Why are we forced to make life-changing decisions at such a young age?

We have to tell colleges who we are on our application, what makes us stand out from 6 billion people.
First of all, we shouldn't be expected to know ourselves at age 16 or 17, let alone decide something that could shift our fate (if it exists) in one direction or another.
On a side note, it has occurred to me that every decision could "change your life"-- would our lives really be the same if we had decided not to walk this way or go that way? Where would we be today if we had ordered thesalad instead of chicken or the soda instead of water?
Second of all, we shouldn't ever be expected to know ourselves-- isn't that what we spend our lives attempting?

ok, so maybe I'm taking this too far. Maybe you don't have to solve abstract questions to really know what you want to do with your life. It's just that sometimes, the pressure feels unbearable, and I have no complete outlet. Complete because running is my outlet, yet it never relieves 100% of my aggression; the only way to do that is to solve the actual problem.
...But how can I possibly do that? I won't know until May where my future lies, and I don't even know if I'll figure out the rest (who I am, what I want to be, etc.).



an off-topic paradox that irritates me:

It is certain that everything is uncertain.

So everything is unsure, but then that statement is so, which means not everything is unsure, but then that's not even valid because the first statement is not certain.

Same concept:
The below statement is true.
The above statement is false.

It ties back to the question, who made God?
(God Created Everything, so God created himself? How can one create oneself without first existing? Can something really come from nothing, or is infinity possible?)

Signed,
Confused