I don't know

 

In school literally every subject is my strong suit. If I ever had low grades in something it's because I was too lazy to study and not because I didn't enjoy it/couldn't understand it.

 

I think in the past couple of years, I've jumped from 'realization' to 'realization' of what I want to do, all of them pretty diverse (cardiologist, sociologist, college counselor, professor, musician, fashion designer, engineer...), and then after a while I just get really disinterested in them and seek something else

 

I'm tired of doing this

 

I spend a regular amount of time researching into different fields and asking people who are successful and happy how they figured it out, though they often just tell me "I always knew/I was always strong in X at school"

 

Though sometimes they tell me they just found it out through exploring different fields in college or on the real job sites, which is really the best way, but I've been doing this for ages, I have nearly 2 years worth of college credits racked up from taking classes in different fields

 

I mean I'm still really young I've got 2 years of high school left... but I still want to know, how did you figure out what you wanted to do, what should I do, any words of advice or reassurement

 

It's just a piece of crap because I literally could do anything, like name pretty much any job and I would succeed at it, but I've never seen anything that really fills me with passion.

 

I was gonna give you some of my characteristics so one of you could maybe point me in the right direction, but I'm literally strong in writing and the arts, math and sciences, I can work well both alone and in company, I'm not sure if I'm introverted or extroverted because I am quiet and afraid of people when I first meet them but I grow to be very loud and touchy with people I'm comfortable with, I love to create, be it composing or drafting or making things hands-on, I really love music more than anything else... but so does some random vet or construction worker, like everyone loves music... I doubt that helps

 

I mean I have my whole life to make a career change if I make a mistake but jesus I want to find something I vaguely like the first time 'round

 

If I had anything about myself that wasn't vague or unsure I swear I'd put it but this is how lost I am... what do I do

 

Obviously I can just go on with life and maybe I'll figure it out anyway, but I don't want to sit on my ass I want to do something actively or at least hear some anecdotes or words of advice

 

Thank you~

I feel like a moron every time I make a thread

I mean I'm still really young I've got 2 years of high school left... but I still want to know, how did you figure out what you wanted to do, what should I do, any words of advice or reassurement

 

You can figure out jobs, careers, 10-year plans, etc in college.

 

In college, you will probably experience change of heart what your major is going to be, let alone what you are going to do for a career, so don't worry too much about it now.

 

That being said, take the time to get involved in different extra-curricular activites - clubs, societies, organizations, volunteering, etc - and find your passion. Take advantage of exploring stuff now while you have time.

 

At the same time, make sure you are not sacrificing your grades in school. Make it your goal to get to a top-notch institution. Might not seem like a priority now but this will pay huge dividends later on, especially if you still find yourself in a conundrum of what you're going to do.

 

 

Tl;dr: You're in high school. Enjoy it.

I agree with the parrot, that's great advice.

 

You're a smart, clever girl, and as you seem to succeed in your studies, you have the great advantage to be able to actually choose any career path you want right now (and in college as well, if you go on like this), which is awesome, as many people often don't actually have a choice.

 

You can also proceed by elimination, i remember that's what my brother did, once, when he was trying to figure out what he wanted to do. If you don't know what you want, you may know what you absolutely never want to do. Maybe you don't know whether you'd like to do something in science or art, but maybe at the moment you're really disgusted with finance ? (that's obviously an example, i just made that up).

It may not help you find the path that truly inspires you, but if you do that, i don't know, at least once a year, it may help you reduce the number of possibilities and reassure you a little.

Be in a Coldplay tribute band.

hey, I'm studying in chemical engineering, in a technical university. if you are considering engineering or architecture, I can help you :nice: how did I choose my study field? I don't exactly remember :lol: I always wanted to study in this university, because it's the best. But I wanted to study in either computer engineering or electronical engineering. But my grades were not enough for these fields, so I chose chemical engineering. my first year I regretted it, I wanted to change it but when I started to take the lectures about my field in second year, I realized that it was not that bad...now I love it :lol:

 

