What Should I Do?

In the US, the second you walk into high school, people start asking you what you want to do with your life.

People ask younger kids this, too, but it's much less urgent to ask a ten year old “what do you want to be when you grow up?” than it is to ask a sophomore “What colleges are you going to apply for? What are you going to study? Are you ready for the SAT?”

If you, like me, had absolutely zero idea what you wanted to do after high school, here's some advice:

Breathe. I know how stressful it is, and how easy it can be to look at your classmates or friends who know where they want to go to college, and maybe even grad school, when you're not even halfway through your high school years.

It took me almost my entire high school career to figure out what I wanted to do after I graduated. At first I had it in my head that I wanted to study communications–what did that mean? I had no idea. I just knew that was something I could study, and for the most part, people left me alone when I said it.

This worked great, until my counselor asked me what exactly I wanted to do. I didn’t have a good answer, or any answer, to that. That conversation sparked something of a breakdown in me. If I didn’t go into communications, what would I do? How do you even decide what to go to school for?

In my experience, inspiration for what to do can come out of nowhere. I took an American Sign Language class my sophomore year, and I enjoyed it. Once the class ended and the ASL program at my high school was being cut for budget reasons. I thought that was the end of it, until the following summer when I met a woman who was new to my church. She had been working as an ASL interpreter for decades, and it was really fun to talk with her.

After signing back and forth with her for a few Sundays, I realized that I really enjoyed signing. Maybe that’s what I wanted to do?

(Spoiler alert: I’m going to be graduating with an associates in ASL interpreter education next spring!)

Seriously, though, ya’ll. I know it’s easy to feel suffocated by the pressure and questions about what your future holds. But I need you to remember something: Not knowing what you want to do for the rest of your life is nothing to be ashamed of. You have your whole life to figure that out! Maybe you’ll have a few jobs before you find what you truly love, and that’s awesome!

Good luck, and stay safe!

—Abbie