Jonathots Daily Blog
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I am a senior in high school and they want me to declare my major for planning my college career. I can’t make up my mind because there are too many things I like to do. I play piano and french horn, I’m very good with computers, and I also love to write. How do you decide “what you want to be when you grow up?”
If you don’t mind, I’d like to give you two parts to this answer.
First of all, it’s difficult to know, when you’re a senior in high school, that the reason family and adult counselors are trying to push you to discover your major for college is that they want to brag to other people about it.
It has little to do with you. The relatives want to say, “Well, Brian is going to be an attorney…a doctor…a professor…an engineer.”
It allows for the “oohs” and “aahs” which cause grown people around you to feel they have succeeded in raising you up to be a fine young person.
Yes, I’m asking you to be a little suspicious of people who are in a hurry for anything. You’re on the verge of making two major decisions which will determine your peace of mind and your sense of soul satisfaction:
- How do I make a wage?
- Who am I going to live with for the rest of my life while I make that wage?
Making the wrong decision on either of these proposals is the main ingredient in unhappiness.
So don’t be in a hurry. There are people who do not declare a major until they’re juniors or seniors in college, and as long as they’re willing to buck up to the course requirements, it doesn’t make any difference.
But as to the second part of your question, “What do I want to do when I grow up?”–that is a bit more intricate and a deeper issue.
It’s a good idea to peruse what you enjoy, but I believe there are three things that go into picking an occupation or answering a calling:
1. Can I do what I want to do for long periods of time without complaining, while still finding new ways to enjoy it?
Boredom is your worst enemy in life. It is the source of poorly timed accidents, and bad choices which can lead to all sorts of misfortune and sin. Make sure that what you choose to do evolves enough that it keeps you interested.
2. Is it going to help anyone else?
If you are able to make money and make blessing for other people at the same time, you will never have any trouble sleeping or have any misgivings about your choice of work.
3. Does it offer a branch?
Here’s a fact: if you go into a line of work that allows you to branch out into other aspects of your interests at the same time, it is most excellent.
So of the things you listed–music, computers and writing–use your great intelligence to find a direction for your efforts, where all three of those might come into play.
Just a thought.
But since you’re in the thought process, also remember: thinking, by its very nature, requires that you slow down and not be in any big hurry.
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