<p>I'm a high school senior this year and, contrary to all my sophomore year hopes, I have yet to figure out what I want to major in.</p>
<p>On the one hand, I'm very, very bright. I have excellent test scores, varied interests, and 'A' grades in subjects across the board. Whatever colleges I end up getting into, they're sure to be good. As a result of this, along with my femaleness, I have for a long time felt pressure to go into a STEM field. After years of insisting it wasn't for me, I finally conceded, and decided I would go for astrophysics. I like math, I like having the right answer, and I have a philosophical interest in the subject (after all, "there's a big, big universe out there, and we are but ants"). Unfortunately, I have recently realized that might be about as far as it goes. Labs are a bore, I hate the laboratory environment, and, when it comes down to doing actual physics, I can think of a great many things I would rather be doing.</p>
<p>On the other hand, we have... those things I'd rather be doing. I love literature, and history, and philosophy, and all those things that are generally considered by society to be "useless." If I could have my way, I would be an academic, or a writer, or an editor (but, yes, mostly an academic), and would (in my estimation) be perfectly happy, despite the small salary. If I do this, though, it would be seen as "wasting my potential." The way those around me see it (HS counselors and the like), I have a duty to society to do what is in the interest of that society, and being a philosophy major just isn't going to cut it.</p>
<p>On yet another hand (which we will assume I have three of, since that would be sort of cool), I have a sort of a middle ground. Whenever I take tests on this sort of thing ("what's your major," etc.), I always end up with political science-type majors, and especially things like international relations and foreign languages. I do love languages (I've worked hard to keep French on my schedule every term, at the expense of other opportunities at the university where I have attended class for the past two years), and I do have sort of a vague notion that I might like to work with an NGO or even (<em>legasp</em>) the United Nations, but I'm not sure if I'd actually enjoy the coursework for such a thing. While I love travel and would like the chance to bang some politicians' heads together at the international level, I'm not sure if I even /like/ polisci. I hated economics, and, while I enjoy debating my own, highly idealistic brand of politics, I'm not sure I'd enjoy dealing with politics as it applies to the real world. (Aside from which, I have difficulty imagining myself fulfilled with a real /job/ like my parents and the rest of boring old America, as ridiculous as that sounds.)</p>
<p>The majority of the colleges I'm applying to are actually in the UK (I wasn't motivated about college until I decided I wanted to study abroad, so it's sort of non-negotiable), and require me to choose a course of study when I apply, so I have to figure this out within the next few months. So what should I go for? The STEM field that would always offer a challenge, but which I have no real passion for? The liberal arts degree I have all the passion in the world for, but would be seen as wasting my talents? Or the IR path that could be a potential source of either unparalleled excitement, or absolute misery?</p>
<p>Any and all opinions are appreciated.</p>