The 'undeclared' lifestyle

By Matthew Meyerhofer

Every September, each one of us makes the transition from the summer lifestyle -- whether it was spent interning, traveling, relaxing -- back into the 10-week class cycle of college life. And each year it seems that in the midst of this transition, before we have completely settled into our class schedules, there is a tendency to reflect briefly on the perplexing confusion surrounding the "F" word -- the future.

Living in a house with seven other seniors this year, I find the reflections are especially serious -- whether it's choosing a graduate school, finding a career path, or other personal question about "life after college." Hiding just under the surface of more mundane concerns, the sense of uncertainty isn't hard to discover.

But while seniors may have a particularly acute case of this anxiety, they usually aren't alone. Juniors find themselves suddenly halfway through their college life. (Feels like you just got settled in, doesn't it?) Sophomores are faced with deciding on their major, despite the fact that they've probably only sampled classes from a handful of departments. As for freshmen, they are faced with maybe the most bewildering choice of all -- choosing what to do with themselves in a place they know practically nothing about.

The constant in all four cases is easy enough to pick out: you need to make a choice, and unfortunately you don't really know a whole lot about what each choice entails. Grad school in New York or Chicago? How can I tell if I've lived on the West Coast my whole life? Major in civil engineering or art history? I've only taken one course in each subject! In the absence of any definitive information, there are two ways of confronting the situation: either gradually feel your way around the options available or try to make a decision based on what is most practical for your future.

The second option seems to be the natural choice for most people. Biology vs. religious studies? Well, biology will get me ready for Med School and is the best answer to the "What are you going to do with that?" question that inevitably follows "What's your major?" How can you defend an English/philosophy double major to housemates who already have high-paying jobs business jobs lined up after they graduate?

To take the first option I mentioned ---- following where your interests take you one quarter at a time -- is undoubtedly a less-assured route to take. But I strongly believe in its merits.

Here are some reasons why if you're a freshman, you might want to hold off taking that accounting class you're not really excited about and go ahead and sign up for that political science class instead:

1) Seeing new possibilities. Taking classes purely out of interest can indicate life paths you hadn't previously imagined. A political science class might reveal a job in government or public interest work that is appealing.

Or, even if the field itself doesn't feed you into a job, taking a bunch of history classes may show you that you're not just interested in film, but that you want to produce historical documentaries.

2) Your major is not job training. Sure it takes some initiative, but there isn't any definitive reason why someone without a business major can't land a business internship if that's what they really want. If that's what you really want, talk to the Career Center and see what you need to do.

3) You'll have fun. A radical idea, no doubt. Classes? Fun? Well even if you aren't actually looking forward to your 9:15 Monday morning, at least it won't drag on and on if it's a subject you're really interested in.

It's an unfortunate trend in the today that many people tend to think the purpose of college is preparing you to enter the working world. Actually, its preparing you for something much bigger: life.

You've got to do a hell of a lot more than work when you get older: manage complex relationships, raise a family, vote in elections, and find a purpose to your life. And while the English 13 curriculum might not specifically contain those items on the class syllabus, the fact that you take the class out of genuine interest rather than as another line to be crossed off on the "Graduation Requirements" list probably means you at least have a chance of learning something about yourself or the world around you.

But does this sort of logic really hold once we graduate? You bet. After all, life doesn't have a set of graduation requirements you can cross off.

Matthew Meyerhofer is a senior philosophy major.