My idea of updating my blog twice a week has definitely been defeated before it had even begun. I have the crappiest luck in the world when it comes to technology and, after having it exactly a month, my new laptop is in for repair. Don’t ask, seriously. But better late than never, I fancied writing about young people and their future.
From a very young age, we’re expected to know what we want to do, how we’re going to get there and have a plan in place. What?! I really don’t see how you would be anywhere near knowing what you want out of life under the age of twenty…but in the professional world this, apparently, makes logical sense.
Probably from the age of about four, there’s a common theme that starts to occur and you’re asked somewhat frequently ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’. Being the little hopeful and naïve four year old that I was, I would respond ‘the angel on top of the Christmas tree’. Cute, eh? Unrealistic in all senses – I obviously didn’t think about the technicalities of it only being a part time job, includes a strenuous balancing act on the top of a tree 24/7 for a few days, what must four year old me have been thinking to have considered such a crappy job?! I can tell you, she was thinking like a four year old. At that age I had no aspirations for a professional career, and in fact…I didn’t have any aspirations for what I wanted to be up until about the age of 14-ish.
At the age of 14, I had to choose my options for what subjects to take in school. When this was happening, teachers were constantly trying to shove in the front of my mind that the subjects I was choosing as a 14 year old will affect my choice of career FOR LIFE. No. I totally took that idea and threw it out of the window. I chose a music diploma because I could play guitar and piano so thought it would be easy…and triple science because I liked blowing things up. So unless they were convinced I was going to be a musical bomb maker…it’s fair to say I didn’t have a career in mind when I chose those.
At one point, though, I was dead set that I wanted to become a child psychologist and was very focused on that. I picked up psychology text books to read in my spare time, looked at psychology and sociology courses all through Yorkshire to get an idea of where I would go when I left school and was convinced that this was my path – my calling. Well…until I ended up being a Project Manager in a team focused on Innovation for my local water company. Things change, nothing is set in stone.
I don’t know what I want to do now. Honest to god, I do not think I will be an Innovative Project Manager for the rest of my life…I’m looking into occupational health, Human Resources…still a little in psychology. I have a job and am working on a degree and I can openly say that I STILL don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. And that’s why the school system REALLY peeves me off. The amount of young people I see stressing about their future because they haven’t figured it out yet is ridiculous. Just because at the tender young age of 15, you don’t know where you’re going to be in 20 years…doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. Trust me. Just because you haven’t decided yet does not mean the world will stop spinning. Take your time, figure it out and take the chances that come your way – and when you’ve done that…you may well change your mind on what you want to do and start all over. AND THAT’S ABSELUTELY FINE. We have choice for a reason.
A video that probably explains my thoughts on the subject a lot better than what I’ve just written is from a YouTuber named Emma Blackery. She’s brilliant, been following her for a while and she just seems to sum up everything I’m thinking into actual words. So check her video out on her thoughts on the same kind of subject :
(keep tuned to her ‘feel good 101’ videos! They’re fab)
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