“What do you want to do with your life?”

“What do you want to do with your life?”

It’s a daunting question.

College is something we have been preparing for since middle school. Our teachers tell us how to study, our parents teach us how to act. The people and activities we immerse ourselves in, help pave the way to the final answer.

It’s hard to say what we want to do for the rest of our lives. It’s hard to decide that as teenagers, especially when there’s a whole world we have to discover first. There’s electives which lead to AP classes which lead to internships which lead us to college. And by the time we get to college, we are supposed to know exactly what we want to do with our time on Earth.

Some of us already know, we already have passions and aspirations and dreams. Some of us know exactly what we want and how we are going to get there.

And some of us don’t.

But for the teens who do, it can still be difficult preparing for the future.

“I want to be a professional artist or an art teacher. I’m taking Art and as many AP classes as I can balance.”

Freshman, Mara Mrruku says.

Many high schools provide special “Advanced Placement” courses for students who want to get a head start on their careers or for students who wish to try new things in order to narrow down career options.

“I want to be a writer, so I’m taking Journalism this year and hopefully AP Language next year,” Junior Milee Higginbotham says.

The only problem with this is that you can’t have a course for every career field in every school.

“I want to do something in Criminal Psychology but my school doesn’t offer any programs for it. I just want to be sure that it’s something I actually want to work in for the rest of my life,” Oviedo High Schooler, Mariena McLeod says.

In your Junior/Senior year of High School teens begin to apply for colleges. The process is tedious and time consuming and some kids apply for 7 colleges and only get accepted into 1 or 2.

It’s also difficult to decide which colleges you want to go to based on your career.

“I have my heart set on Florida State,” McLeod says, “but I’m looking for other options with better Psychology programs.”

Some students are even choosing out of country options.

“I don’t really know what I want to be when I grow up, but I want to go to college somewhere in Europe, maybe just be a transfer for a year or two. I just want to get out of the Florida heat, maybe I’ll talk with an accent when I get back.” Student, Joshua Breedlove says.

How we want to prepare for our future is a question we should all ask ourselves. And whatever we decide to do with our lives should reflect the person we want to become.