Why You Are Not Your Major
Repeat after me: “I am not my major.” This concept is easier to say and agree with than it is to live out. When I came to college as an overly ambitious 18-year-old, I took great pride in my skills. I felt a sense of ownership—like I earned my way or deserved to be there. I wasn’t prepared for the doubts that flooded my mind in the months to come.
The longer I was at college, the more I realized that I didn’t “deserve” to be there. My skill level was not extraordinary or especially commendable. I was average (honestly maybe a little below average in my major). As a result, I struggled with much self-doubt.
I’m not naive enough to think that I am the only freshman to have felt this way. In fact, many college students experience an identity crisis of sorts in their college years. They grapple with who they are, who they want to become, and how to get from point A to point B.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re not enough or you don’t have what it takes, you’re not alone. You may be experiencing these feelings because you’re finding your identity in your major.
What is a college student identity crisis?
What is an identity crisis? An identity crisis is a point at which one’s identity is insecure or unclear. It often occurs in times of uncertainty and confusion about your role in a new environment. Sound familiar? This is essentially the essence of your freshman year of college—constant change and adjustment.
Being in a new social environment can cause you to feel uncertain about who you are versus who you are supposed to be. You have to relearn what is acceptable behavior: what to do before class starts, where to sit if you want to study alone, what to do when walking between classes, etc. All of this is new territory for a first semester freshman.
Not only do you have to adjust to a new social environment but you also have to adjust to the demands of college academia. The fresh start of a new semester comes with some advantages but certainly comes with challenges as well. When should you study? How should you study? With whom should you study? What studying habits should you change?
All of these adjustments are overwhelming and can cause you to reassess who you really are. What defines you? What makes you you?
Many students quickly adjust to the idea that they are their major. In other words, they are an engineering major, an accounting major, a cinema major, etc. That’s who they think they are. Their major becomes the one thing that defines them.
Why is this mentality easily formed?
Believing your major defines you is an easy mentality to adopt. After all, you spend most of your time focusing on your major. Your day is filled with classes connected to or required for your major. Your reading material and studying time revolve around it. Your closest friends may even be from your major.
Your heavy financial investment leads to this thinking too, because you dedicate your limited finances to studying your major. Your class textbooks, required purchase of software or equipment, and tuition itself are incredible financial burdens, but you’re willing to make the sacrifice in order to succeed in your major.
Letting your major define you is an easy pitfall for a college freshman. Because your whole life seems to revolve around your major, it may feel like your life. Your major is not your life, and this thinking harmful to you.
What are the dangers of this mentality?
Finding your identity in your major is dangerous. Your major is not and should not be the most important thing about you. Although falling into this thinking is easy, it is still harmful to you.
If you believe that your major is who you are, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Hanging all your hopes and dreams on succeeding in your major is putting “all your eggs in one basket.” In other words, you are relying on one thing to work out and if it doesn’t you have no backup plan. Putting this kind of pressure on yourself during your freshman year is unnecessary.
You should not pressure yourself to be the best or the most successful student. You should not pressure yourself to have the highest GPA in your major. (Your GPA does matter to an extent but is not nearly as important as you actually learning.) You will make mistakes, fall on your face, or even fail at times. This can be the best thing to happen to you.
You should also not pressure yourself to be as good as someone else in your major. That person has unique skills and talents. That person may have dedicated more time to studying your field in the past, but you cannot be that person. You can only be you.
By forcing yourself to work the hardest or be the best, you are actually sucking all the joy of the learning experience. (Yes, it is possible to actually enjoy your major.) However, you will never experience this if you let your perfectionistic tendencies to crush your spirit.
If you continue down this path of identifying as your major, you can miss out on some unique and life-changing opportunities. Take the time to “smell the roses.” Just because an experience isn’t directly related to your major, doesn’t mean it is a waste of your time. Whether you join extracurricular club, audition for a play, or volunteer at a shelter, these experiences are valuable.
Don’t allow your major to determine everything you do and don’t do or who you choose to be or not to be. Enjoy the journey that leads to your desired destination. Allow yourself to develop hobbies outside of your major. Continue exploring and developing your skillset. You literally have no way of knowing what will or will not benefit you in the future.
How can you correct your thinking?
Your college major is a fluid concept during your freshman year. This idea doesn’t mean you have to change your major 4 or 5 times, but it does mean that you should feel free to switch your major. Many students determine that they don’t have the dedication or passion to continue in their major after a semester of classes, so they change majors.
At this point of freshman year, you may be starting to dislike your major. While changing your college major shouldn’t be a spontaneous decision, you shouldn’t wait too long either. If you think you want to change your major but don’t know for sure, read this post to see if these 4 signs describe you.
Your major can change once or even twice, but you are still the same person. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your major defines you! Your major is something you do, not who you are. You are much more than your major.
Like an actor in a play is not the role he is playing, so you are not your major. You discipline yourself to develop skills. You prepare yourself to land a job in that field, but at the end of the day your major isn’t you. It is merely a role you fill.
So, if you fail, don’t quit. Failing doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel, nor does succeeding mean you should stick with it. If you need to change your major, don’t despair. You are still learning what you enjoy doing. If you change friend groups, don’t be a jerk to your old friends. Build good relationships with people regardless of their majors.
Your major, hobbies, friends, and even your personality can change over time, but your character should be what lasts. The ability to work hard, be honest, collaborate, communicate, demonstrate compassion, and live with integrity—these are the qualities that should define you.
Finding your identity in your major is an easy downfall, but remember your major is your role. It is not who you are but something you do. Believe that you are much more than what you study, because you are.
