Possibly taking a leave of absence after this semester

So far I've been really enjoying college. The people there I've met have generally been much more open and diverse than in high school. I enjoy the independence, which during the holiday break I really missed, and it's fun getting involved even though I feel I'm not doing too much. Also, I started applying myself more (still have a ways to go), and my GPA is much more reflective of my intellect than in high school, where I slacked off.

The problem is I have very little idea of what to major in. I enjoy reading, so I thought about an English major, but I'm not sure what I could do with it. I was thinking about perhaps teaching, but really I want to move on beyond school after graduation and do something else. Some other things I've thought about were philosophy, psychology, and then history and politics, but I decided against the latter two. Maybe journalism, but I'm not sure what I'd actually write about.

Anyway, I think taking a leave of absence would be a good idea. My parents are against it, and think that would lead to me dropping out, which I couldn't see myself doing. I'm hoping that I'll have an idea after this semester, but I've been hoping that for the last few years and I've had little luck so far.

Has anyone else taken a leave of absence for this, or maybe another, reason? I think it'd be a good idea - to reflect on my life, get a job, maybe even do a bit of traveling and camping or something enjoyable. I'm a freshmen, so maybe I should just keep doing courses that seem appealing and gen eds until I have a better idea? The problem is, that kind of seems like a waste of money, but I think it would be better to wait until I have a good idea of what I want to do instead of stumbling blindly into something undecisively and ultimately switching to something else anyway. Any opinions are welcome, and thanks for reading.

 

I think you should stay in and do you gen eds b/c how are you gonna discover what you want to do professionally if you are away from the academic setting... what are you gonna do outside of college that gonna help you decide??? sit on your ass and watch tv??? plus people change their majors all the time... take classes on the subjects your thinking about

If you do leave make sure you're productive though but I don't see the benefit of leaving... I know a lot of people who've had this same mind set and they don't go back to school till they're 28

 

I'd try to look into possibilities that I've never even considered, plus maybe as time passes I'll have a better idea of what to do. I'll probably take more English and philosophy classes as time goes on, but I don't know if I'd actually want to major in either of them. Only time will tell.