Don't freak out too much. I'm about a year from graduating from university and still have no idea what I'm going to be doing for the larger part of my life. When I went to college originally I set "learning" as my goal rather than "desperately searching for my career." I found that really helped me out. Since you just got out of high school you have PLENTY of time to figure out what you want to do. I would just explore literally everything, one of the things I found out as I grew up is how expansive each career path is. What does it mean to be an Engineer? A whole lot and it is really different for most in the field. My advice is even if you have a slight interest in a subject explore it in-depth because you may find that some very small part of it really appeals to you. You would be surprised with what you find that way. I think it was a good idea that you didn't rush college either, college will always be there for you to access when you feel you are driven enough to pursue something. Also, you mentioned you wanted to be an author, I would recommend writing in your spare time.