High school, commonly known as the best time of a young adult’s life, can also be one of the most stressful times of life. With all the decisions high school students are faced there is one that never seems to go away. The decision of what they want to do after high school.

With over 60% of high school graduates now attending college (bls.gov), it seems that the topic is becoming even more prominent. While as a freshman and sophomore the idea of college still seems far away, by the time junior year comes it seems to be all anyone can talk about.

“Where do you want to go to college?” “Do you want to stay home or go away?” “What do you want to major in?” All of these questions seem to linger in the mind of high school students.

For some students the questions are easy to answer. However, for others they seem as difficult as rocket science. At sixteen years old not everyone is confident in what they may think they want to do for the rest of their life. Some students want to be teachers and doctors and lawyers, but there are a majority of students who do not have the slightest clue as to what they want to do.

It is not far fetched that students are unsure about what they want to spend every day of the rest of their life doing. Some college students are not even sure what they want to do and therefore, they end up switching majors. It is not just college students who make changes though some professionals even go as far as to switch their career paths.

After spending a number of years doing one job, some people decide this is not actually what they want to do. When this happens they often end up going back to college in order to obtain a new degree in whatever field now peaks their interest.

The option of returning to school later in life is always available for students who are unsure of exactly what they want to do. However, this is an expensive fall back plan as the average annual tuition at a four year college in the United States is $35,000.

Due to the high price it seems reasonable to many parents when they suggest their child attend a community college to obtain necessary credits, just until they decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives. However, many high school students are not to keen on this idea. Going to a community college does not seem good enough for some students. Therefore, they feel more pressure than ever to quickly decide what to do with their life.

While it may seem like a difficult task, picking a college comes down to a few basic questions you must ask yourself.  Most importantly, what do I want to major in? Now this question in itself is quite complex and one must consider many things. For example where do you want to work?, who do you want to work with?, how much money would you like to make?

Although choosing a college is a big decision many people end up happy with the decision they make. The idea of  deciding, in high school, what someone wants to do with the rest of their life can be intimidating, but it is likely that whatever someone chooses to pursue they can be successful in as long as they work hard.