Dear Sherpa,
I’m a freshman, and I haven’t declared a major yet. All of my friends seem to be so sure of their paths. How can I possibly decide what major I might want to do? What if I choose the wrong one, and then I can’t go abroad, or can’t graduate on time? Did I already miss my chance to pick my dream major???
Sincerely,
Panicking in Potomac
Dear Panicking in Potomac,
First, take a deep breath. If you get stressed out, come by the Townhouse and I’ll teach you deep breathing exercises from my homeland. We’ll pop on our Lululemons and namaste our way out of this stress pimple waiting to happen.
Your question reminds me of a time I was hiking up Mt. Everest, guiding some young Georgetown students. They decided, mid-hike, that they didn’t want to do it anymore!
“We want to go down, Sherpa!”
“We’re scared, Sherpa!”
“Our little toes are freezing off, Sherpa!”
While I let them go back down the mountain, I kept going, since it’s all about the climb.
A few hours later, I lost my footing. I rolled over myself and hit my head. When I came to, I found my arm stuck between two rocks. I was in a real jam; a proverbial pickle; a non-proverbial rock and a hard place.
Night was falling as fast as the mercury. What if no hikers passed by to save me? What if everyone was already at camp, and my yelling would just exhaust me? What if I was doomed to die here? What if I would survive and like, write a book or something? What if the book got turned into a movie? What if James Franco would play me? What if James Franco is playing us all?
The questions were mounting, and my options felt as suffocating as the snowdrifts growing around me. I didn’t know what to do. Whatever choice I made, I didn’t want to be left wondering “what if?”
You probably feel the same way. What if you choose International Affairs, and only later realize that you might have to redo some of your requirements? What if you decide to pursue Psychology, but a year later discover you meant Sociology? What if Archaeology is absolutely nothing like the promise of Indiana Jones?
Don’t be left wondering “what if?” Use the new DegreeMap tool to hypothesize and fantasize about your options. DegreeMap knows what you’ve already completed, so it can tell you what each major would require. Investigate countless options without having to make a new, handwritten four-year plan each time!
And for me? A young hiker by the name of Jim Franks (or something similar, at least) found me. I called him down and explained that I had a tough decision to make. Sometimes, one must do things they never thought possible. With my own pocket knife, I sawed off his arm to use as a lever to free me from the boulder. At last, I was free, and unscathed.
After all this excitement, I made an appointment with Catherine and Mark to debrief what I had learned and the conclusions I had come to. You should do the same after playing around with DegreeMap. Because if I’ve learned anything from my time on that mountain, it’s this: never go it alone. And never trust a Georgetown student.
