If you’re worried that you might be choosing the wrong course at 20, you’re not alone.

Many people in their early twenties quietly carry this fear. That one decision: what to study, where to go, which path to take, has already ruined their future.

Choosing the wrong course.
Wasting your parents’ money.
Watching everyone else move ahead while you feel stuck.

Most people don’t say this out loud. But it shows up when you compare yourself to classmates, when salary conversations start, or when someone casually asks, “So what are you planning to do next?”

I remember feeling this clearly at 20. At that time, I didn’t have the language for it. I just knew I felt anxious, and I couldn’t shake the sense that I had already made a mistake.

Why choosing the wrong course at 20 feels so scary

At 20, choices feel heavier than they really are.

What you study.
What you don’t study.
What you think this decision will lead to.

When people around you explain their choices confidently, career prospects, pay, long-term plans, your own reasons can start to feel small. Not wrong. Just not thought through enough.

This is why choosing the wrong course at 20 feels so frightening. It doesn’t feel like a small decision. It feels permanent.

“So why did you choose this course?”

I remember my early days in Food Science at Singapore Polytechnic. We were getting to know one another when someone asked, “So why did you choose this course?”

My classmates had clear answers. They talked about food safety, working with government agencies, product development, and stable career paths. Someone mentioned that getting into a stat board meant at least earning decently.

Then it was my turn.

I went quiet.

My reason wasn’t strategic. I chose Food Science because I liked food, and science was familiar to me from secondary school. It felt interesting. That was it.

During that conversation, my heart started racing. Not because anyone criticised me, no one did. But because a different story started forming in my head.

I thought I had made a bad decision. That I hadn’t thought far enough. That I might be wasting my parents’ money.

How choosing the wrong course turns into money anxiety

What scared me wasn’t just career uncertainty.

It was money.

The trust my parents placed in me. The cost of education. The fear that choosing the wrong course at 20 would lead to financial struggle later in life.

When money is framed as a fixed outcome.  Course you choose equals to your pay, start equals ceiling. This makes your choice anxiety becomes money anxiety.

You’re not just afraid of being unhappy. You’re afraid of being stuck. Financially. Socially. Emotionally.

This is why the fear of choosing the wrong course at 20 feels so heavy.

You’re choosing a chapter, not a destiny

Here’s the part I didn’t understand back then.

At 20, you’re not choosing a destiny.

You’re choosing a chapter.

Chapters matter. But they’re not the whole story.

The real trap isn’t choosing imperfectly. It’s believing that choosing the wrong course at 20 has locked your future forever.

Our systems don’t help with this. Education feels linear. Applications feel final. Salary comparisons feel definitive.

But life doesn’t actually work that way.

How that belief eventually broke

That belief stayed with me until much later, after university.

By then, life had changed. I was married. I had children. I was supporting more people in my family.

Money stopped being just about spending. It became about responsibility and stability.

That pressure pushed me to explore investment education, and eventually a career change from science into finance. Not because I wanted to be rich, but because I wanted options.

Changing direction was uncomfortable. There were doubts, questions from family and friends, and real uncertainty.

But that experience taught me something important: choosing the wrong course at 20 does not mean you’re stuck for life.

Why we fall back to the “safe” choice

I still remember my polytechnic graduation. Everyone was celebrating, taking photos, relieved to have finished.

Inside, I was thinking, “What’s next?”

At that point, the decision felt logical. Working as a diploma graduate meant lower pay. Continuing into university felt safer — clearer path, higher income, less explaining.

So I went ahead.

Not because I was sure.

But because it reduced uncertainty.

When we don’t know what’s next, we often mistake safety for clarity. Choosing what feels familiar can reduce anxiety in the short term, even if it doesn’t fully align with what we want.

The real takeaway if you’re worried you chose the wrong course

If there’s one thing I hope you take from this, it’s not a decision.

It’s a way of thinking.

Most choices in your twenties don’t decide your future. They shape your exposure — what you learn, what you discover about yourself, and what options become available later.

Over time, options reduce anxiety. Especially money anxiety.

If you’re feeling stuck right now, unsure whether you’re choosing the wrong course at 20, worried about your career, or anxious about money, you’re not alone.

Often, clarity doesn’t come from choosing perfectly. It comes from staying open enough to grow beyond your starting point.

In the next part of this series, I’ll explore why the idea of a single “right path” is misleading, and how meaningful paths are usually built over time, not found at the start.