Burnout From HS: College Freshman Lost About Future

Are you sleeping well?
Are you eating well?
Your college life has barely begun, let yourself relax a bit. In hs and most if not all your life before college, (it looks like and it is pretty common that) you have been told what to do and you had a very clear goal (getting into a great college) in mind, once that goal has been achieved, you don’t have a clear goal and your future is suddenly wide open to you, so your feeling of lost I am sure is quite common and very understandable. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Use the college years to find things that you enjoy doing and good at. You have the abilities, now you just need to find some motivation.
Which comes back to my first two questions, if you are not sleeping/eating well, you might be on the verge of depression, which could explain your lack of interests in many things now.

See if your career counseling office offers vocational interest inventories (like the strong campbell or self directed search). There is also something called “you science” which offered invest and aptitude testing.

Your post lists the things you don’t want, and don’t like. Try reframing to what you do like. What did you do for extracurricular in HS? What do you do for fun now?

Hugs to you! You sound like my daughter who is a freshman at a prestigious university studying engineering. She is on the quarter system and is going through the same thing as you- so tired from High School and confused about her major. She went to her advisor and his advice was (and I quote) - pretend you aren’t in engineering when you are registering for second quarter. So that is her plan for next quarter. Be patient with yourself. I know that it may seem that you have to make these decisions now (major, career, etc) but you don’t. Think about how much your world has changed in the last 8 weeks. Imagine how much it will change by June of next year. You have time to figure this out. Best of luck

My advice is go talk to people. People in the administration(ie career counseling and advisors) Those people want to help you. Then talk to some older kids at the school about what they are doing. Buy someone coffee or dinner. Don’t sit in your room. You are probably at a amazing place and getting out and meeting people and discussing things might give you some clarity.

Much good advice here. I’ll just add, speaking as someone who has been out of college a long LONG time, what I do now is only tangentially related to the field I started out in as a new graduate. You will continue to grow and learn as an adult, and finding your place in the world also means being open to new experiences and learning as you grow. The job I’m in now could not have been imagined when I was in high school or college, but my well-rounded education was essential in enhancing my ability (and openness) to learn on the fly. Best wishes to you.

Study abroad for a semester or for a year. (You can do two separate semester long study abroads if you prefer. For example: South America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe or Asia.)

Consider a semester at sea.

Clearly, you need a change of pace from traditional school settings.

If you like winter sports, take a semester off to work in Colorado or in Vermont. If you like scuba diving, then do a term in the Bahamas.

Life is too short & unpredictable to waste time being unhappy. Do something fun, something that you enjoy & you fill find your path.

Also, consider working on a political campaign for a year or for a semester.

Exercise, eat a healthy diet & avoid alcohol & drugs.