April 1, the date on which it is customary to make fun of those who have forgotten our transition to the Gregorian calendar and is also coincidentally the due date for most colleges to send out letters of acceptance for their regular decision applicants, has passed.

If you have been accepted to Northwestern, congratulations. This was doubtless the result of dedication and hard work on your part, as well as years of support from your family and teachers. Hopefully, there was some aspect of your character which admissions found … admissible. One may also hope that, apart from being in 5,000 clubs and having won a Fields Medal, you demonstrated your capacity to be a thoughtful, inquisitive human being with a decent set of ethical values by which you abide on most days. If, on the other hand, you were not accepted (and I realize the low likelihood of you reading The Daily in that case but do not wish to rule it out entirely), do not lose heart. You can continue your studies and pursue your goals at many other fine institutions. (If you really, really wanted to come here for some very specific reason, do not lose heart; the writer of this very column did not get accepted on his first try either.)

Once you have been accepted, continue thinking about what you want to do. The stress of college applications is now over, and that gives you more time to think about your intended major. I realize that many of you already have some idea of what you want to do since you had to apply to a specific school within NU. However, I also realize that a lot of those who do have a declared major have an incomplete idea of what that major entails and what the career associated with that major entails. This is why I feel it is good to ask yourself on a regular basis if you are happy with the decision you have made and if it is a good fit for you. This is a good practice even while you are in college.

Think about what you really want to be. I’m not talking about the cliche that you’ve been indoctrinated with. Ask around. Shadow someone in the professions you were interested in long before the insanity of college applications commenced. What kind of person do you want to be, and what profession coincides with your interests, talents, values and personality? These are the most important questions. Among other things, college should be a place where you cultivate interests and learn and also a stepping stone in the development of the person you once aspired to be. It should not be a breaking point. If you lose interest in what you initially liked, that’s totally understandable. If you see that the career you’re preparing for is not something you are willing to devote your life to, by all means change majors. It is an easy thing to do, and there are very capable advisers willing to help you with the change. All it takes is a few emails and a one-page form. Stop wasting time and pick something else immediately. Don’t ever go in with a lukewarm desire to do something, because that is a recipe for disaster.

However, if you give up on something and settle for something else which doesn’t interest you because people show you statistics or tell you horror stories or try to dissuade you, do not give in. Do not change your major because people tell you it’s impossible or that they have no time to do anything because of it. Do not let a person, a class, a professor or even an institution stop you when you are on your way to achieving something. If you truly desire, you can achieve your goals. You may achieve them later, with more trials and tribulations, but you will eventually get there. All that is needed is for you to discard your ego and get out of the mindset that life proceeds in the linear, time-allocated blocks that our society has constructed. As cheesy as it sounds, do what genuinely interests you.

Antonio Petkov is a McCormick freshman. He can be reached at [email protected]. If you want to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected].