What made you choose the career path you chose?

Those all sounds really cool. Maybe the dietician and bakery chef can be a combo career. Maybe at some point you can talk to some hospitals and clinics that have nutrition programs for people who need to remap their diets? I wish when I was your age that I had a better defined idea of what I wanted to do for a career. There were a couple things that I wanted to do but unfortunately they didn't come to fruition so I kind of drifted for a while.

Lots of luck and good thoughts/energies to you.

I went to college twice.

The first time after high school, I earned a BA in Liberal Arts with 3 minors; Psychology, Sociology, Biology. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, I thought about it a lot and kept switching my majors. After college, I married and raised a family.

When my youngest was 3 or 4 I was at a block party, my neighbor was the director of adult admissions at a nearby university. She told me to come see her, so I did. On the way to her office, I walked by a pretty new building, it was the school of nursing. I decided at that moment to become a nurse. It took me almost 4 years, but I earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing,16 years after my first college degree.

It's hard to know what you want to do when you're fresh out of high school. I can't believe the anxiety I went through over what to do with my life during my first college experience vs just thinking hmm, ok, I'll be a nurse; and that being the perfect fit for me.

This'll sound strange, don't be in a huge hurry to decide. Your VERY young, and part of the importance of college is having the chance to see what's actually out there. That's not a knock on your enthusiasm....quite the opposite. You might get to college, attend a few of the intro classes and find someting completely difference which really captures your imagination. Personally, I had NO idea what I wanted to do when I went in, beyond simply attending for attending's sake. I settled on a major (history) simply to continue onward, figuring it was something I found vaguely interesting. Wound up with a degree which (more or less) meant nothing in the grand scheme of life, as the job market was terrible when I graduated (sound familiar?). BUT, it put me on the course on which I needed to be....and nearly 20 years later I have a great career in a field I'd never have dreamed would be for me, and I honestly wouldn't trade it for anything (well, unless of course I won the lottery....lol!). My point is that you should take the time to experience your first year of college, knock out the pre-requisite courses, and get a feel for what's out there. Hope this helps a bit.... :happy:

I'm telling you this from my own life's experience... Take a year off. College will always be there, you youth won't. Don't take the "comfortable" path through school. If you're good at something but aren't passionate about it, don't force yourself into it... On the other hand, if you're passionate about something, but it's not your strength, take it head on, force yourself out of your comfort zone and give it your best. The only failure in life is failing to take that first step.

As far as trying to figure out a career... Seriously look into the careers you're interested in, are they growing, do they have a future? Contact some people that work in the industry, see if you can job shadow to see what the job and industry is really like. Network, find a mentor...

I'm an accountant - I love numbers and money (especially keeping it- i.e. money- all to myself, LOL). Seriously, if it relates to you, you enjoy the work, and have the skillset and knowledge to do the work, you will enjoy your career ~ whatever that is. Don't be afraid to intern, either. Think logistics, too. For instance, the part of my job that I hate? being on my computer ALL day long. I have to take six 15 minute breaks each day to get up and do something active that doesn't involve me walking to the coffeemaker. I hate sitting around but for now, I must. Till something is invented that allows me to do everything while being mobile. Ipad doesn't count. Still too many papers. If you were me and knew that you couldn't sit all day, then you would have a hard time in my job. Good luck!

I have always loved the beauty industry, but it wasn't until I had gone through two programs ( cosmetology and esthestics) that I realized that my true passion was to educate and inspire others..now, I am a cosmetology/esthestics instructor specializing in skincare and spa services

I've already taken a year off. I'm still unsure though. Thank you for the advice.

You don't sound that confused, actually. You've got some pretty defined interests. It's just a question of thinking through your options.

I think the dietetics degree is a safe bet for now, because it's a good grounding for either of the other options, and gives you reasonably good job prospects in its own right. It's a good, safe middle option that doesn't close anything off.

Once you have it, no one can take it away from you. As a young person, and a first-time student, you currently have funding options that may not be available to you later on. Or, you would have to work much harder to pay for it, and to fit it into your life, which will have changed, along with your priorities. It's always better to do formal school while you're young, I disagree that it's 'always there for you'. It is, but at a cost.

If you want to go to med school afterwards, I'm pretty sure the dietetics degree would be a good base.

If you wanted to open a bakery, you could do it the year you graduate, or ten or even 20 years after that. There's no rush on that, and, some years of saved money would help you get it started, later on. That said, like I mentioned earlier, you could get a weekend job baking, while you do your other schooling. You don't need to go to school to be a baker, afaik - it's experience that counts, and you can get that informally.

I was pushed into going to college for Music Education ("if you don't major in Music Ed, and don't go to x college, we won't help you pay for it"). Spent 3 miserable years doing that until I added an Intercultural Studies major to it. Loved that, but was rushed as I had to finish the entire major in 3 semesters (spent 5 years in undergrad - it was kinda 4 semesters, but one was spent studying abroad specifically to get my German minor). Now I have 2 useless Bachelor's degrees (I didn't finish the Music Ed degree, but did get a BA in trombone and piano... and not complaining that they're useless, just stating that they are!), and have been bouncing around between different jobs, and the world (not complaining about that either!!!), for 7 years now.

What I really want to do now is be an ESL teacher, so I'm getting my Master's in Education with a focus in English Language Learners. The reason I love this career path is that I've always wanted to teach, and I have a huge travel addiction, so this degree will let me do both Oh, and I've also wanted to do something in archaeology since I was like 5, so hopefully I can do something with that someday, but it's on the back burner for now.

A lot of finding what's right for you is by dabbling in things. Stick your toe in everything. If you think something is interesting, learn about it. 13 years ago, I never ever ever would have guessed I would be taking an ESL teaching job in Moscow. I though I'd be the director of a huge music program with an awesome marching band.

As a side note, there's this cool website called Coursera where you can take free courses (for no credit, of course) in lots of different things if you're interested in that!

i didn't... it kind of just happened!

I teach preschool. When I was a little kid, I hardly ever played 'house'. I always played 'school'. It was always clear that I would be a teacher. There was a brief period when I thought I wanted to be a social worker, and I actually took several years of classes toward that. But it was teaching that called to me. I've never done anything else.

Chance. I was a bored home maker, walking past their office one day, on a whim I walked into the office and asked for a job, they hired me on the spot.

I'm a million times too overqualified for it but I love the humanity of it.

if there's any advice i can give its- keep a hobby a hobby. cause you like something doesn't necessarily mean to make a career out of it. keep something just for you to enjoy. sometimes when we love something and do it all day everyday for a living, we can hate it after a while.

As much as I am planner...my career was not my childhood dream or something I had planned. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing, and I don't have one single regret.

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