Career Back-Packing

I found a bundle of my old school reports in a dresser drawer recently.  My teachers had written things like " ... could do better" or "... needs to apply himself" on almost every one.  I distinctly recall being told things like "You are so talented, you could be anything you want to be".  The problem of course is that if you are passing fairly easily then what motivation is there to try harder? 

If you are one of those students who usually finishes above average in nearly everything but nothing sticks out and says "Pick me! Pick me!" then, like I did, you are probably wondering what on earth you want to be when you grow up. 

You are probably also being told that it would be a crying shame if you didn't go to university, and relatives are probably making helpful suggestions like "Plumbers make a lot of money", or "My neighbour's son is going to be a Dentist" and you're thinking "Great!  Fix broken toilets or clean peoples' mouth's out - lovely choice"

If you are one of these people, then the thing you need to do is to find out where your interests lie.  If you are able to do any of many things, then you are going to get bored very quickly, and it won't matter how much you could earn in whatever career it is - and then you might have to start at a lower level again, or worse, find out that it is too late to switch careers easily.

There is nothing wrong with going to uni without a specific career in mind, but it is much better to know which direction you want to explore and what school leaving qualifications you need, or else everything will seem pointless and you will struggle just as much to apply yourself as you did in school. 

It's a bit like back-packing - it's great to explore as you go but it's not much good if you don't know which continent you want to explore or what visas you might need to get off the plane!