Kelly Wood is like most 19-year-old girls. She lives with her parents, hangs out with her friends, goes to church, and does not know what she wants to do with her life.

She started her higher education at Crowder College as a sociology major. After working at a daycare center, she decided to change her major to early childhood education, which she soon switched back to sociology. Then she changed her mind again. Wood is now a student at Missouri Southern and has made a choice to stick to general studies and remain undecided on her major.

“I just don’t know what I want to do in life,” Wood said.

She is not alone in this dilemma.

According to the career guide at University of Missouri in St. Louis, nationally, 30-40 percent of incoming freshman are undecided. The guide went on to say that 75-80 percent of these undecided students will choose and change their major, often more than once.

With statistics like this, it makes sense for students to take the time to figure out what they want to do with their lives. The first step is finding out about who you are as a person.

For those attending the MSSU Project Stay workshop “Undecided Majors,” taking that step to figuring out a potential career will be much easier. The workshop will be Thursday, March 13, in Billingsly room 343 from 9-10:15 a.m.

The workshop is being led by Brad Hunt from the Advising, Counseling and Testing office in Hearnes Hall. During this short event, Hunt will introduce students to ideas and resources for figuring out a life path. Students can take a free personality type assessment called, “Do What You Are.” This assessment runs through a series of questions and then aligns students with personalized career options.

That is just one part of the process, Hunt said. He has many suggestions for finding the right path.

“One of the best things you can do is a job shadow, so you can see if maybe you want to be a nurse but you find you don’t like the smells and sounds, it’s a lot better to do that early,“ Hunt said.

For more information regarding the workshop, contact Hunt via email at [email protected].