Q: I’m currently a first semester sophomore. I’m having trouble deciding on a major, and I am starting to feel pressure about it. My problems with choosing are that I have a wide variety of interests; I get bored with subjects easily, and have never found a job or field I would like to go into. I’ve taken personality tests and made lists of things I’m good at or like, but none of them seemed to help point me in a certain direction. I’m afraid that if I don’t pick something soon, I’ll be wasting not only my time but also my parents’ money.
A: The best way to choose a major is to prayerfully select one and then act as though you love it, giving your studies everything you’ve got, and getting to know people who work in the field for which you major might prepare you. It’s hard to appreciate an academic subject until you get deeply into it, with both your mind and your heart. If you’re wrong, you will soon realize it and can change majors.
The key in spiritually important decisions, such as the choice of a major and a potential career, is to exert our fullest effort; it is only then that enlightenment comes. Elder Robert D. Hales has made this wonderful analogy:
“When I was a boy, I used to ride my bicycle home from basketball practice at night. I would connect a small pear-shaped generator to my bicycle tire. Then as I pedaled, the tire would turn a tiny rotor, which produced electricity and emitted a single, welcome beam of light. It was a simple but effective mechanism. But I had to pedal to make it work! I learned quickly that if I stopped pedaling my bicycle, the light would go out. I also learned that when I was ‘anxiously engaged’ in pedaling, the light would become brighter and the darkness in front of me would be dispelled.” (From “Out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light,” http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=97278d00422fe010VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1
Nephi had a similar experience in seeking the Brass Plates. After making several of his own best guesses about how to obtain them, he finally had to go into Jerusalem with no idea where he was headed or what he would do. His forward motion qualified him to discover the opportunities that had been divinely prepared.
Time to Choose a Major
Q: I’m currently a first semester sophomore. I’m having trouble deciding on a major, and I am starting to feel pressure about it. My problems with choosing are that I have a wide variety of interests; I get bored with subjects easily, and have never found a job or field I would like to go into. I’ve taken personality tests and made lists of things I’m good at or like, but none of them seemed to help point me in a certain direction. I’m afraid that if I don’t pick something soon, I’ll be wasting not only my time but also my parents’ money.
A: The best way to choose a major is to prayerfully select one and then act as though you love it, giving your studies everything you’ve got, and getting to know people who work in the field for which you major might prepare you. It’s hard to appreciate an academic subject until you get deeply into it, with both your mind and your heart. If you’re wrong, you will soon realize it and can change majors.