I was gonna give you some of my characteristics so one of you could maybe point me in the right direction, but I'm literally strong in writing and the arts, math and sciences, I can work well both alone and in company, I'm not sure if I'm introverted or extroverted because I am quiet and afraid of people when I first meet them but I grow to be very loud and touchy with people I'm comfortable with, I love to create, be it composing or drafting or making things hands-on, I really love music more than anything else... but so does some random vet or construction worker, like everyone loves music... I doubt that helps

if you're strong in arts&math&science, you should consider 'architecture'. you can create, you can compose and you can even add to music your art :)

you still have 2 more years, take your time, enjoy in high school :smug:

I don't have any idea what I want to do, and I'm going to university in 2 months. I'm just hoping that I'll have an idea at some point while I'm at uni :shrug:

since you've still got time in high school i say don't rush things by worrying about career choices (i'm talking from experience). just think of doing something that you feel comfortable with. since you're good with every subject, your options are plenty.

 

make sure you keep an open mind though.

I'm 25 and I don't know what I want to do. Study hard and when you come out of education (at whichever level you choose) and you will have more freedom over which areas you explore. Either something you have a passion for or something you excel in. Or something that pays well and allows you to flourish outside of work. Just because you don't know where you are going, doesn't mean you're going to end up in a crap place. And just because you start out in a crap place, doesn't mean you'll be there forever. And of course, this works the other way around. Just try your hardest and went you aren't studying do fulfilling things.

I'm 25 and I don't know what I want to do...

 

 

i understand :nod:. I'm in uni and when i was in my first year, i still wasn't sure of what i wanted to do.

I don't have any idea what I want to do, and I'm going to university in 2 months. I'm just hoping that I'll have an idea at some point while I'm at uni :shrug:

 

if it's any consolation, I am a senior and a few months from graduating with a BS in Healthcare Management and I still have zero clue what I want to do.. so yeah. :laugh3:

 

I'll figure something out. I don't think it's something I worry about too much, it just is what it is. The book is open to being written is the way I look at it. For others, it sometimes can be a big bother.

An Ant nimbly running about in the sunshine in search of food came

across a Chrysalis that was very near its time of change. The

Chrysalis moved its tail, and thus attracted the attention of the Ant,

who then saw for the first time that it was alive. "Poor, pitiable

animal!" cried the Ant disdainfully. "What a sad fate is yours!

While I can run hither and thither, at my pleasure, and, if I wish,

ascend the tallest tree, you lie imprisoned here in your shell, with

power only to move a joint or two of your scaly tail." The Chrysalis

heard all this, but did not try to make any reply. A few days after,

when the Ant passed that way again, nothing but the shell remained.

Wondering what had become of its contents, he felt himself suddenly

shaded and fanned by the gorgeous wings of a beautiful Butterfly.

"Behold in me," said the Butterfly, "your much-pitied friend! Boast

now of your powers to run and climb as long as you can get me to

listen." So saying, the Butterfly rose in the air, and, borne along

and aloft on the summer breeze, was soon lost to the sight of the

Ant forever.

Don't forget to do more drugs after getting pregnant, kids always forget that bit.

They're just lazy. kids these days.

AN ASS, belonging to an herb-seller who gave him too little food

and too much work made a petition to Jupiter to be released from

his present service and provided with another master. Jupiter,

after warning him that he would repent his request, caused him to

be sold to a tile-maker. Shortly afterwards, finding that he had

heavier loads to carry and harder work in the brick-field, he

petitioned for another change of master. Jupiter, telling him

that it would be the last time that he could grant his request,

ordained that he be sold to a tanner. The Ass found that he had

fallen into worse hands, and noting his master's occupation,

said, groaning: "It would have been better for me to have been

either starved by the one, or to have been overworked by the

other of my former masters, than to have been bought by my

present owner, who will even after I am dead tan my hide, and

make me useful to him."

 

I feel so awful because you guys meant well and all with your advice, but I feel so terrible now.

 

If I actually was on the road of graduating from high school to Columbia, with dozens of AP classes and grants and awards under my belt, I wouldn't be making this thread. Because I would know that I would just figure it out later, and it would go perfect whichever career path I chose and I could easily get a job.

 

But I don't have these kind of options anymore, because of mistakes and decisions I made, and personal things that happened to me. It's a weird story, at one point I was actually on the brink of graduating high school several years early and graduating college in my teen years. But it turned out quite differently. So now I feel pretty trapped in that regard. If 'top-notch institutions' and perfect grades are most important, then I really don't have much of a future. I was really in hope of hearing that I could change things around if I was dedicated enough, and that there are different options of going to a good school if I decide to choose that kind of path, maybe there isn't.

