For many teenagers, one of the hardest questions to answer is, "What do you want to
be when you grow up?" People may seem to be asking you this question all the time.
They are asking you to pick your major in college, decide where you want to go to
school, decide what you want to do with your life... The question you might have is,
"How the heck should I know???"
There's a funny fact of life that you should keep in mind as you think about your
"career," your major in college and so on. That fact of life is this: Almost every
successful adult that you see today went through a crazy and totally unplanned path
to get to his or her current position in life. Ask just about any adult who you admire
and who has a great job, "How did you get where you are today?" You will see how
crazy these paths can be. For example, you might know someone who has a great
job as a newscaster on TV. When you ask him how he got to be a newscaster he
might relate the following story to you:
"Well, when I started college I really wanted to be a geologist, but I ended up having to take a required
class in computer programming. I really liked programming, so I ended up changing majors and
graduated as a computer scientist. I started out working for IBM and didn't like it, and then began working
for a small company. They got this project with a TV station writing software for the news room. One day I
got a chance to meet the news anchor for the station and we really hit it off. He liked my voice and
suggested I go to broadcasting school. I did that at night for two years. Then one thing led to another and now I am a news
anchor myself."
If you talk to...