Hell, I'm 65 and retired from 2 careers - and I still have no idea of what I want to be when I grow up.....my answer to them in HS wold have been, "Work a few jobs here and there and wait until the pressure gets so bad I have to make an actual decision."
Got a Bachelor's degree 15 years before I retired from my second career and it did zero towards making me better at the job I was doing because I was doing it for 12 years before I got the degree to "enhance my credentials". Once I discovered how little the degree actually meant, I opted to not waste time going with the Master's program.
Different times trebb. I was a Coast Guard stew burner for a hitch, that learned me. Went into the trades and college, cobbled an EE then back to sea. If... I had to do it all over again in today’s climate I really do not know... but I would have taken high school much more seriously and perhaps opened up some scholarship opportunities
The greatest failure of education today is that students are unprepared for college. I doubt high schools expose students to somethings as simple as a syllabus, let alone endorsing STEM curricula. VoTech has languished in the present day, music, etc... physical ed should be strength and flexibility focused with a 4 year requirement. Students are rarely challenged. It needs to change.