I'm 19-years-old and going into my sophomore year of college, and I can honestly say I don't know what to do with my life. I second guess my major and minor, and wonder what path is best for me. I do not want to get stuck with a job that I hate. There's also so much I want to do that how could I possibly narrow it down to just one? It doesn't seem doable.
In case you were wondering, I am majoring in communications. I know it is a very broad major that a lot of people treat as a "joke" which I absolutely hate because I plan to take it very seriously. Sure, I don't have as much demanding work as engineering and science majors, but the work I do is meaningful to me. But that doesn't mean I am going to stick with it.
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When I applied for college, I actually applied as a psychology major. In fact, I wrote my college essay on how my experiences in high school inspired me to help young adults, too. However, I realized a few days after graduation that I really did not have much interest in psychology anymore and did not have the patience to go through years and years of schooling to ultimately do something that I was not meant to do. Of course, I would love to help people, but there's plenty of other ways I could do that. Plus, I'm not very gifted in science, so it would not be fun to take those rigorous courses. I switched my major to communications and marketing on a whim, not knowing exactly what I wanted from those fields. When people would ask me what I wanted to do, I would just say "something involving television media," which is super vague and confusing. In my first year of college, I realized after a terrible COM 101 professor that I certainly did like the major and how up-to-date you stay when involved in it, but I started to realize some other things I wanted to do more. This especially happened after my freshman year ended and I started working as a waitress in a restaurant. It became clear to me what specifications I wanted in my line of work. I am still working at the restaurant now, and I find myself always excited to go to work. It was then that I realized the most important factor that made me love work so much, and that was simple human interaction.
Ever since I was little, I have always been very friendly and outgoing. I started talking at six months old! I've always been someone who can connect with people and start up a conversation. I need people a lot more than I think I do, and unless I am being insecure and anxious (but that's a whole other story), I am genuinely nice to people and like getting to know them. A friend told me recently that they noticed that people approach me and enjoy talking to me, because I come off as very confident. I have always been a person to walk up to somebody I don't know and introduce myself. I never understood how someone could be shy. Being around other people all day also helps keep my mind off of stupid things I worry about, and I notice whenever I get to work I am completely distracted and happy. I would go as far to say that this constant human contact is what helped me feel better throughout the summer and has made me realize my self-worth. Something that also makes me love my job is being surrounded by good food. Not even because I want to eat it, but because I want to make it. If you know me, you'd know that I absolutely love baking for other people. I have always been interested in cooking but baking is so much fun to do and I feel so accomplished when people are excited and enjoy when I bake.
Along with baking, I also like to consider myself very creative. I love to draw and write and paint, but this ties back to the human contact thing I value so much. I never create for myself and I usually give what I make away. One of the most fulfilling things to me is making other people happy with my work. In my freshman year, I baked often for a large group of people and they were always giving me requests and anticipated the moment I brought food over. I also drew and created art for someone who meant a lot to me and they always were so amazed by what I could do and were always accepting my art to put up on their boring dormitory wall. This all encourages me to create and create and create for other people to have. I also would write articles like this and would get such positive feedback from those who took the time to read them.
So I want to be around people and want to create beautiful things for them and those are the two most important aspects of a job I want in the future. But I also want to travel, learn about to new cultures and see how people live, act, help people, build things, learn physics and math, study history, work in television, inspire, learn more about the tech side of theater, and so much more.
I have been thinking so much about this lately and right now I have no idea what field I can see myself in. This isn't uncommon for someone my age, but not knowing is driving me crazy. I know all the answers I'm looking for will come to me, so I guess I just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. But seriously, if you know a profession that fits my specifications, help a girl out.