 

 

I'll write down a reply later tonight or Monday morning when I'm calmed down.

 

I do not agree with a lot of what is said on this thread. For one, how do you expect someone to go into college to FIND OUT what they want to go to college for? That's insane. You're going to have to get a student loan if you want to get into a good college then pay for it back after you're done and it takes a couple of years to do that. All for something that you were sort of interested in because of the good pay.

 

Did you all know that you don't have to go to college? Other that having debt, not that many students finish, four fucking more years of school and you're just trying to "figure it out" it's a waste of time. And now, the degree is declining in value. There are too many doctors/engineers/lawyers without work so I guess you're clear-cut career path isn't that clear-cut as you thought.

 

And because our friend Diana is in a position of not knowing exactly what she wants, going straight to college isn't the best idea. There are so many other alternatives in education than college. Like courses that are just six months and you can find a well payed job that doesn't requiere you to buckle down and accept that this is your path from now on. In college, if you chose this certain career path and already spent all of that time and money on it, theres no way you can just decide that you want to do something else. Unless you want to spend more years of your life in school at the age of 40 because you changed your mind when you could be traveling and enjoying life.

 

To calm down the other teens like me that were scared shitless of the future, you all need to snap back into reality and realize that hey, you got 80 years to live and you just cant confuse an end career as ambition. Basically you don't have to be in a well earning job or thats in a high position to be happy or feel like you succeeded in life because you got an important job and you "made something of yourself" or "respected". Because at the end of the day, a job is to keep you occupied and to get money to fund what makes you happy. Not saying that money is happiness but for vacations and an evening out with your friends or a trip to see your family for the holidays.

 

And really, if you finally decide what you want to do you can go back to school. That's what my mom is doing right now! It's called adult school and she's very happy that she's finally going to work in something she wants. She was a waiter for a while and had money for herself to buy a magic-bullet (some blender she makes vegetables juices with and makes me drink them) but finally had the idea and ambition and she isn't regretting not doing it before because she simply didn't know yet.

 

At the end, life is unpredicatble and you can't decide what you want to do with the rest of your life at the age of 16. It's unreal! Right now focus on what makes you happy and do the right thing and if you accidently get caught somewhere it's all part of experience and its all a part of life. You might have a plan right now but it could change and you need to accept that. This is life! Live it!

 

EDIT: But if you're looking for a more clear advice other than "follow your heart" i'd suggest you take your time while you don't know in a basic job that maybe you're not crazy about but it will push you to ambition later when you want to do something specific and just enjoy your time here on earth. earn a lil bit a money for lil things like i said before, hang out with friends, come over to San Diego and we can eat ice cream, see Frank Ocean live, buy youself a cute dress on etsy, get a lil apartment and if you want something big just save up some money and get a car ya feel. then when you're like AHA i wanna be a the best cock sucker in the L.A area THEN DO IT.

I'd say work experience or getting an internship is important. I mean how can you choose what job you wish to do without even trying out that industry first? You might choose to be a biochemist or something.... but in real life it's probably going to be the most boring job ever. ( I have no experience of biochemistry and I'm most likely wrong but you can see what point I'm trying to get at)

 

What I'm currently doing, because I have absolutely no clue what I really want to do, is getting a job or work experience wherever I can. That way I feel I have had experience in that area and whether I'd go back into that area. Like I know now that I don't particularly enjoy working in hotels or the hospitality industry :P So probably wouldn't go back.

But I now have some money saved up from that which I'm going to use to go places and see a bit of the world, and that makes me happy.

I'm so sorry Diana, I didn't get that from your original message, and I (and I'm guessing other people) first thought of the classic way to find a career that would suit you. But it absolutely doesn't mean that you have to have great grades to succeed "in life" nor that you have to get into the greatest schools, it's definitely NOT the only way.

 

And of course, of course, you have all your life to find out what you actually love. Many people only find out when they're in their 40s. You learn all your life, and very often plans evolve and change. As Annette said, life is unpredictable.

