Author: Angela Ziegler
We have probably all heard the question “What do you want to do after high school?” countless times, and usually – at least for me – the answer is “I don’t really know yet.”
There is a lot of pressure put on teenagers as to what they are going to do when they get out of high school. There’s pressure from other people to choose a career that they’re passionate about, as well as pressure to get a good job. With all of this to consider, people expect you to have some sort of idea of what you want to do in life before you even get out of high school.
1. There is pressure from people to succeed.
This might be a big deal for you, or you might not consider it that much, but either way, it’s still an idea that hovers when thinking about the future. For some of my friends, they worry about it all the time. There is this idea that you have to get good grades, graduate, go to a “good school” and get a “good job” in order to have any sort of success in life; how would you even define a “good job,” anyway? That can mean different things for different people. For one person, it might be a high-paying job, but for another, it might be a job with flexible hours. Nevertheless, this idea is a big source of stress for lots of teenagers.
2. There is pressure from people to choose a career you’re 100% passionate about.
Sometimes you don’t know for sure what you’re passionate about. And even if you do know, you might not want to do that as a career. In my opinion, it just causes more doubt, indecision, and worry. This advice is also quite vague and is not very helpful, at least for me.
Because I’m having this problem, too, the only advice I can give right now is to keep an open mind. Remember that whatever you choose isn’t set in stone, and you can always adapt later. Also, trying new things can help you broaden your horizons, and maybe find something that you might want to do after high school!
It’s okay to not know what you want to do after high school.
Lots of people feel the same way as you do, and you will figure it out eventually. If you ever want to bounce ideas off someone, we’re here to listen.
