I don't know what I want with my life

I'm 17 turning 18 and for a while I feel as though I'm going down a path of confusion and it's really depressing. I'm in school currently studying A levels I'm not content with and life, apart from a few friends, is becoming a drag. At this point the school is urging us to apply to uni with our career choices set in stone with what we wish to do etc.

But I have no idea what I want to do, I feel as though I was just following the wants of my parents all through high school but I didn't know I was at the time because I was getting straight A's and loved the unconditional love that came with it so continued to do it.

On abit of a sidenote, since year 5 I expressed a passion for drama in the school play for 2 consecutive years and I thought to myself that I love doing this. I also was and still am an avid movie fan, I love everything about movies and know almost all actors that exist. Normally boys want to become footballers and so did I, but I wanted to be behind a camera on a cinema screen more, it was sort of a fantasy that I accepted early on wouldn't come true.

I thought this because of the asian culture and how everyone should become doctors and go uni and I was right. When I confronted my parents about it, my dad didn't want to hear it so he shrugged it off. My mum was a bit more sympathetic as she saw I really was persistent even to a point I asked her to move to the US, which was an unrealistic request of an 11 year old but still.

Anyway, I bottled my dream and accepted it won't become a reality and carried on with highschool. I was so deterred from it that I was drawn not to choose drama studies for GCSE which really ate away at me. Fast foward to sixthform/college and I didn't get the grades to do what my parents wanted me to do but still doing three A Levels, only one of which (Psychology) i find interesting. During this time I would always dream of being on stage or behind a camera but what deterred me even more is the lack of experience I now had in the field. The last time I had properly acted on stage was 10 and I am now 17 scared it's too late to do anything if I even was to do anything.

The only thing I ever considered was acting but was told it's unrealistic and can't just up and go and act. I'm also very scared to do so as I think I may now not be good enough to pursue acting.

No one but my mum and close friend know I have this desire. But apart from that I am an A level student studying an uncomplimentary combination of Psychology Geography & Business Studies and do not know what I could do in Uni with these subjects as it's likely I'm going to have to go to uni.

Any advice?

17 isnt too old to start acting, so get those thoughts out of your head.

Do your A Levels for no one but yourself, if your capable of getting A's than your very intelligent. Get the qualifications that your capable of and you'll have something that backs you up for the rest of your life.

If you want to act also, then do it. But get qualifications to back you up just in case acting doesn't pay the bills in later life. You don't have to just choose one path with the subjects you've chosen, they will help open doors to any path you choose.

You can always get the A Levels and take a year out to pursue acting, or just experience the world and see what career comes to you.

Is there a drama club that you could join? A neighborhood theater, perhaps? Make it a hobby for now; you can be trained and kept in practice. Then you'll be prepared if an opportunity to act comes along in the future.

Many people have no real idea what to do at 17. It doesn't sound like it's too late to go after acting. However, it does sound like you are not 100% sure about it yet. If you are not sure, you could always pursue it at a later stage. E.g. there are actors who emerged through their university theatre societies or studied acting at a later stage. If you like psychology you could pursue that for a start. Ideally you need a field that can serve as a stepping stone and could serve as plan b. Whatever you do, do not choose a field you feel indifferent about. Some fields e.g. medicine should be pursued only if you passionate about them.