Ask your parents what they dreamed about at your age. You might be carrying more of it than you know.

The adults around you were the age you are now, with their own plans, and most of them will not bring it up unless asked. Some of what you want was absorbed from them without either of you noticing. Knowing what they hoped for helps you work out which parts of your ambition are genuinely yours.

Ask whoever raised you, or whoever knew them, what they wanted at seventeen and what happened to it. Listen without turning it into advice. It usually explains something about how you were pushed or held back.