 

And Annette I don't think that anyone here said that she had to find out in college what she truly wanted to do and that there was no way for her to evolve and that she didn't have her whole life in front of her to find out. Most advice on this thread corresponded to the most usual, the classic way, because it seemed that her personal path matched that, but no one here said that she had no other way and yes I know that people don't necessarily have to go to college, thank you very much.

 

Now, for your specific case, Diana, as Annette said : focus on what makes you happy (or at least not too sad) right now. If some people plan their studies/career path/whole life 5-10 years ahead, it doesn't mean that everyone should do so and that it's the only way you can be happy, that's bs.

 

Other pieces of advice given in this thread still work, btw, like having some hobbies, hell, even my crappy elimination thing could help you.

 

I just reloaded the page and read the last post and indeed, getting work experience is a good idea to test some fields and find out what you hate and what you like, while earning some money.

Take a year off, go travel. This may sound corny but go find yourself and see what you want out of life.

Wowza. Kids these days are intense. Chill out.

And yeah, go travel. This is not the economy for getting in to your dream career. For the vast majority anyway.

The claws are out. Thank you very much :botoxlips:

I don't think it's right for high schools to try and push students to figure out what they want to do at such a young age, it's purely dumb -- however I don't advocate putting college off that much. Sure the degree may be declining in value, but if you really do want to get anywhere in life, unless you have some amazing contacts, it's unlikely that you'll be overly successful without one. How do you bypass that? Become an entrepreneur or be very gifted in some way that can benefit others. Otherwise, your choices are slim on what you can do to make cash.

 

A lot of people go to college having no clue what they want to do. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I forget the statistics, and I am too lazy to look it up, but the majority of people who graduate with a specific degree don't even come close to working in the field they graduated for. Is that by choice or because people badly need jobs? Maybe it's a bit of both. A degree just says to someone that you can do what it takes, and you're a more informed person about the subject matter you graduated in. My degree specializes in health care but 50% of it is pure business related.

 

You know, you'll have people say don't go to college, it's worthless. I used to be one of these people, I resented going to school for longer than I had to, but then I pulled my head out of my ass and realized how much college has done in making me a far more intelligent person than I was before I started it. It showed me just how little public school actually taught me. It has helped me mature. It has helped me become a better adult.

 

At the least you come out of college more informed about A LOT of things, not just what your subject matter is. You come out knowing that you've set a goal and you succeeded at reaching it. That means a lot. It gives you confidence. It tells you that you can do something.

 

The only thing I would advise against is getting a degree that would be completely useless in helping you get a job, like art history for instance, or musical history. Not much of a market for that kind of stuff obviously.

 

You'll get people saying "Well now you're just in a large pool with other people who have degrees, so what was the point?" Well imagine not having one and still being in that pool with all the people that have college educations. Who is the employer likely going to choose?

 

(Though the economy is a bit different right now with employers possibly skipping on people that are over-qualified, but this is a bit of a different monster.)

 

Most importantly - it's a nice insurance policy. It is to me anyway. Some might completely disagree, but it's nice knowing I have this to fall back on. Otherwise I am just a public-school graduate, and in this broken education system in the US -- that's not saying a whole hell of a lot.

 

Edit: just saw your other post, I still don't see why you can't go to college (Not sure where you're from but yeah). The doctor I work for makes a ton of money obviously, and she asked me why I don't go to a more "prestigious" University. Well one, I don't have cash flowing out of my ass like she does, and two -- that kind of crap doesn't mean anything to me. I suck at saying things eloquently, but this one time I did -- I said "If an employer discounts me solely because of where I graduated from, that employer paid me the best favor he or she possibly could have." I would never, ever want to work for somebody so short-sighted. I wouldn't worry about big name universities. If an employer is worth anything at all, they will look at a degree as a starting point to who you are, it shouldn't nearly be the end all be all.

I graduated last year and I'm still not sure what I want to do. I was lucky to get a graduate job shortly after I finished uni but I really didn't like it. I studied English so there's a lot of things I could potentially be doing, I'm just not sure what's right for me.

My question

 

Rather than start a new thread, I'm gonna post my question in here because it's career related.

 

 

I start college in September and I want to be an archaeologist, but what if I go through all of college and university studying archaeology then change my mind at the end of it? How can I be sure this is for me? I'm so worried of doing so much for something I might change my mind about :(