Asking an 18-year old what they want to do for the rest of their life is asking a lot for a teenager who already has a lot of pressure put on themselves. By the time students reach their senior year of college, studies show they have already changed their major at least three times. On average, 80% of college students tend to switch their major in general. At a pivotal time in a student’s life, they are forced to make such an important decision that affects the rest of their lives; it’s a miracle if they actually stick with the same passion they’ve had since high school.

Molly Kepner is a junior at TCNJ who recently switched her major from Economics to Marketing. About this switch, she says, “My first major was Economics and I chose it because it was one of the easier business majors to get in to. I didn’t find it interesting, and I could never imagine myself in that career path. I really did not click well with Economics.”

Another TCNJ student, Jenni Coronato, said that she easily set up a meeting with the head of the Communications department. “I asked him a bunch of questions and he helped me apply. It was so easy,” she explains. Jenni in fact switched her major twice. First she was a Communications major, then she switched to Women & Gender Studies. Now, she is officially a double major in both.
“I did not have to do added work because I changed my major sophomore spring so I was still taking general business classes so my change of major did not affect my course schedule very much.”

It’s clear that most 18-year olds are stuck when they have to decide what they want to do with their lives- and that’s completely understandable. Molly states, “Students grow and learn so much during their college years that it is unrealistic for a student to select a major before they have had time to experience college.” Coming from a college student, this says it all. Students definitely need some sort of direction and advisement to help them along the way when they do know what they want to do. However, they need the freedom to express themselves and explore every possibility before they enter the real world.