Teens forced to make important life decisions

The pressures of society for youth to plan out their lives are huge. Yes, some type of general idea is necessary, but it is harmful to have to choose exactly what we want to do when we are young. Young people should not be made to feel like they have to choose now.

From an early age, children are always asked this one question: What do you want to be when you grow up? They are filled with the ideas that doctors and lawyers are great careers, but what six year-old kid actually knows what they want to do at that age?

The same goes for high school students. When we are freshmen, we are told to choose career paths to help determine what we want to pursue after we graduate. Even with that, 50-70 percent of college undergraduates change their major at least once while in college, according to Georgia Mason University.

The fact of the matter is that more than 50 percent of college students are in careers that are unrelated to their majors, says the U.S. Census Bureau. The choice of your college major is important, but doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what you have to do for all eternity.

As an 18-year old stepping foot for the first time onto a college campus, it would be difficult to know exactly what you want to do with your life. With practically 1,500 academic programs disclosed to the Department of Education in 2010, it would make it nearly impossible.

So explore things that interest you, and don’t feel like you have to choose just one thing to strive for, for the rest of your life. If you already have your mind made up, that’s wonderful, but it’s not for everyone. Keep in mind that there are so many things to choose from and you have much longer than just after high school to really find out what you love to do.

— Tyler White