Q:  I am originally from Serbia, have been in the states since '97. Graduated from HS here, always an honor roll student. Went straight after HS to college, a great University where I got my BA in Communications graduated with in the top ten percent, excellent GPA, after switching my major 3 times.

Now, I have been out of school for a year and a half.  Right after graduation I landed a job doing sales, mainly telemarketing, stayed there for a year and hated it. Now I am unemployed for the last four months. I think a big reason for this is the fact that I do not know what to do with my life, I don't know which direction to go and I am scared of failure.

I finally limited my choices to three fields: journalism, law school, and fashion retail. But the problem is I don't know where to turn, or go to and I am not sure which one to choose. I am scared of not being good at whatever it is that I pick.

And I cannot decide anymore. I always wanted to be an anchor, that's one of the reasons I got my communications degree. But the school I went to didn't focus on that, and I have no practical experience or internships. I applied to places but no one does not even call me back. Law school was something I considered and wanted to do for the last two years in college, even got all the LSAT books, but didn't do anything after I started talking to some ppl and they made me believe that law school is not for me. So i am scared of it basically. I was always a good student but what if I don't do good in law school?

What do I do???

I hate being so undecided and not knowing what to do, kind of just stagnating in one spot, and I'm going to be honest I am losing my confidence. I admire the people that know exactly what they want career-wise, and I wish I was one of them. How do I make such an important decision when there iare so many choices out there?

I went to the career center and not one of them wasany help. Any advice would be extremely helpful. Lost and Confused

A: I am afraid I can be of only a little help.

My advice: Do not dive into another time-consuming and expensive academic program until you find a direction.

Rely on the advice of people who know you well, take a second try at the kind of career assessment help you were trying to get from career services and, as you narrow down your choices, get into the work environments that seem appealing. Shadow and interview people in those fields. See how they work. Ask them about their greatest rewards and challenges. Ask them what the qualifications are.

Do not, in your rush to choose, fail to explore.

And remember -- more and more people are having more and more careers. Switching careers does not mean one has failed. So, even a short-term plan -- something to get you started -- can be fine.

Good luck.