Everything you know if you’re an undeclared sophomore at Bucknell

Spring semester is soon upon us, promising a variety of excitement for our return to Bucknell, including snow, some of the best themed registers, and house party weekend. However, there is a unique population of students that will be arriving back at school with toxic levels of anxiety and fear underlying their excitement.

Sophomores majoring in “undeclared,” I’m talking about you. As a supportive member of this group, I want to acknowledge the inevitable truths that you currently face.

The cute, innocent ‘Undeclared Freshman’ is long gone

Remember back in the good ol’ days of freshmen year when it seemed like every other person you met was undeclared just like yourself? There was a constant reassurance that being undeclared was perfectly normal, and even a good thing.

“You have plenty of time to take different classes and figure it out,” they said. “Don’t worry,” they said.  And then, suddenly, you’re a sophomore and everyone has somehow declared their majors and you’re left in the dark. Now when you confess that you’re undeclared the looks of reassurance have been replaced with ones of deep concern.

You’re more confused than when you started

The idea seems to be that once you enter college and take some classes, your major decision will magically become clear. However, taking a variety of classes has only confused you to a greater degree. You now might have interests in even more courses, or you might feel that you still have not found a subject you are truly passionate about. You also are left with the unsettling feeling that the intro level class was not enough of an overview to qualify a decision quite yet. You just need to take one or two more classes, and then you’ll know, you swear.

You live in constant fear of talking to your family

Every time you’re home you make an extreme effort to avoid social interactions with family members, neighbors, and all other adults that might question you on why you are still undecided. You just don’t know, okay? It’s probably better to just hide in the bathroom and avoid conversation.

You’ve become a liar

In order to deflect the many questions that come along with announcing your current undeclared status, it’s sometimes easier to just pretend you have a major. Some people have a predetermined list of majors that they alternate through. Others come up with them on the fly, based on their current mood.  Some days are more biology while others feel a little philosophy. Faking that you have your life together offers a momentary feeling of relief, but is usually followed by a hollow emptiness.

You’re subject to daily existential crises

For the most part you handle this issue the same way you handle most of your other life problems, and just ignore it. The key is to not think about your lack of a decision at all and instead just tackle college one day at a time. However, there are unavoidable moments of questioning whether you will ever choose a major, which quickly escalates into questioning the meaning of your entire existence.

Picking classes is a guessing game

Picking classes those first two semesters of college was all fun and games when you had tons of core requirements to fulfill, but now you need to start fulfilling major requirements which is somewhat of a struggle when you don’t actually have a major. Eenie, meenie, minie, moe it is.

Picking a major is a huge deal, thank you

Over and over again people tell you your major decision is not a big deal, and will not significantly impact your career or life. At the same time though, it is usually the first question people ask about you and everyone keeps pressuring you to make some kind of decision, so it must matter somewhat, right?

One decision is enough

People are trying to be comforting when they inform you of how easy it is to switch majors later on and how often people choose to do so. However, going through this whole process of stress, uncertainty, and indecision for a second time sounds like your worst nightmare. At this point, once you make that decision you plan on sticking to it.

The tock is clicking, and soon we will all need to make a decision, but deep down it’s clear that we will all remain undeclared at heart.