The thought of university can be intimidating and the decision regarding which one to join, extremely difficult. As a high school graduate, it is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in life as it can affect your career path—positively or negatively—and influence what you do in life going forward. The hardest part is finding something you are passionate about and can also earn a decent living from, and this is what I am currently facing.

Finding what it is you are passionate about and can do for perhaps the rest of your life is not an easy task, and certainly wasn’t for me. During my first year of high school, I was completely confident about my career path, and that was to be a civil engineer, but that confidence didn’t last long. I soon realised that civil engineering wasn’t for me, and just like that I found myself jumping from one option to another.

At some point, I was completely hesitant about what to do with my life, until computer science came along and it was ‘passion at first click’. You may ask, ‘what made this different from other interests?’ Let’s just say that I instantly felt that this was for me, and every morning I woke up I was excited to do it and learn more.

Once you find your passion, university picks become significantly easier, but it still requires a fair amount of effort in finding the right one. When I was looking into universities, I considered applying to about eight universities; four with decent grade requirements, two dream universities with intense requirements, and two easy grade requirements. My advice is to specify the type of university you want based on your preferences and passion.

But the truth is that this is not the case for everybody, not everyone can find their passion in high school. I was really fortunate to have found mine this early in life. It’s completely okay if you have not found your passion yet, just don’t stop the search till you do. If you’ve not found an interest and need to apply to a university, choose a university that has multiple fields and studies for you to explore. Most universities give you your first year for these types of situations, and even if you still don’t find your passion, your university degree doesn’t define your career. There have been countless people who majored and studied a field and still became successful in another field. If you’re feeling constrained by the typical career path of your degree, keep in mind that more often than not, there are various options out there. You just need to explore, utilise external resources and remember that it’s your career, not anyone else’s.

The writer is a Grade 12 student at International School of Kigali, Rwanda (ISKR)