It is very normal for you to be having second thoughts about your career. It’s a big, exciting world, and there are a lot of different careers available. Think about what your interests are. If you need some guidance in this area, your guidance counselors at school may be able to help you. If not, you might want to visit a nearby university and meet with a career counselor. They will be able to give you some guidance about how to proceed with your education and what future careers you might want to consider.

I have a friend who is an RN, but after graduating and working for several years, she didn’t like nursing so she went back to school and now she’s a teacher! It’s OK for your interests to change. Go to college and get a degree. You can always go back for something else if you want to!

You are so young, and there are so many options for you! Have you tried taking a career test of some kind? This will associate your interests and strengths with good possible future employment matches. Also, once you get into a college atmosphere, it is most likely that you will change your mind many times and have several different majors. I suggest going to a community college or having an undeclared major in college if you are still grappling with your decision. Taking an undeclared major will give you a more liberal education while you decide whats best for you and your future.

FYI: Teaching is a very admirable career. It can be very enjoyable, however very frustrating. Teachers often receive a fairly low salary for the amount of effort they put into their career. Our changing society has changed the face of education and many teachers are becoming frustrated with the fact that they are handling discipline problems more and teaching less. However, you do get the satisfaction that you are essentially molding the future!

Best of luck!

Below you will find links to some career tests!

I know a lot of people who began a degree in education, only to change majors after doing their student teaching because they didn’t know what to expect when actually in front of the classroom.

If you are thinking about teaching in the future, you can try it out now by tutoring- see if the local middle school will let you tutor students after school. Maybe you can volunteer to read to young children at local libraries or elementary schools. Not only will this help you decide if this is the career for you, it will give you a lot of valuable experience when it comes to applying for colleges and teaching programs.

I have taught in a lot of different areas- middle school, college, at-risk students, and I love it. Fortunately there are a lot of different fields that involve teaching, so you have a lot of flexibility to chose where/how you want to teach.

Good luck and best wishes!