Not there yet, but....

[LuvAslan]

Ok, this year I'm a Senior (in HS) and I am concerned about college. I have NO idea where I'm going or What I want to do. My ACT scores are fine (21). I am trying a career test, but it isn't specific enought to tell me what jobs (not what sort of jobs) I'd be good at. I'm taking time off from school after graduation to work and think and explore. any advice?

 

[Shyguyelite]

Same here, and i'm a senior in college. Well, g'luck to ya.

An uplifting post for sure.

 

[metherion]

Figure out what you LIKE to do, and try to pursue it. What you're good at is usually a start of what you'll like. Figure out your grades in your classes and look for things that might be fun that are near your higher classes' subjects, or the areas you did better in on your SATs and ACTs. Talk to people; the high school guidance conselour is usually good.

I had no idea what I wanted to do until halfway through my senior year. I followed what I just outlined, taking the classes where I had highest grades (science), narrowed it down by which classes I actually had fun in the most (chemistry), what I liked doing most in them (figuring outhow things will interact and then making them explode), and eventually arrived at my current major of Chemical Engineering.

You might be doing really good in French class and english class (linguistics), figure out you like both equally, your favorite parts of french class are culture and translation and you enjoy everything about english, and decide to become a professionsal book translator. Or whatever your personal likes and grades are, fit them in. It should help.

You also don't need to pick something right away. Many students wind up switching schools at least once (the college my parents teach at has a freshman turnover rate of ~40%), remember that if you need to you can switch majors (I started with 155 people in my major freshman year, now junior year is about to start and we're down to 51), and don't worry if you stumble a few times along the way of picking out what you like.

Just don't go into philosophy unless you REALLY LIKE TEACHING as well as whatever philosophy you like. That's advice me mum and dad want me to pass on, since they both have Ph. Ds in that field.

Metherion

 

[jobygirl]

I wouldn't stress out to much about it, you still have time. Just try to find something you love. When you go to college liberal arts schools are good because you get a little of evreything so it helpos determine what you want to do.

 

[rodgeam]

Just try to figure out what you like to do, since you'll probably be doing it for a long time. Don't stress out about it too much; try to find out more about yourself and what you like early on and then what you want to do with your career (something I'm just now figuring out). Don't stress about mistakes you make along the way; just learn from them and grow.

I'm almost a senior and have just now realized that what I want to do and am meant to do is work in a biology/animal related field. I've gone full circle - I started in pre-vet, almost changed to pharmacy, changed to electrical engineering (big mistake), then switched to biosystems engineering. I plan to finish my degree in it, get a job in that field for awhile to make some money and then possibly go to vet school sometime in the future.

 

[epy]

I was, and sort of still am, in that exact same place. At first I looked at what I loved the most of my school subjects--religion. However, after looking into that, I realized that I was not willing to move in order to get a decent job, put up with church politics, take a job with not enough pay/benefits. In all, it was far too insecure for me. Then I thought about business. Just before time to enroll in classes I decided that residency and chapel requirements, as well as the distance form my home, were just too much. I panicked. However, God provided me with my current course, which is suiting pretty well so far.

Overall biggest lesson I learned: It is not so much which path you take that is important. What is most important is dedicating that path to God and walking with Him down it.

If you want to talk, my private message box is open.

Yours in Christ,
epy

 

[scraparcs]

Don't worry. I'm 26 and I didn't realize what I wanted to do with my life until about two years ago. So, guess what, I'm going back to college, after I have my degree.

It's not uncommon for someone to discover what they want to do in their forties, fifties, or sixties. You don't have to know at eighteen.

 

[fuzzyh]

Funny, I love philosophy and I love teaching. I guess that is a good field for me.

I might add, start by taking some classes in college. Take a whole diversity of classes. If you find a subject you like and the teacher is a moron, go somewhere else. I changed majors at school because I couldn't stand the program at this school. He wasn't the greatest Comp Sci teacher. It's always good to take a broad range of classes. You'd be suprised when you'd use any given thing that you've learned. I consistently use my math, computer science and business skills, even though I don't work in anyone of those fields. In fact, I am going to do some grad work in Philosophy.

 

[theAmishGirl]

Look at the things God has laid on your heart, many times you will find your calling within them!


"True happiness is found where your great love and the world's great need not only meet but entwine and blossom." ~Fredrick Becknor

 

[Mr.Cheese]

Take a nice deep breath.
You're going to be just fine.
These days it seems that everyone wants you guys to have your life mapped out to retirement by the time you're ten. That's nonsense. You have plenty of time to figure it all out. For now, all I can offer you is this: to live deliberately. Experience things. Do things you love. Discover things. I'm 34 and am still discovering things I love to do and learn about. I spent most of my 20s...drinking beer and working, without "living deliberately." I was just living without gaining anything to show for it. My point is that living your interests will guide you into a satisfying life. Am I making any sense? Living with purpose doens't mean you have to know, right at this instance, what you are going to do until you are 70. It means that when you are 70 you will have lived a full and satisfying life that college was only a part of.

 

[Grunt]

Don't be that worried about it. Practically everybody who goes straight into college after HS ends up changing their major at least once, and I know several people who wasted over a years worth of school because they changed their major later.

Instead of completely taking off from school though, you might go to community college or etc, even just part-time, to be working on some of the more general courses that every major will require. If you do decide to take off from school though, I wouldn't take more than a year off though. Much longer than that and it'll get harder to brush the cobwebs out of your brain when you do go back.

Personally I didn't decide for sure until I was 20. I only wasted a year of school and $12,000 to figure out that my interests coming out of high school didn't really interest me at all.