I’m currently a senior in high school and I have no idea what is the right degree/career I should pursue going on to college. Honestly, I am most interested in a Professional Writing degree, and I know for sure I want to learn Polish fluently and study abroad in Eastern Europe. However, the outcomes of an English or Professional Writing degree are a bit discouraging. The thing is, I come from an unstable, low-income background. So I prefer to aim towards a more secured, stable career.
Most people coming out of an English degree jump from job to job, take all kinds of opportunities, work in this position or that position. The typical careers for English majors include editors, copywriters, teachers, etc. I’m really concerned with stability though. I don’t want to have to put myself in a highly competitive situation and have to jump from one job to the next. The only stable one out of all of those is a teacher. But I don’t think I could ever go into teaching. My mom suggested I pursue a career in Elementary Education because of my pretty good writing skills, good computer skills, organization and creative habits, and for the fact that it’s a stable (and guaranteed) career, but…
1.) I’m super introverted and suffer from social anxiety. I can’t talk to an audience without shaking horribly.
2.) I have no idea how to deal with children. And teaching middle schoolers or high schoolers isn’t an option because I honestly can’t stand any of them and I’d hate to have to teach middle or high school.
I don’t know if there’s a possibility to combine professional writing with foreign language and develop a career out of that. Except for a translator. I’m generally just more inclined towards the Humanities and Liberal Arts but there aren’t too many guaranteed careers within those areas. I really don’t know what to do and I don’t want to waste my years in college and my financial aid for just trying to figure out what I want to do. I’d rather have a plan. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.