I think the giving up dreams to do something more "realistic" is a common thing for many people. For some people it works out well. Some others regret not at least trying to do what they loved for a living. And the time that you will be discouraged from doing it, when you are first entering the workforce or considering uni, is when you are likely in the best position to try it as many but not all people are still with their parents at 18 and don't have the expenses an adult out of their parents house would face if they tried to change direction (nor the struggle of trying to do it part time alongside full time work and other time consuming responsibilities that may not be apparent before moving out of home).

Right now personally, I'm just trying to get a job after ending up out of work for a bit and trying to be successful on Steemit and YouTube while also studying full time. I'm hoping to get permanent part time work but enough hours to be able to make enough to be a useful income and still have the option of studying part time and continuing on with my home business and I want to buy a house and I want to do respite foster care. I ultimately want the study to be part time, to be working part time and to be doing my creative stuff part time and also have a house and pets (renting we can only have fish etc - we have red cherry shrimp) and I'd love to do respite foster care but it doesn't feel right now. It is a later once all of this is sorted thing.