Model behaviour.

Have you ever had to go through with something because you agreed to it when you were half asleep? Well, I did that this morning. Just after crawling out of bed, looking forward to a day of writing in my pyjamas, I somehow agreed to help the student newspaper that I write for.... by being a model. Yes, you read that correctly. An hour later, I was up a hill in a dress that came down to my ankles, shivering. This was after trying on about five other outfits that were too long/too big/too vile.
All that was running through my mind was 'You're a writer, not a model!', which I'm sure translated well into the photos.
My little adventure reminded me of a Sex And The City episode, in which Carrie Bradshaw (the writer), gets roped into being a model for a fashion shoot. I couldn't help but feel empathy, and yes, I am aware that I just admitted to empathising with a fictional character. Anyway, it got me thinking, as we go through education, we go from studying 11 GCSE's, to 4 A-levels, to one degree/job. By my age, it seems everyone knows pretty much exactly what they want to do when they grow up. Which, thinking about it, is terrifying...
How do we know that we've picked the thing that we're best at? I've always liked economics, I love photography, I...really don't have any other talents. There are so many different industries, so many different jobs out there...how do we decide?
We don't really get much chance to satisfy the curiosity of seeing what other options would be like. We pigeonhole ourselves at such an early stage in our lives - and by the time you get to University, you're given a label, i.e. 'Journalist'. But what if we're better at something else, and we'll just never know? Most people decide on their career by what they enjoy, and become good at it. Whereas you always hear about people, a good example being musicians, who knew what they wanted to do from a really young age.
I've always loved reading and writing, but I had to actively start paying attention to current events once I had started my Journalism degree, which makes me feel like a bit of a fraud, really.
Have you always known what career you wanted? The sad thing is, you see mature people working in shops, which tells you that some people just never figure it out.
Is the difference just that, if we're really passionate about what we do, are we just better at it? I guess the obvious answer there is yes, but doesn't it make you wonder about gynecologists?