After high school, students in an ideal world go to college and after that right into their jobs. Some students have known what they want to become since they were little. However, deciding which way to go for a future job can be not easy and even a real struggle for some teenagers.

Those who already know which direction they want to go don’t feel worried as a result.

“I want to be a pediatric nurse,” sophomore Kassidy Allen said. “It makes me feel good because I know what I’m looking forward to be in my future and what I need start preparing myself for.”

Being concerned about plans helps students plan ahead for their career.

So not knowing about the future makes it hard for teenagers to make decisions and gives them extra stress.

“It sort of makes me feel uneasy, and it’s harder to be motivated when I don’t have a specific goal. I think there’s definitely pressure,” junior Sarah Barney said.

The reason many teenagers have trouble deciding for their future may be their not completely developed brain.  Deborah Yurgelun-Todd and colleagues at the McLean Hospital Brain Imaging Center in Boston, Massachusetts compared the brain activity from teenagers and adults, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results showed adults’ brains have the ability to rational process when facing emotional decisions. Teenagers’ brains on the other side are not able to function the same way, yet.

“I need to find a college that supplies the curriculum I need to get that job in my future,” senior Tyler Jacobs said.

On the other side, teenagers who are unsure about their careers, but decide going to college are not necessarily lost. These people have the same chance of a career they like, even if it takes some time.

“I changed my major five times, and finally I decided to study communications,” said Lauren Haggerty, a Stockbridge high school graduate and currently Grand Valley State University junior. “Yes, I do feel like I might have wasted a little bit of time and money; however, I would never take back any of the experiences or memories that I made in my first few years of college. Being undecided is not always a bad thing. College is about self discovery, so how are you supposed to discover yourself if everything works out the way you planned? Change can be good.”