[I'm a girl]

Thought I wanted to be a scientist/academic, was doing my undergrad in a science field, and tried to get some lab experience in the summer after my second year. I. Hated. That. Lab. It was only a 3-month long contract, but after about four weeks I thought about quitting every single day. Couldn't do it.

When my internship was done, I went on a weekend road trip, solo, to collect my thoughts a bit and try to figure out what the next step was. While away, I caught about two minutes of the local news - they were doing a little segment on an influential person in the community, as they sometimes do. This particular person owned a daycare for deaf children, and was talking about how she taught these kids how to sign, and how she taught the parents strategies for teaching language to their kids. And I thought, "That's pretty cool. I could do that."

So I got home, did some research on it and stumbled upon a slightly different field, speech therapy. I read up on it and it seemed perfect, a career designed just for me. I tried volunteering and working in places related to the field, and every single experience was like heaven on earth. I'm still not there yet, but now I know with 100% certainty that that's the path for me.

My advice is I guess to not think so much about what career you want, but rather what you would need in a career in order for it to be fulfilling. Like, what aspects of the career are most important for you. For me, I wanted something where I was working with kids (I love kids), one where I was making a positive, tangible, difference in someone's life, one where I made enough money to live comfortably, and one which wouldn't totally dominate my life, so that I could still have a family and pursue other interests, etc. Keep an open mind, and look everywhere for a career like that.

TL;DR It happened randomly. I wish you the same luck that the horseshoe up my ass brought me.