Member Since: April 5, 2010
Answers: 21
Last Update: February 18, 2011
Visitors: 1738
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I'm an 18 year old Australian girl, just finished high school and have started University, but I'm stuck in a rut. I may run off on a bit of a tangeant here so please bare with me.
I wanted to be a writer, like creative fiction writer, but wasn't really sure where to go or what to do and thought that Uni was for me. So i enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts course to major in English (as i was still uncertain whether I wanted to be a teacher or not).
I wanted to be a teacher for a long time but as I got older I became more and more uncertain about it and more and more passionate about writing.
Late last year, when I had to start enrolling into Universities, I decided a general Bachelor of Arts degree would let me into a basic junior role in editing and publishing, which i saw as a platform for writing.
I'm a smart girl, I know that I can't just drop everything, quit my casual job and write a book in a week. It takes time and effort, and I wanted something more than just a day job, I wanted a career that I would enjoy doing while still writing.
I got into Uni, and it was like when I first started working as a receptionist. Within the first two weeks I knew the course wasn't for me. I liked being at Uni, I liked still learning and the environment, but nothing interested me about the subject.
The additional problem is, I don't think office work 9 - 5 is for me. I got a job as a casual receptionist at a real estate agent late last year and within seriously the first 1 - 2 weeks I hated it. I hate office work, I hate the boring colours, plain clothes and I hate doing the same routine every day. I have no interest in real estate (I have realised since starting) or in reception. I still work there because it's so hard to find part time work near where I live and that fits in with my Uni hours.
So I'm a creative person, I paint/draw and play a little music, I write and love using my imagination, I hate office work and repetitive routines, but I'm hardly any closer to finding what's right for me.
I've gotten a lot of opinions from people around me, and they're all valid. Some say that I should stay in Uni for 3 years, finish my degree and try out the possible careers. Other's say to change degrees to something like media or design (but I just don't know what I'd be good at). Some people think I should deter from Uni and work full time till I decide what I want.
I know I'm still young, that i'll have plenty of time to decide and that I will probably change my career several times, but right now I feel like I'm not interested or passionate in anything anymore. I feel like my life is becoming more and more meaningless and I just want to do something I enjoy.
I wish I could just type my personality and intelligence into an online quiz and get a list of careers that would suit me, but I can't. I don't even know where to go from here, like if I should change courses or finish this year or drop uni and work.
How do I start to decide what's right for me? How do I find a career that I can be passionate about? How do I find what's right for me?
If you have aaaaaany advice, or just your opinion/own experiences, please tell me. Thank you so, so much! (link)
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Hi,
I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I'm a 22 guy studying business in the US but I'm still not sure what to do.
Honestly I can't tell you exactly what to do because I don't know you. I do think that the most important thing you should do is stay in university! Finish up with a degree even if it isn't exactly what you want to do. Especially in these times having a college degree is essential and give you many more choices later in life.
I think you should get involved with your school. Become a regular writer for your school newspaper on topics you like. Maybe you could write about news, book, or movie reviews. Also this would let you network as you could get a high position at your school newspaper department and get a job writing articles for newspapers or magazines. A friend of mine went this route and he loves it. Also I'm not sure if your school does it but they pay us 20 dollars an article here so you could also make some money off doing something like that.
Any job you go into isn't going to be fun 100% of the time too remember, that's why they pay you to do it! If your Uni has a career fair or something that would be good to go to and ask people if they have suggestions and also to see what's out there. Maybe you could even get a job working for a travel company where you travel the world writing articles for people.
Just go with the flow and take stuff like a month at a time. Get more involved and try a couple different routes at once. Stay at Uni though and finish even though it's tough it's worth it.
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