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Matt Larson is a freshman and an Open Option student here at Iowa State. Although he has been here for less than a year, Matt has managed to become involved in one of Iowa State’s choirs, the Storms Dining center in the Towers neighborhood, and has taken several different, widely ranging classes, one of which was a dance class. Matt came into Iowa State with a major in mind, but he was a little indecisive.

Matt performing at a concert in high school.

“Well, I had many interests,” Matt said, when asked why he picked Open Option as his curriculum path, “To be honest, when I came to ISU, I had intended to be a music education major. Kinda strange, huh? But I actually auditioned for the program late, and so I was like ‘let me explore some of my other options.’ After taking some classes in different areas, I realized I didn’t really want to major in music education. Now it is more like a hobby.”

Matt actually decided on the path that most students coming to Iowa State choose: to be an Open Option student and commit only to exploring the options available through the university. It was a good thing, too, because like Matt said, he found out he didn’t want to major in what he had originally thought.

Some people are afraid to choose Open Option because they think it will make it impossible to ever choose a major and graduate from Iowa State. In order to get some insight on why Open Option is a viable major, I asked Matt why he likes being an Open Option major.

“I’m not confined to a specific curriculum. Being an Open Option major can be difficult at times because I can’t say, ‘I am majoring in this, and I intend to get a job in this once I graduate.’ Although it has been difficult for me during family get-togethers, being open option has helped me find one of my hidden passions. I am actually thinking about majoring in computer science now, and I never would have found it had I not been Open Option.”

Matt dressed as his favorite super hero for Halloween.

If you are thinking about coming in Open Option I would highly recommend it. You may be like Matt and find a special interest you didn’t know you had!

We asked Matt one final question: any fun stories from your time at Iowa State?

Matt’s response: “I was Spider-Man.”

Posted by: Michael Cox