“Have you figured out where you’re going to college yet? Have you picked your major? Do you know what you want to do after college?”

If you have been asked these questions, you may know what it feels like to respond with, “I don’t know yet,” or “I’m undecided.” It may seem like you are the only one without any idea about the future, but that is far from the truth.

Society holds a stigma towards people going to college without a definite plan.

“I think humans like structure, and rarely do we like taking risks,” Taylor Crawford (12) said. “Not knowing what you want to do is considered a risk, academically…one [some] can not afford to take.”

Most of the pressure comes from parents or from comparing yourself with fellow students.

“You listen to someone else, and you’ll think, ‘They have it all together, so I should have it all together,’” guidance counselor Ms. Heaston said. “Y’all are probably in the same boat.”

While having a plan going into college may seem necessary, not having one can broaden your horizons.

“You never really know if you truly like something until you try it,” Crawford said. “I think college is the place for you to test the waters.”

In fact, according to “The Mentor,” Penn State’s academic advisory journal, approximately 75 percent of students change majors in those four years, some more than once.

“If you think about it, we’re telling a bunch of new adults to choose what they want to do for the rest of their life,” Michelle Nguyen (12) said. “I don’t know if that’s a reasonable and realistic expectation.”