Passion: a strong feeling towards any particular thing whether that is a person, hobby, book, or whatnot. Without it, we could end up aimless, wandering through fog-filled streets with blinders tunneling our vision.

A lot of people, including the teens themselves, consider the majority of America's younger demographic to be passionless.

They couldn't be more wrong. The problem is that we have too much unfocused passion. No one wants to end up in the gutter (figuratively speaking) yet too many people, high school students especially, end up just that way and then can't figure why or how to get themselves out.

Talking specifically from the perspective of high school seniors, let's consider school: the core classes, the homework, the long days and the little sleep. We've been in the system for nigh on to12 years now and we are burned out. Far from begging for anyone's pity, I am simply stating that the system has exhausted our patience, our tolerance and our bodies - it's called senioritis and it's nothing novel.

True, not everything having to do with school is a tearfully boring or tediously stale chore, but a handful of things here or there can't outweigh the fact that we are graduating soon, and everything pales in comparison to that crowning moment of freedom.

The consensus among my peers is that we're done with school - less than a month into the year - now that's not exactly a good sign. Then comes the real kicker and one of the main reasons why none of us can focus on real school right now - college. Here we are at the peak of our apathy and now we have to choose a field of study to pursue and a handful of colleges at which to study it - a decision that could impact the rest of our lives. Don't worry, no pressure...yeah right.

I was lucky enough to stumble my way into my preferred major a couple years ago and so I have a slight advantage over the rest of my peers, but it wasn't as easy as I'm making it sound. I had to overcome the stereotypes that assault everyone who is trying to decide on a career path: "successful" careers versus tenuous ones.

All the time, teenagers mention that they are going to this college or studying this field solely because their parents and/or families told them to. What do they want to do? They have no idea.

Making such an intimidating commitment on your own takes passion. Here is where most of my friends get stuck. We're bright people so we should be choosing an intelligent, or successful, or "safe" career plan right? I don't think so.

Parents and students alike have to realize that passion doesn't always manifest in the ways you want it to. If you're an artist you don't have to paint for the rest of your life, but you can create a financially practical career out of story boarding for movies, illustrating, or even graphic design. Don't be afraid to take that risk and pursue what you are good at and passionate about.

Many of my friends as well as myself are planning on entering art related fields, which is probably the least stable career path that we could choose. As one of my best friends put it, so what? We would rather be doing what we love and have to pinch pennies every so (very) often than be stuck in a job we hate. If we fail, so what? At least we tried.

Aiming at conservative goals guarantees you conservative return. It doesn't matter how ridiculous any one hobby might seem. If you're passionate about something, follow it through and experiment with how that talent can be applied to real life.

Don't work backwards from the career. And parents, let children explore the world on their own terms. Just make sure that they are exploring it.

Kyra-lin Hom writes biweekly in this newspaper and can be reached at kl_hom@yahoo.com