My Future

[anna_34]

I'm really concerned about my future! I'm only starting freshman year but a lot of people around me already know what they're going to do in life

All my friends have one or two things that they are good at (sports, math, writing, etc)

Or a hobby they're interested in, but I have no idea what career I want to have!

I'm not good at anything in particular either, but then again, just because you're good at something doesn't mean you want to pursue it.

I'm so confused that for the past few years I've had to pretend to wanna be something in case anyone asked. Like in school activities as a kid I would always say I wanted to be a doctor and help people or a teacher etc, but in reality, I'm not sure. I would like to know what I wanna be at least by grade 10 I think?

Idrk how anyone could help this situation, but if you relate, please let me know cuz I feel a little alone in this.

[Marv]

Hi @anna_34

You honestly have no idea how much I relate to this.

Right. So. I'm 18, nearing 19, I'm a month away from moving into my first year of university. I have no idea what I'm doing. There. I said it.

So, let's back track a bit...

For as long as I can remember, when ever anyone has asked me what I want to be when I'm older I've said that I don't know. In high school when I had to pick my GCSEs, I chose Geography, Catering and Textiles, and I suppose triple science too. None of those are related in the slightest, right? True. I chose those because I liked them. I didn't choose them because they'd lead me somewhere in particular. So, after high school, I went into Sixth Form (so that's aged 17/18). I had to choose three A Levels, so I chose Geography, English Literature and Art. These three aren't related either! I chose them because I liked them. At GCSE I just took a bunch that I liked: I took Textiles because I liked sewing and art mixed together; I took Geography because it interested me, I took Catering because I liked cooking, and Triple Science because it was a challenge I wanted to try. At A Level, I took Geography because I loved it at GCSE, I took Art because I've realised that Art is something I love and it's now a hobby, and I took English Literature because at GCSE I realised I liked writing.

Throughout both GCSE and A Level, I had NO CLUE what I wanted to do. No clue what career, job or course I wanted to take after school. I've followed what I liked doing. Simple.

So, I'm just over a month away from university. I've chosen to study Geography. Why? Because I love it. I could have chosen to study Art, English, but decided not to because I liked Geography the most. And guess what, even now when someone says 'so you're studying geography at university. What job do you want after university?' I still don't know. I'm just taking it all as it comes. And when I get to university, I'll pick topics I like to do, topics I'm interested in - not because they'll lead me somewhere in particular.

In my point of view, there's not much point going through school life saying 'I'm going to study this, at this place and then get this job' because your tastes change, your views change, your abilities change and develop, etc etc. It's good to be flexible, open to ideas, and it's satisfying to study and do what makes you happy and interested.

As for hobbies, they come naturally. You just have to try stuff and find out! I didn't realise I liked writing until I happened to have a kickass teacher in high school. If I didn't have her for a year, I don't think I'd have taken English Literature at A Level. Writing and art are now my favourite hobbies. And also, you don't have to be good at your hobby particularly. A hobby is something one enjoys and is interested in. A hobby is something you dip in and out of, learn about, develop your skills in, meet new people in maybe. For example, I hope to publish a book one day, but right now my writing skills aren't tremendous. It's just about trying new things.

 

This is very long, but I hope it helps you somehow. Honestly, just go at what you enjoy and what you're interested in. There's no rush.

[Remi]

Hey there Anna,

 

you aren't alone in this, and don't worry at all. I have already changed what I want to be 10 times in my life. The truth is life is full of variety and you don't have to just pick one or two things and you can continuously change your mind if you want to.

 

Why don't you try a few things here and there and see which ones stick or that you enjoy?

To be good at anything you have to practice first, no one is born the best at anything it takes loadsa hard werkkk!

 

Do you still want to help people? You could work with children? or for a charity? Don't worry you have lots of time to figure it out.

 

Remi