Gosh that is a tough question.
I can tell you that I consider myself very fortunate to have always known what I wanted to do. Ever since I could open my mouth, I could sing, and I have been pursuing it all my life. I have always known that this is what I wanted to do. But, in each and every field of study, opportunities open up in so many different ways. In highschool, I just sang in every opportunity I could. Then I was in the musical Grease, and realized that I loved live performing. Then I went to a performance at the college I eventually attended, and realized that opera was what I really wanted to do. So, I got my degree in opera performance. Along the way, I discovered an amazing love for foreign language, since I have been performing in French, German, Italian, Russian, Latin, you name it, for about 7 years now. So, now I am going on to get two more degrees, one in French and one in Italian. So you have to see by my example that I just immerse myself in something I like (music), and with time I learned more about myself and what I like to do. My best friend isn't a musician, but she has a similar story. She knew she liked crime shows, investigation, etc, so she went to college for criminal justice. She took some psychology courses, and felt drawn to criminal psychology. So it is really about exploring all of your options, and being open to change. I think that life is better if we are constantly learning and opening ourselves to new opportunities. I also think it is important to know what kind of learner you are. I am a cognitive learner, which means math and music make a lot of sense to me, because I can see patterns and equations well. But if you put me in a history course, facts and figures just slip my mind. I don't know at what stage you are at in life, but I always tell new college students to start with general education requirements, and explore! I discovered that I love astronomy, and would probably be studying it if I didn't feel so passionately about music. And I learned that I don't like history! Ha! I hope this was helpful. I like to learn from other people's experiences, and I hope mine has shed a little light on your dilema. And you know what? You could be 70 years old and still discovering what it is you want to do, so don't ever feel like there is a limit to when you must be set in your life's work! |