Guiding a Teenager

My mum has kept ALL my school records through HIgh School and Primary school - including a Certificate of Achievement (what a joke) for "Being the Sweetest Girl in Camp" at Allambee Year 7.

Funny looking back on subject grades. I wonder why the hell I didn't go into Psychology since I was better at it than I thought I was. So many things obscure your decisions and choices when you're 17 years old and trying to figure out what to do at university. And how can anyone expect a 15 year old to know what subjects they want to pursue in VCE at the end of Year 10?? It's too young, and almost irresponsible to give someone of that age decision making powers about their life.

I'm actually getting a bit upset about it to be honest. If I were a career guidance counsellor looking at my results from years 10 to 12, I would absolutely recommend that I go into the field of Psychology/Science. Instead I went and did a year of a Bachelor or Music at University. Knowing it wasn't going to get me anywhere (I was already teaching music without a degree and whilst uni was soooo much fun, it was a waste of time in that field for me) I deferred and went into Investigations, becoming a Private Investigator for several years. Then at age 23-ish I turned to administration work, progressed to Personal Assistant, Executive Assistant and then Events and Marketing followed by International Audit Planning.

I hate to say that I have regrets, but I'm a little angry with my teachers and adults around me for lack of guidance. In my late 20's I had always said I wished I went into Psychology. And looking back at my grades, I really should have, but just didn't have the confidence to think I was good enough.

Confidence seems to be a consistent theme through all my school reports. Even from Primary School, I had such little self confidence.  I was so quiet, and hesitant to join other kids or put my hand up to try something new. It's so important that children have confidence in themselves, but I'm unsure what my parents could have done to improve that.