Hi. My name is Reema Rao. I am 17 years old. And I do not know what I want to do with my life. Sometimes I think I would like to be a journalist, or maybe a teacher…perhaps an engineer. Actually I am not so sure anymore. I am undecided [insert meek smile here]. It is nice to meet you too.
In the past month, I have talked more about college than I ever have in my entire life. This was just a bit of a rehearsed speech I have developed as an effort to answer the question “What do you plan to do in college?” And I have memorized this answer and more over the course of my several rehearsals.
But unfortunately, I am often received with an apathetic, confused, or condescending look because apparently, applying with an undeclared major just does not cut it anymore. Well, I am here to start a new fad.
Now let me explain myself. I am not saying that we should not take any responsibility because that is simply a passive existence.
And I whole-heartedly admire those students who know their dream path.
But frankly, we college-bound students are only 17 or 18 – clearly only a fourth or a fifth of the way into our lives. After all, I do not consdier elementary school and middle school as legitimate preperation for college.
So at such a young age, with only four proper years of preperation, a few science classes, annotations, and study halls under our belts, we are expected to know what we will be doing when we are 37 years old.
I find that to be quite the daunting task, and I almost feel embarrassed by my answer when I know I should not be.
Colleges offer undeclared majors for a reason. It gives us two full years to explore more options – I, personally, do not mind 730 more days to decide. And neither should you, my fellow undecided seniors. In fact, many colleges, such as Indiana University, prefer applicants who mark “undecided.” It often reveals the willingness to explore new option. Not bad huh?
Looking in retrospect, I wish that I did not spend so much time worrying, but now I realize why we are high schoolers. I understand that we are not called adults for a reason.
It is because we are only adolescents. While we do haev potential and drive, we are nevertheless continuing to grow and mature.
The next time I am asked the age-old question, I plan to introduce myself in a slightly different manner.
Hi. My name is Reema Rao. I am 17 years old. I am not so sure what I want to do with my life. I am undecided. It is nice to meet you too [insert confident smile].
Reema Rao, Editor-in-Chief
