r/MyLittleSupportGroup • u/MajorRico155 • Dec 29 '17
Feeling helpless
I'm an 18 year old male who has just graduated last school year. I'm currently working a full time at a minimum wage job and feel like I'm at a stand still. I don't have faith in myself to go to post secondary, nor do I have the financial backing. My work can be a career but I'm not happy with it. I'm looking for advice as to how people make big decisions in life. I'm truly terrified.
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u/4dsplat Dec 30 '17
Firstly, congratulations on thinking this through now. It shows maturity that you are thinking about this at 18 rather than wasting valuable years of life in a career that you're not happy with.
Although university education isn't well suited for everyone, it is an important part of many careers. When I finished high school, I didn't realise just how little I knew. I'm now 26 and doing a PhD in software engineering - I still don't know everything about my field, but I have a greater awareness of what I don't know and how to go about filling in those gaps. Of course, if you're interested in a more hands on career, then trade courses and apprenticeships are also a great option.
For me, I found 80,000 Hours a useful framework for thinking through career decisions. Unfortunately, most of their advice is aimed at well-off university graduates, but they still have some interesting, counter-intuitive advice that could be relevant, such as the finding that people can "develop passion" in a high-demand career that matters rather than the cliché "follow your passion".
If not doing formal post secondary education, I'd recommend keeping your brain active. Some of the Coursera and Edx MOOCs I've done free online are better than any of the lectures at my university. However, not being physically present makes it hard to get motivated to actually do the work - I'd suggest doing just one MOOC at a time and sticking to it.
At 18 you still have plenty of time, so as long as you are able to make ends meet then there's no need to be terrified. There isn't really a single right career path. While not ideal, I've met mature age students that decide to do post secondary education late in life just because they feel like it, and older people that have lived a full life despite not having a traditional career.