ROOT: Undeclared students harness talents

"So, what's your major?"


Damn. This is one of two things I dread whenever I meet someone. "Um... I'm undeclared."


"Oh," says the cute guy who plans on starting a business and has just revealed his 10-year plan to take over the Western hemisphere. He backs away slowly as though I'm covered in toxic waste.


If something like this has ever happened to you, you aren't alone. According to the UNL Fact Book, there are 1,650 of us who haven't picked a major. This doesn't sound very impressive when the total enrollment at UNL is about 22,094. However, picture this: your largest lecture class seats about 300 people. You could fill five of these rooms with undeclared students and have enough left over to fill about five English classrooms (assuming there are about 30 students in the class). Compare that to the mechanical engineering major, which has about 400 students, which would fill one lecture hall and a little over three English classrooms.


"But why be undeclared? Why can't you just pick something?"


Some people see being undeclared as a weakness, as though you're incapable of decision-making. I don't agree with this viewpoint in the least. There are a lot of advantages to being undeclared. For one, you can take all your general requirements and get them out of the way before you find your major.


Perhaps more importantly, you won't take a class because it's a requirement for your major and find out it won't apply to another one if you change your mind about your career path. And what better way to explore your career options than by taking a variety of classes?

What bothers me most about being undeclared is the stigma associated with it. It is as though admitting to uncertainty is a terrible thing. Sure, I've talked to advisers and even went to the special night of mid-semester check, specially designed for undeclared students. They sat me down in front of a computer to take a career suggestion quiz.


This quiz wasn't all that different from any of the other ones I'd taken in high school, but I thought, "This is college, surely they must have the answers for me! My search will be over!" I took the quiz and was intrigued by the No. 7 result of career matches: Magician. Sadly, I learned that there is no magic major offered at UNL, and my credit hours I'd already taken wouldn't transfer to Hogwarts.


Here's what I want to see from colleges within my university: more rigorous recruiting. We undeclareds are full of potential; who is to say one of us doesn't have immense artistic talent or a great scientific mind? You, colleges, should be fighting over us, tooth-and-nail in a no-holds-barred cage match. Violence is sure to catch our notice. And yes, we as a collective are most definitely worth this attention.


Choosing a career isn't like choosing what you'll have for dinner; it's something you'll be doing until either you retire or die. And as an 18-year-old, I don't know that I have the wisdom to make such a decision. I want a lot of things out of a career: one where I can excel in my field, that pays well and will allow me to see the world and be something I can be passionate about.


What that career is, I don't know yet. What if my calling is making films or squid fishing? I wouldn't know, having done neither. I'm not totally clueless as to what I want, I just want to be sure I make the right decision. If that takes extra time, so be it. I would much rather be undeclared than pick a major or career that would make me miserable.


As for those of you who do have a plan, career path, major, etc., know the wise words of John Lennon: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." While it is possible that all your plans might come to pass, recognize that you could change your mind. Or that something might happen that will completely change your life. You might find yourself working at a fast food counter instead of Carnegie Hall. You might find yourself climbing ladders and putting out fires instead of finding a cure for AIDS. You might find yourself crab fishing in Alaska or struggling to support your family because of some bad business dealings. Or you might find yourself a single parent, trying to balance children and a full-time job.


Life will take you to places you might never have even thought about. Those of us who are undeclared know this, but we're just waiting for the right thing to come knock on our doors.


rhiannon root is a freshman general studies major. reach her at opinion@dailynebraskan.com.