Yes, No, Maybe So?

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Everything a person does requires some decision to be made. All these choices essentially boil down to a yes or no answer, unless you are in my generation. We (as a generation) have made the "maybe" answer the most popular. It seems as though nobody is willing to make a solid commitment regarding the big life choices. Even on simple choices such as which classes to take next semester, students often dwell on minuscule factors, such as whether any friends will be in a certain class, or what time it should be taken. This fear to make big decisions is one of many reasons this generation is stuck in limbo.
Over the past few years I have been completely scared to make my own choices. I always wanted somebody else to make them for me, or point me in a certain direction. In the end, I got screwed by my own lack of willingness to take responsibility for my own life. All the ability and intelligence in the world is useless unless you can use it to make a decision for yourself. According to Dr. Fritz Grupe, founder of MyMajors.com,  eighty percent of college-bound students aren't sure of what they want to major in. I fell into this category and initially decided to apply only to expensive liberal arts colleges. And even when I finally chose and went, I ended up withdrawing within the first semester, which saved my family over 40,000 dollars per year. Since then I worked full time as a deli clerk for a few months, and have gone back to school, this time to a community college.  I have been learning how important it is to make your own decisions based on what you want as an individual rather than societal expectations. Now I am working to make sure I am the one who makes the decisions for myself.
In today's society, everyone is bombarded by an overload of choices to choose from. There never seems to be one obvious choice. And this generation of young adults is paying for it. More and more keep living at home after they graduate from college, jobs openings are at a premium, and people are sitting on mountains of debt and cannot do anything about it. People seem to be unwilling to take low level jobs because they think that their degree entitles them to a higher position and they shouldn't have to work from the bottom up like most people. In reality, there are very few Bill Gates' and Mark Zuckerbergs that are able to become wealthy and skip rungs on the corporate ladder. Another problem with this abundance of choices is that many people opt for the easiest path which may not pay off in the end.
On Long Island in particular, there are very few teaching jobs available and education is one of the most popular majors among students today according to the National Center for Education Statistics. I am not an expert, but I do not think that going into a field with few opportunities is a smart move unless you are very well connected. Everyone has an abundance of decisions to make everyday, yet most people put off choosing either yes or no until the last possible moment. When people of past generations finished high school they often had few options; go to college, join the service, or go straight to work. Now everyone is expected to attend some sort of college even though many either aren't ready or shouldn't be going. This leads them to wasting money on classes which won't give them credit towards a degree. The lack of blue collar jobs which many people's parents worked is one factor in the phenomena, as well as societal expectations. Not everyone can become a high payed doctor or lawyer or businessman. People need to think and not simply choose the easiest path, and elect a path which will be useful in the future.
Making decisions are often hard and have life-long implications. From deciding where to attend college, to picking a major, to picking a mate, these all have direct effects on how our lives will end up. People are afraid and rightly so. Nobody wants to be accountable for their actions. We need to make our own choices and take control of our lives so when we are successful we can say that it is what we wanted.



Sources:
College freshmen face major dilemma-NBC
National Center for Education Statistics
Scores Show Students Aren't Ready for College