I think we do teens and young adults a real disservice when we say they have to pick a job, pick a career, pick an academic pursuit because it's super important and what do you want to do for the rest of your life?

That model may have worked if you graduated in 1958 but not if you're fucking interesting. Not if you have any dreams. Not if you have any ambition.

It's better to understand that you need to pick something to study in college because it'll determine what you can do well for the next three or four years, and if that something will lead to something else you can do well for three or four years after that so much the better. My father-in-law is an organic chemist. He's done blood chemistry and blood testing products his entire career and I've got his 1973 thesis sitting on my shelf. My father did engineering, then did biology, then taught physics and mechanics in Brazil, then was a radiation tech for an air force hospital, then did environmental monitoring, then did information security, then did IT, then did GIS for like SWAT teams and shit.

And both of them look on me and my wife with envy.

Don't be lazy, but don't be afraid of figuring out what makes sense now because the future is gonna mess with ya. The better you can roll with the punches the longer you get to keep playing.