When I was 15 years old I started my very first job ever at PacSun in the mall. My mom dropped me off for my first day of work on BLACK FRIDAY. Absolutely nuts. By the second week of working there, I couldn't name one thing I hated more than hanging up trendy crop tops and joggers from the dressing rooms or folding the entire wall of Adidas graphic tees four times before my manager said they were perfect.
It got to the point where I would fake sick and skip school so I could have the entire day to mope around and mentally prepare myself for six hours of awful. Eventually, after only two months of working there, my parents started to notice the super negative mood I had adopted into my personality and knew exactly what the reason was. I ended up putting in my two weeks notice and my life and mood and everything else went drastically uphill to the point where a ton of people noticed.
If there's one thing I know about employment after that catastrophe, there is nothing, absolutely nothing worse than dreading your job. If you hate your life every time you're on your way to work why are you there? The obvious answer is that you need money and don't have any other options but that's just one of the million excuses to stay in your comfort zone.
These stories have a point, I promise I'll get there.
Anyways, if you don't have a job this is also super relevant to you. If you hate your major and dread going to class or can't stand the idea of graduating and moving on to whatever profession that you're studying- you're doing it wrong.
Countless times I've asked people around me who are miserable during school what their major is and what they're planning to do with it, and a large majority of the most stressed out and negative people I know answer that question with either they don't know, it's what everyone else is doing, my parents are making me, etc, etc. Besides those gen-eds, you should enjoy learning about what you're about to do for the rest of your life.
Going to college and getting a degree and then off to a high paying job is the "ultimate goal" of us college kids, but not everyone is the same and it's important to realize that doing all of those things is not a law or a requirement, it's a social norm.
Change your major as many times as you want. Quit the job that you can't stand. If college isn't your thing, leave and do whatever is. You are literally not required at all to do anything that doesn't make you happy. It's okay to repeat this process as many times as it takes to figure out where you want to be.
But, the thing about this trial and error process is that it does take time. If your ultimate goal is to be a famous news journalist who travels the world (totally random this isn't my life goal at all ... ) Then work your butt off and do what it takes to get there.
We subconsciously spend our days scrolling through social media envious of the people who travel the world or have it all together and wonder why our life couldn't be the same way. In reality, (mostly) everyone who we envy career-wise worked super hard to get to where they are, and we could do the same if we wanted it badly enough.
Don't get me wrong, if staying in your comfort zone and being afraid of change is what makes you most satisfied, then by all means; keep at that and don't let anyone stop you. But if you're anything like me, don't settle for something that you'll end up dreading in the long run. This time in our lives is about exploring, and trial and error, and figuring things out. It's really never too late to change your mind or start something new.
"Be in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire." And don't waste your time doing anything else.
