Giving advice about college

My sister is starting her second year of college, and she isn’t completely sure what she wants to do, yet. I undersand how that can make things inconvenient and a little stressful, but I’m at a loss when it comes to good advice for her. I’m positive, eventually she’ll figure out what she wants to do and everything will be fine. Those measely 4-6 years, when compared to your whole life, mean nothing. There’s no reason to rush into things. I’ve tried to explain to her how insignificant the specifics of the degree really are. My first real job out of college was for something that had nothing to do with my degree(s). I stop myself, though, because I think this may be something that you have to realize for yourself after you graduate and get into the job market. I’m not sure if I should be mentioning things of that nature while she’s still making key decisions toward her college career. The last thing I want is for her to get the slightest idea that these decisions don’t matter and she can take a disinterested approach to making them.

I always remind her to do good and to get good grades, but ultimately grades have done nothing for me. Well, that’s not true; I guess scholarship picks were influenced by grades. Even so—that’s not the reason I tell her that. If her college experience was covered and she had an extra $10,000 per semester, I would still tell her to get good grades. I guess it’s the “big brother” in me to remind her to strive for the best. Overall, I only care about her success and happiness. I’m realizing, now that I’m done with college (undergrad), I have a hard time giving her good advice based on my experience. I’m glad I went through an “engineering” program, but I’m not necessarily glad it was computer/electrical engineering. But we make decisions and move on. In the end, life tends to work itself out. It did with me, and I’m sure it will with her.