Being the large state school that it is, Grand Valley State University offers nearly 100 undergraduate majors. If there’s a subject you’re interested in, GVSU probably has an entire major dedicated to it. You might think that you know exactly what you want to study and exactly what you want as a career when you enter college, and there’s a fair chance you’re right. However, many discover that their elected field of study is not all what it was made out to be. There are also many students who are completely clueless about what they want to study in the first place.

If you fall into one of these two categories, you are not alone. I’ve been all over the place. In the course of one year, I went from biomedical sciences to engineering to economics. I’m still contemplating another change of major as well. A lot of students end up jumping all over the place. Colleges and universities know this, so they make it as easy as possible to help students find their passion and change their majors if they don’t enjoy their current major.

General educations requirements, also known as gen. eds., are typically intro and survey courses that cover a wide range of surface-level material on any given subject. Taking these general courses as a freshman and a sophomore can help you eliminate subjects you don’t find interesting and narrow down to your true passion.

Don’t be afraid to make a change of major as a freshman or even a sophomore. It may seem overwhelming, but it is totally possible. There is an abundance of advisers that you can talk to if you need some help structuring your semester or changing your major.

While most majors can be completed in four years even if you switch into them midway through your college career, some areas of study should be started as soon as possible. Engineering is the big one, and I have some personal experience with the major as well. Engineering is a very strictly structured major, as there are a lot of required courses you must take. If you want to study engineering, you should plan on starting the intro courses as a freshman in order to complete the program on time. However, it’s not too late as a sophomore to switch to engineering. You might have to stay in school for an extra year, but if you truly have a passion for engineering, or for any field for that matter, graduating a year late shouldn’t be a big deal.

Besides engineering and a few other majors, it is relatively easy to switch majors as an underclassman and not fall behind. Make sure to visit an adviser as well, as they are there to help you in these kinds of situations. So don’t let time constrain your passions. Don’t stay in a major you dislike just because you want to graduate on time. If there’s a will to get the degree that you want, then there’s a way to get there.