You’re in high school and don’t know what you want to do when you grow up. But you know what you love to do now. Maybe it’s, for example, playing an instrument, playing a sport, writing short stories, solving equations, or helping senior citizens with activities at the community center.
Whatever you’re passionate about doing now will give you some clues about what you may want to do for a career later. Typically, what we love to do is what we’re good at doing. So look to your passion as your guide to possible careers.
This doesn’t mean that your future career will exactly mirror your current passion. For example, say you’re that student who loves to play basketball or write short stories. You may be good at these things, but you must also be realistic about the prospect of becoming employed as a basketball player or short story writer. The odds of making it as a player in the National Basketball Association, for example, are quite small. The odds of making money to sustain yourself as a writer of short stories may be even smaller.
So when I say your passion will give you a clue about your future career, I mean exactly that: It will give you a clue, and not necessarily the exact answer. You’ll need to brainstorm possible careers that align with your passion. And let me emphasize that these should be realistic careers. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aim for the stars, but you must understand that the odds of achieving success in higher realms may be miniscule; so if you don’t become that NBA player, you’ll have known from the start that it was a longshot and you won’t get down on yourself but instead appreciate what you learned from your experience/research.
For purposes of this blog, we’ll pretend we’re the kid who loves to play basketball and the kid who loves to write short stories. So, as the basketball-loving student, when we brainstorm possible careers, our list might include the following:
- High school or college physical education instructor/High school or college coach
- Personal trainer
- Gym manager
- Sports reporter
- Sports event manager
- Sports public relations director
All of these careers are attainable and would put you in an area of endeavor you love every day. Your list may become more expansive; this is just a start.
If you’re the kid who loves writing short stories, your list of possible careers might include the following:
- English professor
- Online/TV news writer
- Librarian
- Bookstore owner
- Copywriter
- Editor
These accessible careers would allow you to work with language every day. They can also allow you to do something you love, as well as put food on the table, allow you to live in a nice home, and enjoy life.
As a high schooler, the time to start brainstorming possible careers is now. Once you have an idea of the career track you want to take, you’ll know what colleges or technical programs it would be best to apply to. You’ll also know what extracurricular activities you should invest time in so that you’ll grow in your passion and build a stronger high school resume.
Open up your laptop and start researching careers that align with your passion today. Get off to a great careering start!
