it. It shows diversity. But choosing a major will not be the end of possibilities, only the beginning. Seize your ability to choose.

Like any future, our financial and professional futures are individual, complex and undetermined. We should not let others simplify our futures with simple questions. Rather, we should embrace our complexities and be excited about the diversity of our potentials. 

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This op-ed was written by a University of Saskatchewan undergraduate student and reflects the views and opinions of the writer. If you would like to write a reply, please email opinions@thesheaf.com. Kaitlyn Clark is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in English and minoring in French. Kaitlyn is a sister, youth worker, student and nature-enthusiast-wino aspiring to be a writer. With strong attention to detail and a weak sense of routine, Kaitlyn is mostly just trying to go with the flow.  

For further resources, the author of this article recommends that students struggling with this topic visit Academic Invest, U of S Academic Advising and U of S Career Services.

Graphic: Jaymie Stachyruk | Graphics Editor