Being an Undecided Asian-American College Student

“So what do you want to do once you graduate college?” As an Asian-American student, these words have been as ubiquitous in my life as any other. And ever since I could remember, I always had an answer my parents were proud of. “Nurse.” “Veterinarian.” “Accountant.” Choosing a major was simple. But now, it’s become the biggest uncertainty in my life.

As per cultural norm, I’m at college. American culture facilitates the fantasy that college are the best four years of your life. It’ll help you find yourself, best friends, and ideal career. For me, this wasn’t the case. I wasn’t accepted into my major, (which wasn’t any of aforementioned fields), my best friends went to different colleges, and I was now thousands of dollars in debt.

What made it all worse was that everyone around me seemed to have it all together. Whenever I talked to my friends back at home, they were all on the Dean’s List, surviving with three hours of sleep per night, and spending more time studying than breathing.

I couldn’t relate. I had developed a medley of health problems along with a lethargic addition to my personality. Days where my GPA was a 3.8 and my attendance record was flawless were slipping away. In high school, the only reason not to have a perfect GPA was if you took AP classes. In college, you can take basic university requirements and still fail. It isn’t a guaranteed success where counselors hand-hold you through to graduation.

The main source of my, and many other students’, stress, is the inability to choose a major. Shockingly, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, “About 80% of college bound students have yet to to choose a major, and about 80% of college students change their major at least once.” I take a bit of solace knowing that I’m not alone, but for how many students go through this confusion, you’d think there would be a step-by-step solution. A bit of a spoiler, there isn’t. You’re left to struggle alone and hopefully you can make it out with a semi-useful degree and a fewer digits in your debt than your phone number.

What can be done about this? It has to start with how we talk about choosing a major. The only reason it is stressful is because culture and society perpetuate the idea that it is a life changing, must choose now, vital decision. Changing how we view choosing a major is where it begins. We are teaching the next generation of students to “pre-stress” over something that should be a guided discussion, instead of saying, “if you don’t decide now you aren’t going to be successful.” This isn’t an overnight fix, but eventually the view of choosing a major would change. There should be more resources to help students in high school and early college. This way, students would be less stressed and feel more prepared for their decision. Beyond this, there are reasons keeping students from pursuing a major at all.

College should not profit from students. Yet, they do. According to the College Board, “66% of college students use financial aid during college.” Many students cannot afford the costs of certain majors and professions. For example, in order to become a doctor, a student has to go through anywhere between 8–12 years of school and residency. This is expensive both financially and mentally. A student who wants to pursue this field may not be able to because of the steep costs. Even a four-year degree can set a student back “$37,000 on average in loan debt,” according to the U.S. Student Loan Debt Statistics. For many students, this is too high of a cost to justify. These reasons show deeper reasons why students cannot pursue a major.

College brings about a whole new experience. Among these come choosing a major. Who knows if the process will get easier. It definitely won’t happen overnight. I have a lot of options; decide on a major, drop out and go somewhere else, or go into the workforce. But in adherence to societal norm and the stress of being unsuccessful, I’ll re-apply to the Sustainable Design major this winter. Combining my passion with a semi-lucrative field seems to be the best choice. The idea of uncertainty still haunts me and other students. It’s difficult to accept that for now, we don’t have a set path.

Barry Popik, an etymologist claims, “Choose a major you love and you’ll never work a day in your life because that field probably isn’t hiring.”