Life help?

Rising sophomore currently nearing the end of a weeklong leadership training program. I've learned a lot this past week and year, including the following (questions come at the end):

I'm a goal-oriented person that prefers fast paces, plans a shit ton, and values achievement, personal development and efficiency above all. I'm the kind of guy that just did all of the group's work because I didn't trust people to perform at my standards. I go to a school where there's immense pressure to know what you're doing 3 years out, as unreasonable as it sounds. Kids are labeled bankers and consultants before they even have experience.

Much of the lessons this week have centered around knowing yourself and where you want to be. There are alumni here (this is for a fraternity) that come from finance backgrounds (former MDs) and entrepreneurial backgrounds (owns 4 businesses). These two pathways are the ones that I have always focused on, with recent pressure leaning towards finance simply because of the blind prestige that my schoolmates assign it. I've talked with them today and they agree I'd do well in finance given my values and personality but wouldn't enjoy it, especially if I have doubts so extremely early on. These doubts were somewhat created by discussions I've had with my school's alumni that currently work in IBD ("You learn a lot, but it's clear that the conditions aren't ideal.")

My questions are these: what other kinds of discussions should I be having in order to help myself figure out just where I want to be? Who else should I talk to? What else can I do to clear up the picture a bit? Any advice?

4 Comments
 

Amazing; how the hell did you guess? IHSV.

WhiteHat: It sounds stupid on the outset, yes, but I don't think it deserves any flak if people immerse themselves in the experience and take away life lessons from it.

 

Yeah I guess most of my wondering isn't whether or not I should pull the trigger on one path or another. If I'm to lean towards entrepreneurship (small business, non-tech), I guess I also want to know what I'm to do as a senior or fresh grad; business opportunities don't just pop in a database like career postings.

 

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