…is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I want to go into advertising. But few schools offer it as a major. It makes me really question: is this what I want to do with my life? I think it is. I enjoy designing things that captures a person’s attention. I think I am good at it. And I have fun going through the process from starting with a sketch to completing the final product. But my search for a good school it has left me bewildered. Should I be very specific in my major or be broad? I am trying to foresee all the possible outcomes. If I study communications will I not have the specialized education in lets say web design that a company is looking for? Or if I do study web design will a company rather want someone with an education in advertising? Or is marketing more of what I want to do? While enjoy creating, maybe I like creating a plan for a product even more? How am I supposed to know?

And that is just identifying the right major. Once I figure out what I want to do then I will have to narrow down 100+ colleges to a handful. It really is mind boggling. How can you be so sure of what it is you want to do with your life, invest thousands of dollars in an education for it, and hope that you will get a job that will pay off for all your hard work? My lack of faith may have this all messed up. But I still consider myself a kid. I know that I have license and I am a young adult but I don’t care how much responsibility you think I have; I have not gotten all the education and experience to make this choice.

When I was 4 or 5 I wanted to be a doctor. I liked the idea of helping others. But after I realized that I would have to deal with blood and all that, I quickly lost interest. Then when I was going into middle school I wanted to become a writer. But I could never see how I could live of off such a profession. And in high school I have discovered that I am good with computers and designing ads. My dream job now is to work in an advertisement agency working with all sorts of clients. I think that with each client I would have to do something different that fits their needs. Work would be an adventure each day. And at the end of my career I could look back and see what an influence I had on people and the general outcome of products. That is why I want to be an advertiser.

Writing this now has really helped me to stop and think about it all. I think I will try to find a college without the help of search engines because I think it is mucking up the possibilities. Instead I am going to find some ad agencies and read up on the people and where they went to college and what paths they took to get there. Once I have a general idea of where they went then I can start to narrow down my colleges. It all seems so simple when you take out that stupid college matchmaker on collegeboard.com.

The world has become too impersonal. Although search engines are helpful, I really don’t think they can help you in a search for the rest of your life. But what do I know? I haven’t gone to college…yet.