Just as designers may try a few mockups before going all in on an idea, you should try various career options before committing to them fully.
For example: Do you want to be a professor at a university? Well, why don’t you ask a favorite professor of yours to let you observe him/her for the day (or teaching a guest lecture at a local school/college)?
This would be a far better approach than spending years to become a professor only to find out you don’t like it (or are not good at it).
Contributors: Gabor Koncz from Automizy