What career will make me happy?

I have no idea what I want to major in or what career I’ll want in the future! I am really good at math and writing, but I am really interested in science. It doesn’t come as easily to me, but I am passionate about it so I work harder in that subject. I like to read fiction. I want a job where every day is different. I get bored fairly easily, and I want something that won’t be the same every day. I don’t really like computer tech stuff like coding or something. I have a feeling I’ll end up in business of some kind, but I kind of want a different field. I’ve thought about something in the medical field, but I can’t decide if that’s right for me. I really want a job that will help people. I also LOVE learning languages, and it comes easily to me. If I could work in something that can incorporate using different languages, that would be great. I’ve thought about majoring in International Business, but I’m not sure what job I would get. Please help!

As far as majors, one thing my DD did was look at an academic catalog from a college that had lots of majors. If one caught her eye, she would see what courses were involved and decide whether it still sounded interesting. Would you be interested in Public Health maybe?

As for jobs, you may just have to see what’s out there when you graduate. Unless you decide on something medical-specific like pharmacy or nursing, many jobs do not require a specific major.

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Majors rarely define careers, so my advice is to look at the classes you would take in each major and the soft skills (collaboration, communication, diligence, attention to detail, multi-tasking) that you could develop between classes and extracurriculars. Try to make college an enjoyable learning experience!

If you have so many interests you want to pursue and explore, you might also consider going to a college with a fairly open curriculum, where double majoring is more common.

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Well, the good news is that your major doesn’t define your career, and you’ll probably have multiple careers.

There are many jobs in which every day is different - I’d say most jobs are probably like that. “Business” encompasses any for-profit enterprise, and so that doesn’t quite help narrow it down (even nonprofits and governments have people who handle budget, finance, and administration). You can help people in lots of jobs, and there are also lots of jobs that will require knowledge of other languages.

So basically, none of that stuff will necessarily help you narrow down your career. But that’s OK, because if you’re in high school, you definitely don’t need to. I didn’t even know my current job existed when I was in high school.

For now, I’d start thinking about your major. What are you interested in? You like fiction - would you like to study it as a field, or no? If you like languages, would you want to study a language and its literature(s) and culture(s) extensively? Perhaps international relations would interest you. What classes do you enjoy most in high school? Most college course catalogs are online now, so pick one at random and flip through the majors. Which ones have classes that sound appealing to you? (That’s how I picked my major.)

Once you have a group of like 3-5, you can then try on different classes your first year or so in college and that will help you narrow it down some more.

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