Take It From a Grad Student
Undecided is not unwise

Socrates once said, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” I wonder if he felt that way when he was 18.

While King’s College didn’t offer a major in fashion merchandising, it did provide an associate-degree program in business administration. Hoping my parents would be more comfortable with New York in two years, I planned on getting my associate degree then transferring the credits toward the Fashion Institute of Technology’s fashion-merchandising program.

But after my first day of accounting, I understood that business administration was not the right path for me. So I met with my academic adviser, and she suggested I change my major to “undeclared” until I made up my mind.

Insulted by her suggestion, I left the office without making a decision. “What kind of major is undeclared? Undeclared, undecided – sounds like confused to me,” I complained to my friends. “Besides, I’m not confused. I know what I want to be.”

But after thinking it over, I realized while I wasn’t confused about what I wanted to do, I wasn’t exactly sure how to get there. And my adviser explained that going “undecided” would buy me time to figure it out. So I took her advice and signed up for a few general-education classes.

The next spring, I enrolled in an English-literature course on modern writers to satisfy a liberal-arts requirement. Every class, I found myself actively participating in discussions and actually enjoying the assignments. Then I scored an “A” on the midterm, so I spoke with my adviser about switching my major to English.

LESSON LEARNED: It’s OK to start college with an undeclared major or to change your major to “undecided” if your first choice doesn’t work out. Just because all your friends had their vocational calling at 10, doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you. In fact, the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment at the University of Tennessee found that nearly 2,800 students were enrolled as “undecided” on the Knoxville campus in fall 2008. Remember, choosing your career path is a big decision – so don’t rush it. Besides, most colleges don't require their students to declare a major until the end of their sophomore year.

Ashley Cerasaro is a graduate student studying journalism and electronic media at the University of Tennessee. In a regular textme column, she shares her college experiences with high school students so they can be more informed about higher-education issues than she was. E-mail her at acerasaro@utk.edu.