I know nothing about the American college system, but I will say that if you find a major you like, pursue it full-throttle from the first day of classes. I just finished my first year in Marine & Freshwater Biology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and just by emailing tonnes of different profs that were working on stuff that interested me, I got a position volunteering in a fish research lab my first month of university, and another second semester. Now, even though I'm really young, I got a summer job in my field that I can return to every year and then transition to full time after I get my masters. It takes 3 minutes to compose a short email asking about openings in a lab, but it will help save you months (or even years) of trouble after you get your degree scrounging around for references and jobs. Long story short, my advice is that you don't need a degree to get involved in your field!!