Brenna
I'm still not sure what I want to do for a career. What is the best way to find out why I would really like to do?
I have been going back and forth between a few different careers that all they have in common is science. I need to start figuring it out soon so I can take specific classes for the last two years of high school.
#choosingcareers
2 answers
Alan Gooding
Alan’s Answer
Since you already know you’re drawn to science, here are a few steps that can help you figure out what fits you best:
Try things hands-on – Look for summer programs, science camps, job shadowing, or volunteering in different science-related areas (labs, hospitals, environmental organizations, tech companies). Experiencing the day-to-day work can tell you more than reading about it.
Talk to people in those careers – Ask them what they like, what’s challenging, and what they wish they’d known at your age. Professionals are often happy to share their journeys.
Pay attention to what energizes you – In school projects, hobbies, or even YouTube rabbit holes—notice the topics and activities you lose track of time doing. That’s often a clue to your interests.
Test your skills – Science careers can be very different. Some involve lots of problem-solving and math, others focus on communication or working with people. Identify which skills you most enjoy using.
Keep your options open with flexible classes – Even if you can’t decide right away, choose courses that will work for more than one possible career path. That way, you’ll be ready when you do narrow it down.
Remember—your first career choice doesn’t lock you in for life. Many people change directions later, and the skills you build in one area often help in another. What matters most now is discovering what excites you and motivates you to keep learning.
Daniel Moy
Daniel’s Answer
First note (deliberately not answering your question!), if the common denominator for all your things is science (even if that includes engineering or programming), keep taking as much math as you can, and consider taking a statistics course if available (not all high schools will have one).
Now that that's out of the way, there's gonna be a limited amount of exposure you can get in high school, so focus on breadth. Get one or two courses in as many different things as you can get your hands on. If you have extra time, check out open course stuff on MIT, Coursera, etc., and see if anything looks interesting there.
Also note that what you think is what you'll do at the end of your senior year and what you end up doing after you graduate Uni may be very different (certainly was for me).
Final note (same as first note) - my suggestion to take as much breadth as possible should not come at the expense of taking as much math as you can.
If there's a choice between broadening out in HS and taking another science course and taking a math course instead, choose the math course (assuming it will be new & challenging). The "science" you tend to learn in High School will not matter 4 years later, because it will be so completely different from what you're doing, that one day you'll wake up in chem lab after pipetting your thousandth test tube and think back at your sophomore chemistry class and laugh at how it had nothing to do with actual chemistry.
The math you learn in high school will force your brain to learn to think logically and mathematically, which will make your life in Uni (and maybe after Uni, but mostly in Uni) way much nicer, and give you more mental time to learn the rest of the stuff.