{"id":1548,"date":"2013-02-15T19:59:28","date_gmt":"2013-02-16T03:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/?p=1548"},"modified":"2018-04-16T17:05:15","modified_gmt":"2018-04-17T01:05:15","slug":"highschool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jaeminyi.com\/highschool\/","title":{"rendered":"Advice to High Schoolers: Stop Trying to “Figure Out” Your Life!"},"content":{"rendered":"
So the other day I got this e-mail from a high-schooler asking for my advice. \u00a0I thought my response might be helpful to other people (more specifically: my 18 year old self), so I’ll post it up here:<\/p>\n
Hi Jaemin! My name is Angela and I think I’m going through a mid-life crisis with all these college apps that I’m filling out. Currently, I can’t decide whether or not I should pursue film, the environment, or writing…<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
My response (unedited, so s’cuse me if it ain’t pretty!):<\/p>\n
I’ll just say right off the bat, I think one of the biggest myths about life is that we have to “figure out” or “come to a decision” on what we want to do<\/strong>. \u00a0That’s such bullshit lol.<\/p>\n
Being a filmmaker or a writer or an artist isn’t something we think about and then DECIDE we want to be. \u00a0Instead, you should just keep exploring and spending time doing the things you love to do. \u00a0In your free time, if you feel like it, keep writing. \u00a0Or make little film projects with friends.<\/p>\n
Whatever it is you do, make sure you’re not doing for an END GOAL but just doing it because you love to do it. \u00a0And I promise you, if you follow your heart and keep doing what you love, then a path will come from it. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
And don’t worry about college or what major you’re going to be so much. \u00a0It doesn’t really matter. \u00a0I went to UCLA and worried for so long about being a Film Major. \u00a0I ended up being a Communication Studies Major. \u00a0And still to this day (I graduated college in 2008), I haven’t used my resume once. \u00a0My major didn’t matter at all.<\/strong><\/p>\n
What DOES matter is what you do with your time in college. \u00a0I met and became friends with a lot of amazing people. \u00a0In my spare time, I made short films with friends and learned basic motion graphics. \u00a0I was interested in advertising (because I was obsessed with creativity) and joined the UCLA Advertising & Marketing student group…and by my senior year, I was leading the team.<\/p>\n
The things I did OUTSIDE my classes and major had so much more of an impact on my life than the classes themselves.<\/strong> \u00a0My advice to you would be to not worry about the end goal (because really, even if you spent 500 hours trying to plan out your life, you won’t even get close…life is WAY too unpredictable and beautifully complicated, it’s almost a joke that we think we can plan out our lives) and instead spend your time in college following your heart as much as possible.<\/p>\n