if you're not giving out advice rn, please let us know this ask has been rejected (e.g. a post like "sorry to the anon looking for plural-focused career advice but we can't answer that at the moment")
tl;dr — our mindset is: we want to live -> we need money for that :( -> that means getting a job -> but we'll never decide on the right one and we'll always be seen as flaky or inconsistent or forgetful unless the future gets plural real fast -> a fulfilling life for us is near-impossible -> and we're too tired to fight for it -> might as well just give up lmao
in order to have the life we want we'll have to get a job. "a job", singular. and while technically we can switch careers, it doesn't look good on the collective resume. especially if our answer is "idk I just changed my mind lol". also it's hard to get hired anywhere without a degree, and how are we going to decide on one field of study? (we've heard of Interdisciplinary Studies which IIRC lets you study multiple areas, but it's not well-known and again it doesn't look good on a resume because it's so vague)
even our system members change (https://pluralpedia.org/w/Modular), so there's no point in coming to a longterm compromise.
we can't exactly tell this to the school career advisor. and we can't talk about Maybe Sorta Wanting To Die without our parents being informed.
despite everything, is there a way for us all to live?
let me start by answering the last question, as funny as that sounds!
YES! there is a way for you to live! i've been exactly where you are, trust. (we are now in our mid-20s bodily and have a job we like enough and we're pursuing a career that will make us happy.)
first, you don't HAVE to have a degree. i spent the last year working in a job that absolutely does not require one. most of my coworkers do not have degrees or a single college credit, but we all make enough to keep a roof over our head and our bills paid.
servers and bartenders make decent money, at least in the USA. i would know because i am one! i can afford to have a dog, feed myself, pay my bills, etc. and i do okay. the restaurant industry is always an option, keep it in your back pocket. on my best days, i make up to $30/hr, and about 1/3 of that is in cash that i get to take home immediately. i job hop like a game of duck duck goose, and so does everyone else in the industry. it works for systems surprisingly well, in my experience!
second, it took us until this year, in our mid-20s, to actually decide what we want to go to college for. we have one degree but hate the field, so we're going for something new at a different place.
you do not have to decide while you're still in high school. you can do a super fun thing when you get to any university and go in as "undeclared" on your major.
this gives you the chance to knock out your basic classes that every degree requires, like writing and math, without gluing you into one specific field right away.
crucially, this also gives you the opportunity to take some classes in whatever you think you may be interested in to see what it's all about! if you think you may like psychology, take an intro to psych class. if you think you may be interested in anthropology, you can go talk to professors and students in that department. so on, so forth. you do not have to lock yourself in to a big decision like that right away! i would actually advise against it. take your time and don't feel rushed. this is a BIG decision and, if you are in high school, you're still a kid! you have plenty of time to figure it out, i promise.
my system used to be modular as well, and so my sense of self was all over the place. my best advice there is to not make these decisions based on your hobbies (which can make burnout WAY worse anyway, coming from somebody who has a system-wide autistic special interest in music even with modularity and is now a burnt-out musician who next to never plays and now has to scramble to find hobbies that DO recharge me after work).
instead, make decisions about your job based on what you can mentally and physically deal with doing every day, and use your job to fund your interests. this way, even if your interests change a lot, you'll be able to accommodate those changes better.
to give my own example, serving isn't so bad. the shifts aren't long, and there's a lot of downtime where i'm polishing silverware or making tea or just hanging out on my phone. i get free food and i get to go outside when it's slow if i want to. it isn't my favorite job i've ever had, but it pays the bills and it doesn't make me despise my life. when it does start making me miserable, i'll just move to a new role (like picking up some grill operator shifts) or new store or new shift.
i hope this helps offer some guidance and perspective, nonnie! thanks for your patience while i worked on it. the future isn't all planned out or set in stone. sometimes we just have to fly by the seat of our pants and see what happens.
