Talk:Seddie/@comment-5693910-20130907145044/@comment-14284535-20130910222626

Speaking from experience, it doesn't matter if you know exactly what you want to do at any age. What you like and what you want to do changes over the years.

After meandering through various sciences and engineering, I eventually decided at age 19 that I wanted to be a research mathematician. I got as far as publishing a few papers before I started taking anti-depressants. I suddenly lost "it" and could not get into that zone where 10 page sketches of proofs just appeared in my head. Suddenly the 2% per year surplus in math PhDs per open academic position looked daunting. So I decided to change fields to one I was trained for. Now, I am a system programmer.

Don't worry if you don't know what you want to do now. As long as you keep your mind open to new ideas, interests, and experiences, you will eventually figure out what to do. Here's a hint: if someone will pay you for something you do for fun, that would be a good job.