A case from career guidance practice

“She chose chemistry — and then dropped out. What went wrong?” 

A few days ago, I had an interesting case in my practice. The situation was this: a young woman chose chemistry at school as one of her Unified State Exam subjects. She liked the subject, passed the exams, and enrolled at a specialized university.
A little over a month later, she decided to leave. Personal circumstances also played a role. But according to her, even without them she would most likely have left anyway — just later. At that point, however, after dealing with her emotions and weighing the pros and cons, she decided to take an academic leave first. 

What was really going on

During our conversation, it became clear that she had not loved chemistry purely for its own sake. A large part of her interest came from the teacher — his personality and the way he presented the material. She also liked the structure of the subject, its logic, systematic nature, and clarity. At the same time, she had always liked languages, especially German, for much the same reason: its structure. She is now studying Old Icelandic and is interested in Scandinavian history.

Where things went wrong

The choice was not made from the core of her own interests, but through sympathy for the teacher, a positive experience with the subject, and the feeling that “I’m good at this.” And that is not a “bad” choice. On the contrary, in career guidance we often look for what genuinely attracts a teenager, what they naturally feel drawn to. But in this case, that attraction did not hold. Because the choice was driven by external factors rather than by the inner core of her interest.

What did we arrive at?

Behind these “different interests” there turned out to be one common core:

• a strong attraction to structure
• an ability to systematize information
• an interest in languages — and in knowledge in general — as systems
• broad knowledge and strong analytical skills

This is neither a purely “humanities” nor a purely “technical” mindset — it is a hybrid profile.

Where this could lead

We considered several directions:

• applied linguistics
• linguistics + technology (including AI)
• translation (including specialized translation)
• editing and text-based work
• work with cultural and historical materials

We also considered research and education. One idea produced an unexpectedly strong response: worldbuilding consulting — work on cultural projects at the intersection of languages, history, and narrative, for example as a narrative designer. It brought together:

• languages
• history
• structure
• interest

The moment we found this idea, she reacted immediately: “Oh, that’s interesting” — her eyes lit up and she instinctively leaned forward. It was not simply a rational “this fits.” It was a genuine emotional response. At the same time, she clearly understands what she expects from work: she needs a solid core profession, and she is willing to build everything else around it later. She describes her ideal work as calm, with a moderate amount of communication, intellectually demanding, without rigid hierarchy, and with a fair degree of freedom in how the work is organized.

What is important to understand here

Interest in a subject is not the same as interest in a profession. You can enjoy a class and still not want to spend your life working in that field. At the same time, very different interests may share the same underlying core. In this case, that core was structure and systematic thinking.

Another important factor is a clear understanding of your own priorities. At one point, she said that the experience had been unpleasant, but still useful: it helped her understand what did not suit her and showed her a path she did not actually want to follow. In a sense, it may have saved her years of her life later on.

A wrong choice is not a failure, but a clarification. If someone is able to reflect on the experience, they have not “lost their way” — they have moved forward. The strongest form of career guidance is not about “giving the answer.” It is about helping someone see themselves more clearly and expand the range of possibilities they can imagine.

Sometimes someone comes in thinking, “I chose the wrong thing.” And leaves with the feeling, “I’m beginning to understand what suits me.” And that is far more valuable than simply receiving a list of suitable professions.

If you recognize yourself in this situation, it does not necessarily mean you made a mistake. Perhaps it is simply the next stage of making your choice.