I would probably prefer writing on general current issues.

I know you weren’t saying the degree is a waste of time for everyone, but I think you’ll learn it wasn’t a waste of time for you either. People really respect English degrees. I’ve had a lot of different jobs and that degree has helped me with them all.

Don’t give up! Maybe try another job while you write on the side, but
don’t give up. Lots of writers have had and still have non-writing jobs.

As to whether 18-year-olds know what they want to be when they grow up — I think Ann is right, some do and some don’t. Eighteen is an arbitrarily decided age for legal adulthood — just because teens are legally adults at 18 doesn’t mean they have the mental capacity to make decisions like one. The human brain does not actually finish maturing until the early to mid twenties. Of course, there are always kids who mature faster than others, which is why I agree with Ann — some know what they want to do, and some don’t.

To add personal experience to this comment, I knew throughout my teenage years that I wanted to be a writer. I remember completely frustrating teachers and guidance counselors when I tried to refuse to take yet another career aptitude test, saying I already knew what I wanted to do. Nevertheless, I eventually caved under the pressure and abandoned my dream.

Of course, what that meant was that I abandoned college, too — not what the well-meaning adults intended, I’m sure. I worked full-time for four years before realizing that minimum wage jobs were NOT my cup of tea. I went back to school, and hey presto! — within a year I had found my way back to an English major, and a year after that I was again leaning towards becoming a writer.

Obviously, I was right when I said as a teen that I knew what I wanted to be. But my point is that I didn’t yet have the maturity to make a decision and stick with it. Many teens feel inclined toward any number of things, but I don’t think that necessarily means they have the capability yet to make a final decision of that magnitude.

Now that I actually work FT, I’ve come to a few realizations:

1) My college coursework did not prepare me very much to actually work in my field (HR). I learned some theory that sounds good to spout off at interviews, but real practical skills were something I had to get on-the-job training for.

2) There are a lot of smart people who could not afford college who are being held back because they don’t have that piece of paper. If we did more employment testing and focused on those practical results rather than degrees, I think we’d have more qualified people doing certain jobs.

3) There are a lot of people who have degrees that cannot use a comma appropriately or write a business report to save their lives. Being a college grad doesn’t automatically make you successful. It is just one piece of the pie.