I'm 15 and in high school...
I'm always told that my "abilities" (scholastic and otherwise) would make me compatible with many high-end colleges(ie. MIT) and from those I went with engineering at MIT as my "goal." However, I have started to realize that I don't want that. My question is...
How could I experience various careers before high school ends?
You can't. You have to go to school.
Advice : wait for 20 or more to think about that. That's just not true you have to know what you want in high school, nobody does anyway. You'll find way on time.
Some careers need very specific experience. If you want to be a doctor, you have to go to medical school, and if you want to be an engineer, you have to go to engineering school, etc. But for MOST careers, you don't have to have a degree specifically in that field to get a job in that field. A specific degree might facilitate you in getting a job in that field, but to be honest most people who graduate college take jobs in completely different areas. The most important thing is that you actually end up with the degree - that should be your only goal once you start going to school.
Thus in highschool, you shouldn't concern yourself with experiencing various CAREERS, but you should concern yourself with experiencing various areas of study. Try photography, video, drawing, music, specific sciences, english electives, foreign language, whatever floats your boat and whatever your school can offer. If your school dosen't offer anything cool, find a community college nearby and see if there is a partnership between the two. This will give you a better idea of what you would be open to seriously studying in school for 4 straight years or more.
I'd agree with >>2 and say that a career or a major is something you shouldn't even bother considering now because you will almost certainly change your mind in three years. When highschools give you this 'plan your career' bullshit early on, they're just wanking like 'look at what a great school we are, we can send our students to MIT'. Forget that nonsense, focus on learning things that are interesting and fun in highschool, don't worry about getting into MIT or anywhere else.
I am 33 and I do not have a career. I have a job. It might look and feel like a "career" but it is just a job. Do not worry about a career at 15.
Try talking to people from different backgrounds. Ask them questions about their careers and try to get both sides of the coin.
I met a guy who thought he wanted to be an astronomer and work at an observatory until he actually visited one. He realised it is different from what he thought and changed his mind.
OP, >>4 makes a good point. People switch careers several times in their lives, and many jobs aren't looking for a particular degree, just a good college experience under your belt. If you want to take some tests to help you narrow your interests, your High School counselor's office should have some online database links ( online.onetcenter.org/ comes to mind) and references to free college services to outgoing High School seniors.
I'm 23 and I've taken the long path through college. I started taking classes at a community college because it was cheap and figured out possibilities along the way. Right nwo I'm a psychology and philosophy double major looking to go on to grad school or into practice, but, as you can tell, even now I'm uncertain. That's ok. There are plenty of opportunities to figure things out as you go along.
The biggest pieces of advice I can give you are to start at a 4 year university, take education seriously (Try to master the material. This is your life, not a simple school requirement), and apply for scholarships ASAP.
Western country inhabitants nowadays have between 3 and 6 jobs in their life on average. Talk about careers.
Not sure on the 3 to 6 jobs comment. I am on job #10 since 1997. That is nearly one a year. I have an AA in Social Science because I got sick of school and just went to the registrar's office and paid $15 to pick something to graduate under. Plus I spent 4 years in Community College.
I would change my career but I have a family now and I cannot afford a major pay reduction, so I am suck with this shit. Great.
BTW, I work in IT. I have 76k/year but it is a suck shit career field. I do not recommend it to anyone.