What do you want to do?

[Aura]

I'm at that age and time where I have to really start thinking about what I'm going to do with my life. I've started having meetings with a counsellor to start discussing university and scholarships. I have no idea what I'm going to do. I think I may try and take business courses as well as graphic design because I may think that I want to be a graphic designer but we'll see, lol.
What is the career you're striving to achieve? If you've already settled into a job, what is it, and was it what you were hoping to become?

[Andymac106]

This was me last year and let me tell you, that even when/if you make a decision and go off to college, you still have time to change your mind up. I'm planning to be in the business field but there is truly just so much stuff out there to do, but that part is also very exciting. Not knowing exactly what I'm going to do makes me excited to wake up each day knowing that today could be the day where I get to figure it out. But for now, I'm stuck in the same optimistic boat that you're in; where I can nearly see the land of where I'll end up out on the horizon, but it's still hazy. Welcome aboard the a tad bit lost crew, it's a fun ride

[Aura]

This was me last year and let me tell you, that even when/if you make a decision and go off to college, you still have time to change your mind up. I'm planning to be in the business field but there is truly just so much stuff out there to do, but that part is also very exciting. Not knowing exactly what I'm going to do makes me excited to wake up each day knowing that today could be the day where I get to figure it out. But for now, I'm stuck in the same optimistic boat that you're in; where I can nearly see the land of where I'll end up out on the horizon, but it's still hazy. Welcome aboard the a tad bit lost crew, it's a fun ride

It is exciting! There's so many opportunities out there and limitless options. There also seems to be a lot of pressure to figure out what you want to do, which is the frustrating part. Choosing the path you want to take and potentially your job for the next 50 years isn't something you can do overnight, lol. I'm most likely going to go with business for sure, as it seems to be the safest route.

[Kairi]

I'm in the position myself. I at one point had hoped to get my masters in psych and just be a badass counselor but my appreciation and empathy for others have decreased greatly over the years. So at the moment I'm aimlessly wondering the abyss of decisions while I get my AA. I'm sure it'll come to me in time. Rigggght?!

[Sci_Girl]

It is exciting! There's so many opportunities out there and limitless options. There also seems to be a lot of pressure to figure out what you want to do, which is the frustrating part. Choosing the path you want to take and potentially your job for the next 50 years isn't something you can do overnight, lol. I'm most likely going to go with business for sure, as it seems to be the safest route.

Keep in mind the economy. Canadian economy right now is in the tanks. Make sure you take note of which sectors get hit hard and how your education and hiring may be affected later on. Careful with business because investors, real estate, mortgage brokers etc will not be bothering with hiring or having companies invest for awhile. So just make sure you watch how things are going. In Alberta here it is the worst it has been in many many many years. The once promising oil patch is now garbage for finding work and that trickles down to every other work sector because no money comes into the Provincial Government. I had a good run with my Science Degree and now with our recession no one is hiring. I am now overqualified for literally anything I apply to since the better or more degree sector work is extremely limited and I did not have a near 4.0 GPA (some companies do request transcripts when hiring). Really try to think of how you can apply your future Degree/Diploma to other services incase a big recession hits in your area. Right now the housing market around you is going downhill. So banks are scrambling to make things work.

Also with those dreaded scholarship applications make sure you look into the possibility of work experience or internships. They will often list it as a course option as "research project" or "individual study". Not easy to do but it looks good on the transcript. Internships in Canada can be very very difficult to get into so really do your research into those high qualifications. Or make friends with a company now, get a part time job if you can, so they know your name and maybe give an internship later on.

[jxt]

I've settled into a lucrative career, but if I could do anything it would be to win the lottery. Seriously.

I'm quite a bit older than most people here and I'll be honest, even if you end up in the career you wanted to when you were 18, 19, 20 eventually it just gets tired and repetitive. It's just work, 8~10 hours of your life you'll never get back, waiting for your two days off which go by way too quickly, then it's back to the grind Monday morning where you make small talk about your weekend with people you tolerate at best. I like my job, but after so many years it just gets old.

If I won the lottery I wouldn't even buy anything, I'd just clear any debt I have and stay home working on hobbies, maybe try starting my own business, spending time with family, waking up at noon, and generally relaxing and being lazy. I'd never go back to work for someone else ever again.

Hey, you asked.

[Aura]

I've settled into a lucrative career, but if I could do anything it would be to win the lottery. Seriously.

I'm quite a bit older than most people here and I'll be honest, even if you end up in the career you wanted to when you were 18, 19, 20 eventually it just gets tired and repetitive. It's just work, 8~10 hours of your life you'll never get back, waiting for your two days off which go by way too quickly, then it's back to the grind Monday morning where you make small talk about your weekend with people you tolerate at best. I like my job, but after so many years it just gets old.

If I won the lottery I wouldn't even buy anything, I'd just clear any debt I have and stay home working on hobbies, maybe try starting my own business, spending time with family, waking up at noon, and generally relaxing and being lazy. I'd never go back to work for someone else ever again.

Hey, you asked.

Haha, and that's entirely fair and true. But definitely depressing.

[Sci_Girl]

It's true about the repetitive career though. No matter your job you do look forward to those 2 days off which you often spend doing errands anyway. Or having a Holiday and then counting down the days to the next extra day off. Try to find a career that you can do more than one continuous same task. Like with Business you might become an Accountant, might be cool for a few years but then all you do is number crunch in Excel or payroll programs. There might not be variety available. So find something you believe would be an interest to you. Maybe even have the potential to turn it into a personal business thus making your own hours if successful.

[Hawk]

I am a college drop out, but honestly I don't mind. I'd been going for an associates degree in Graphic Design; but I've always hated school, sitting still listening to lectures and half my work load was basically high school courses, because of non-traditional students in the course work. Annoying since I went in right out of high shcool and was ready to be done with essay writing lol.

Hated every moment of my classes, and the school was behind the curve had us doing traditional design mock ups which is so rarely used now it might as well be the Nokia Brick of design work, reliable but no longer useful.

So I worked a bit of retail, now I have a very comfortable job being an office assistant, I'd say I live the dream, not the "American" dream but I have incredibly flexible hours, to the point where I work as little as 3 days a week sometimes, healthcare, place to sleep, eat. I honestly only ever wanted to be comfortable and be able to work on my terms. I've got that now, and it's nice.

[kittyray]

I'm trying to figure it out. In theory I want to be a software developer and it's what I wanted to do starting around fifteen, but I've been doubting the past couple of years due to a combination of migraines/depression/unsupportive advisor. I also got caught in the problem of only seeing jobs that were "entry level with two years of experience". I'm currently at a bit of a crossroads because of that and also needing to deal with some overall health issues. I also minored in performance design, which sets me up to do a lot of theatre tech stuff, but I don't think I really want to do that.

I've been reminded a lot the past few years of people who ended up doing something totally unrelated to their field. My dad started out as a chemical engineer, switched to psychology and was all but finished with a PHD, and ended up doing general business-y things and loving it.
On a related note, college immediately after high school isn't a requirement even though it feels like it. I also know a lot of people who felt really forced into going to college right away and it was detrimental to them. They had no idea where they wanted to go or what they wanted to do or even if higher education was right for them (it isn't for everybody!). I'm still kind of unlearning it, tbh.

As far as actually figuring out where to go, I was lucky that I was able to have access to a private college advisor. He helped me narrow a list of a couple hundred schools that met my general criteria (eg I didn't want to be in the South) to a list of around ~12 schools that I applied to.

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I've been trying to write this and adding thoughts to this for the past 1-2 days and I'm never gonna finish it, but it's coherent enough, so I'm gonna just go ahead and post as is.