Welcome back!
If you are a creative individual, finding a career field that you will prosper and be allowed to use your creativity can be hard. custom furniture makers are a group of professionals that have constant creative work. By creating custom designed furniture, they are allowed to incorporate their personal style into a commodity that everyone needs to furnish their homes. Such a craftsman, however, would still be required in almost all cases to have specific training in the field.
When choosing a career, it is important to really examine yourself before deciding on a field. In a lot of high schools, you are required to partake in some sort of career aptitude test. Though these can be somewhat revealing to what you may have a potential for, sometimes these tests do not consider the right aspects that would determine what you will be happy and successful doing. It is important to first consider whether or not you are cut out for further education.
If you cannot see yourself in a collegiate setting, you may want to consider a field that does not require secondary education. You could start looking into fields that require specific job training or even a field that requires trade school, which would be a different style of schooling, in a sense. Still debating if you want to go to college, you could consider going to a community college for awhile before considering going to a larger, expensive school. This would be a less expensive sense of university life.
If you decide you do want to go to college, there is a lot of preparation that needs to be done while still in high school. One of the first important steps is to make sure you take the standardized tests required by most universities, like the ACT and SAT. Your high school should offer information and prep classes for the standardized tests. Once you have taken the test, you can have the scores sent to the universities that you are applying to. With the application process, there is a lot to consider as well. Consider applying online because most schools offer a free option online. Visiting the schools you are applying to is very important as well; then you can attempt to have some actual face time with an advisor at the school. Once you have sent in your applications, the hardest part starts, waiting.
No matter which path you decide to take, what makes you happiest should be your first concern. Just because everyone in your family has studied a certain subject or worked in a certain field, does not mean you have to follow the legacy. It is easier to be aware of what you really want to do early, than to have to reconsider your choice once you are working in the field.