It is getting to be that time in my life when family members, friends, teachers, and even club applications ask me how I plan to further my education, and college applications desiring a choice of major are just around the corner. Frustratingly, I have no idea. As can be surmised by the discussion title, I know that STEM is my passion. Furthermore, whilst I know that I enjoy the challenge of programming and am intrigued by the awesome capabilities of developing technologies, I know that I do not want that field to be the focus of my career. Specifically, I do not want to sit in front of a computer typing out algorithms for the rest of my life. However, the real indecisiveness comes from my loves of biochem (on a micro-scale) and theoretical physics. The former is the subject of many research projects and science fairs in the ISEF vein, and the latter the subject of countless Youtube video binges and much-enjoyed courses. The problem is, I love both sides about equally, and a sustainable-wage job that satisfies both interests seems to be (to my knowledge) indiscoverable. Worse yet, attempts to narrow the choices down with online College Major Quizzes have returned both of the choices described above as perfectly viable options. Even deep-probing aptitude tests from YouScience return that my intellectual strengths and social inclinations are matches for both fields.
So, does anyone have advice on how to proceed? To be clear, I don’t expect specialization out of an undergraduate degree- I have until grad school for that. But more specialized classes are useful to get ahead, and I feel that having some clarity on my future, even if temporary, will help to relieve a lot of stress and build confidence for the trials to come. Furthermore, I would like to have courses that lend themselves to opportunities at undergrad research (as much as I understand that this is a “buzz term”) because research is my passion.
Hopefully, that amalgamation of criteria makes sense. Thanks for any responses and suggestions.