Backstory, I took a year off after high school and started CC late, then I took few semesters off in between because of personal problems. I finally finished my general admission/core classes to transfer but here I am… taking another semester off because I have no idea what I want to do. I’m 22, and just way behind academically but I don’t mind I just hope it doesn’t look too bad. If it means anything, I kept a 4.0 my whole time there.
I’m struggling on figuring out what I want to do? Don’t really have any passion in anything… during highschool I didn’t have time to explore things and find interests. I’m very lost.
How do I figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life.
I’m not good particular subjects. I feel hopeless… If I can’t figure it out soon, I might have to even take the whole year off.
I haven’t looked through the links, but I’ll tell you how I attempted to select a major:
First, I wrote a list that was divided into two sections: majors that I knew weren’t for me and majors I heard of and was interested in.
Secondly, I thought about the things I liked to do in my spare time and wrote those down.
Then, I used google (some websites I used were O net Online, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics) to give me an overview of careers that related to my interests and explored the majors I was interested in.
I would update my list periodically, crossing out majors that I ruled out.
This may give you a start.
Your community college likely has a career resource center - talk to the advisors there, and see if there’s any internship, volunteering, or shadowing opportunities that interest you.
My college had a course on exploring career possibilities and other job related things. See if your community college has similar courses or workshops.
Lastly, you’re doing what’s best for you at your own pace, and that’s not something that “looks bad.”
Many colleges offer a major in something like Liberal Studies or General Studies. These offer a great deal of flexibility in course choice, and that can work well for someone who doesn’t have a particular academic interest. Many people end up in a field unrelated to their major anyway; consider just getting your degree and go from there in terms of finding work you enjoy. If you do eventually decide on a career that requires specialized training you could pursue a certificate or master’s if needed.
As oneofthosemoms mentioned, maybe a LAC would be good for you. I was definitely in the same boat for so much of my life about feeling like I didn’t have any passions, but then I decided to take a philosophy class simply because it fit into my schedule, and the rest is history.
You were probably disadvantaged by a school or parents who stressed grades over academic curiosity and mastery of subjects for their importance for understanding the world (and answering important question) rather than simply as a mechanism for nabbing top grades. Many students continue on that vain through college-they get immense pleasure and motivation from the grades themselves and develop very little interest in the material they are studying. A surprising proportion of students with top grades are devoid of any interest in scholarship and in the world-beyond having “fun” and keeping “busy” and, of course, nabbing the top grades. Schools where a good portion of the student body is grade oriented usually have an anti-intellectual climate. That isn’t necessarily a problem (as long as your approach to education is similar) but it doesn’t help students develop interests and direction if they don’t come equipped with some direction already.
I disagree with the notion of going to a LAC. My experience with LACs suggest they are far better for students who have scholarly interests which may be quite broad (like those interested in so many topics they don’t know how to choose a major) but I think it is a disservice to the school, the student and the other students for those schools to accept a student without scholarly interests.
In contrast, it might be worthwhile to figure that you are not a student in the traditional use of that term. Rather, school is probably merely a mechanism for you to get the credentials that you need. Forget about what you want to do for the rest of your life. What can you picture yourself doing for the next few years. What type of work setting can you picture yourself in? Do you like a highly structured day or do you like variability? Do you want to work in a setting with loads of colleagues or where you will be relatively alone? Do you see yourself at a desk job or outside? Think practically. Try to imagine yourself in 5 years. What do you envision yourself doing and being happy about. Then work backwards and consider what type of credentials you need to get yourself there. Don’t worry about whether you are interested in the courses you’d be taking to get that credential. Just consider what you need to accomplish to get to that position.
I don’t necessarily agree with the above comment. All kinds of students struggle with figuring out what they want to do - students who are very academically curious and students who are not; students who get very good grades and students who don’t; students who are laser-focused on career outcomes and students who are just generally interested in topics for personal use. Picking a major is hard!
Realize that you are not choosing what you want to do for the rest of your life. You are only choosing what you want to study for the next 3-4 years, and where your career might begin.
There are lots of people who change tacks after college and work in something that’s mostly or completely unrelated to their college major. Some of them need additional education before they do, but many do not.
So don’t fill this decision with anxiety it doesn’t really need! Pick something you like and that interests you. Look through course catalogs and look at the description of courses; take classes in areas that you’re curious about. The thing is, there are jobs in all kinds of fields that fit a variety of different structures - there are computer science jobs that are structured and ones that are varied; there are writing/language jobs that are social and some that are solitary; there are environmental studies jobs that involve being outside and some that involve sitting at a desk most of the day.
I wouldn’t major in liberal studies or general studies, though. Although your major doesn’t matter as much as people think it does, most employers do like to see people with a specific major.