Are you fretting about what you should major in? Stephen Troese Jr. wants you to know that you shouldn’t worry about it if you are in your first year of college. Even though Stephen Troese Jr. hasn’t been at Indiana University-Pennsylvania for quite some time, things haven’t changed completely since then.

In the first few years of college, you tend to just take General Education courses, so you have a little bit of time before you need to declare. Although this might not seem so – especially if you are financing your education yourself – you’re better off taking some time and speaking with your counselor before you take a major. The last thing you would want is to head into senior year and decide that you want to do something else. You should have something in mind by your junior year so you can take the requisite courses and possibly get an internship.

In many cases, Stephen Troese Jr. would encourage you to follow your passion. You never know where your passions will lead you. For example, there aren’t many philosophers, but there are plenty of people who have philosophy degrees who are now lawyers. Obviously, though, if you want to be a doctor and want to pursue a particular vocation, you should declare early. But Stephen Troese Jr. would caution you from choosing a major just because it’s a safe route. Your teens and twenties are the time to take risks.

Be sure to ask others, speak with those who are in fields you’re interested in, and use your college’s resources to give you a better idea of what you might want to do.