I’m 22 and ever since I was a teenager I’ve had no idea what career I want to pursue. When we had someone come into school and talk to us about what we’d like to do in the future, I struggled to give her an answer and to this day I still don’t have one.
I never really had hobbies growing up, and still kinda don’t, as my parents weren’t exactly paying for me to try things out and at school I had a few subjects that I enjoyed and were quite good at but nothing that I was super passionate about.
Whenever I talk to people about this, it’s almost like they’re looking at me like I’m the problem but I don’t want to be this way. When i was a teenager, my grandmother would tell me that I should know what it is I want to do or other people would tell me I need to have a plan. I really wish I did.
I need to make some sort of decision though as I need to go college in September so that I can go university next year. I’m thinking I want to do sciences, focusing mainly on biology and then later on specifically animal biology but even as i type this, I’m not like 100% sure.
I know I’m still young but decisions feel so final and I don’t want to potentially choose a degree that I later will regret.
A large part of my focus is also on money and what degree will be good for job prospects because I grew up poor.
I’d love any advice or any stories from people who have felt this way.
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IMO, college is where you figure out what you want to do. They make you take all those gen ed classes so you have a taste of all the different options. You’ll make friends in different groups, try different clubs, and research different topics. They won’t make you choose a major until junior year, so until then don’t worry about it. You’re fine.
Also, in a very real way, a degree is there to show you’ve learned to think critically and you can stick with something. You may not even get a job directly related to your field of study, but learning the right questions to ask and how to think laterally is a huge benefit regardless.
ETA: No major is completely unmarketable. In my experience, there is a business discipline that will work for any interest. I like solving puzzles and deciphering why humans behave in certain ways. In the late aughts there weren’t a lot of choices, but I went with supply chain and never had trouble finding a job. Nowadays, I’d look at organizational design or development.
Do something interesting, then find a way to fill a niche. Just don’t get sucked into something you hate because it’s “marketable” on the surface. I graduated with 7 other supply chain majors. By contrast, there were over 400 accountants who walked at the same time I did. I have worked full time, salaried, in my field since before I finished my degree; I doubt even the best of the accountants can say that. See what jobs look interesting, but don’t go for the big “it” thing unless you can be the best. It’s simply pragmatic.
A lot of us don’t have “the one” when it comes to what we do for work, especially not at first. I went to school for a completely unrelated field than I’m in now but it led me to where I am because I tried things along the way.
It’s hard to know what you’ll enjoy doing if you’ve never done that before. I used to want to be a lawyer and then I saw what work was like at a law firm because I was on the mock trial team in college and one of our advisors was a lawyer. I also had to deal with the prosecutor. Hard pass on both. No thanks. But I wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t signed up for that random team that interested me in the moment.
When I was in college I overvalued the idealized version of the work I’d be doing in a job and undervalued things like work life balance and flexibility. Those things matter so much to me now.
If at all possible, dip your toe into things that seem like a fit for you and see what it’s REALLY like. Or research what the day to say in that career looks like.