(rather than just design some stuff for boring corporate companies) Picking a company you can believe in and going to work for their design department is proba

(rather than just design some stuff for boring corporate companies) Picking a company you can believe in and going to work for their design department is probably the best way to make a positive difference in the world while also being able to pay the bills. Plenty of companies are doing "good work" in the world. The world would be a vastly worse place without business as usual for all kinds of products. Improving some of those products can make a meaningful difference. There is plenty of time to think about how to make a really serious difference. It doesn't have to be solved today. After you get a bit of experience, you can pivot to something that you feel fits that criteria. I tend to not like these types of questions because a bunch of internet strangers are generally speaking not somehow magically more qualified than you are to decide how to make a "real" difference in the world. The short list of people with such answers are typically working on them in some way and it often doesn't pay the bills. Best.