Having a quarter-life crisis.

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This is kind of a combonation school and work post..

I have always been interested in computers and math throughout school. When I finally started college a couple years ago I was planning on going into either web or computer programming. But after taking the majority of my classes I have become burnt out on the whole thing. The idea of sitting in an office/cubicle for the rest of my life mortifies me. I know it is possible to work from home in these professions, but the material just doesn't interest me anymore. Because of this I find it very hard to bother with my schoolwork and have taken a year off.

In the past few years I have developed a great love for the guitar and music. I love entertaining the thought of playing for money, even though being in the spotlight might make me uncomfortable. The fact that it is so difficult to make a living in this profession has stunted my desire to persue it.

Other than that my only other interests are video games and politics, neither of which is an easy field to find a job. All of this leaves me with an utter lack of direction and motivation in my life. I know that I really need to start making money soon and getting out into the world (I live with and sort of care for my grandmother) but I really just don't know what to do. I'm sure everyone here understands how hard it is to do something you aren't interested in and also shares a general distaste for fast-paced "social" jobs.

It's a tough one. I have had plenty of jobs I didn't really like or feel comfortable in, just to pay the bills. If you love music, maybe persue it without the goal of making money - that might lead you toward paying gigs. In the meantime, you might have to settle for a less than perfect job fit to make ends meet. You could try seeing that as an opportunity to learn more about what you don't like and help yourself cross things off the list.

Let me throw a curve ball at you.

Since you like politics and perhaps the more structured social interaction, how about medicine (the real thing) and music part time?

And s**t, if you make it big, you could funnel substantial money to organizations like Doctors Without Borders as well as being a direct volunteer. And even if you don't, can still do substantial good.

Intern or entry level staffer for a politician
Substitute teacher for a gov't class at school
Video game testing, working a video game company

There are a number of books out there about a "quarter life crisis." You might pick one up... there are tons of people who feel the same as you do.

I think you had the right idea when you were working towards a computer programming career. The reason you find it boring is because you aren't working with real-world applications. School is intensely boring. But if you can get through it there will be plenty of jobs waiting for you in every field you can think of, and when you get into the real world computer programming is FUN. There is a lot of problem solving involved and you get the pride of knowing people are paying big bucks for an application you helped architect. I'm a software tester but dabbled in VB programming and found it extremely satisfying. Plus the pay is excellent. By the way if computer programming is too much for you I highly recommend software testing. In the programmer/tester relationship the programmer is like a service technician and the tester is like a customer. If being a customer sounds better to you than being the one providing the service then perhaps software testing is a good career choice for you. It doesn't pay as much as programming but it's still decent pay. Either way you should have at least an associates degree in computer science unless you want to spend several years working your way up the ladder as I did.

As for the cubicle/office setting it's really not that bad. When you're at work you're expected to be working, not socializing. So it's fine if you don't socialize much. The noise level varies, but at my office we're allowed to wear headphones so it's fine.