Written by Thomas Baker|
Pictures by Melanie Coretti and Rebecca Cockley|

Growing up, you are constantly asked what you want to be when you grow up. But do you really know what path you want to follow for the rest of your life, or does senior year pressure force you down a path that you may not be completely comfortable with?

Senior year is stressful enough with scholarships, applications for college, and making sure that your grades don’t slip before graduation. Making a critical decision of what to major in is not something that should be taken lightly. College has the potential of being a forty thousand dollar a year mistake if you make a last minute decision that you are not completely comfortable with. Students should instead be made aware that in some cases, there is an undecided or undeclared option for some colleges.

Melanie Coretti and Rebecca Cockley graduated in the Summer of 2019 and neither was completely sure on a college path. Melanie decided to attend University of Rhode Island, however, did not know what she wanted to do specifically. Despite the pressure Mel felt senior year to choose a specific major, she decided to join a class that helps gear undeclared students towards potential majors. Becca decided to major in nursing at Simmons, however, she knew that she wasn’t completely comfortable with that choice. “I knew that I wanted to be in the medical field, but I didn’t know exactly what so I decided to choose nursing because you could only apply into it going into your freshman year.” said Becca. She knew that the chemistry course for nursing wasn’t something that was geared for her and instead prefers psychiatry.

Becca described how transferring her major from nursing to psychiatry was unknown territory, however, her pre-health advisor at Simmons helped to lay out all of the options for her. She says that majoring undecided was an option for her, however, because she knew she wanted to do something science related, she could take a good amount of science courses so that she wouldn’t fall behind when she transferred.

Mel says that she is in the middle of taking her class for undeclared students. Mel said, “it definitely has helped me narrow down what I wanted to do.” Mel hopes to study psychology next year and believes that while some students know what they want to do with their lives very young, not everyone knows what they want to do. The bad reputation that undeclared or undecided students get should not push away seniors from this option because “it’s really nothing to be ashamed or worried of.”

Both college freshman stress that there is no need to worry about what you will major in since there is no harm in majoring undecided or undeclared. Despite popular opinion, high school does not give you a complete idea of what you enjoy, and you should focus more on standardized testing and college applications rather than forcing a decision that you may not be completely comfortable with. Seniors have enough stress on their minds. All possible options should be laid out for upcoming Morgan graduates, including undecided, undeclared, or transfer paths.