#1111 undeclared

We are getting ready for our freshmen orientation programs, and, no matter how hard we try, there will always be that emphasis on declaring a major.  

I applaud those students who are brave enough to admit that they don't have one. Yet.  

Isn't college supposed to be a place of discovery where you can ignite passions you did not know you had?

The problem with many people -- parents and freshmen alike as well as so many others -- is that they equate majors with jobs.  That may be true in a few technical areas, but for the most part, majors = skills and SKILLS = jobs.  Majors (often) do not equal jobs.

And skills can be learned in a variety of venues, including classrooms, but certainly outside of them too: teamwork on an athletic field; discipline in a choir room; budgeting in a student programming office; time management in a research lab and professionalism in a on-campus job site.  And certainly the skills learned through the liberal arts can take you far -- in any career.

So to all those college freshmen out there getting ready to sign up for your first semester of classes:  don't worry about not knowing your major.  Own it, and soak in all you can with a smorgasbord of courses to find what you savor the most.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com