Q: I don’t know what I want to major in. I enjoy a lot of things, but none are very practical, and I’m not really passionate about anything. Would it be more beneficial to take a year off from school to work, so I can decide what I want to study before I attend a college?

A: Thanks for your good question, which many of us have asked at least once in our lives. Let me try to answer in two parts.

First, when it comes to picking a major, the benefits of spending a year working may be less than you think. Without a college education, your choice of jobs will be limited. You’re unlikely to find something that is intellectually challenging and emotionally rewarding. You might finish the year with greater appreciation for the value of higher education, but with no greater understanding of what you’re passionate about.

Second, I find that passion follows effort, rather than preceding it. For example, I like to write. When I’m deeply into a writing project, I don’t want to put in down. Yet surprisingly, when other responsibilities take me away from the writing project, I gradually become indifferent or even reluctant to return to it. My mind and my heart go cold relative to the work. I have to force myself to start writing again. It is only when I’m reimmersed in the effort and inspiration has begun to flow again that the passion returns.

For these two reasons, I recommend that you make your best prayerful guess about a major and dive into it. If your efforts in that major lead to passion, you’re onto something. If not, you can restart the process. In doing so, you’ll be wiser for what you’ve learned about one major that doesn’t stimulate passion in you.

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