For as long as I can remember I’ve been asked what I want to be when I’m older. Although technically, this question is pretty broad and lacks specification, it’s common knowledge that it implies the person asking expects a career- based response. You would think after years of preparation, I would be able to answer without any hesitation. However, even in the third year of my program, I am unsure of my response.
When we’re young, roughly 6 years old, everyone’s responses are somewhere along the lines of rockstar, astronaut, princess, or whatever career their mom or dad pursues. I vividly remember for me it was a flight attendant. Although it may seem super random, it was simply because my older brother wanted to be a pilot, and just as every good little sister does, I was determined to be anywhere he was.
Fast forward to grade 6 when we were first introduced to the iconic site, “Career Cruising”. At this point in my life, I was still very determined to choose a career that was geared or relevant to the things I loved. This is why I was beyond excited when my top results were marine biologist (we all had that phase), and dance teacher. I remember how excited my teacher was to see how varied my suggested career paths were due to my many interests. Technically I also got a plumber in my top 3 but I don’t necessarily fancy toilets, so I like to find bliss in ignorance and pretend it wasn’t ever listed.
Then grade 10 rolled around and I had to take the careers and civics course. In the career course, we had to take a bunch of personality tests that included what type of learner you are, and what side of your brain is dominant. It’s important to note that at this point in time, I genuinely had zero clue as to what I wanted to pursue career- wise. Because of this, I was extremely excited to take all these tests since I was convinced they would point me in the right direction, that did not occur. Instead, I ended up getting inconclusive tests. I was equally spread out for the different learning types. I tested exactly 50/50 for left and right brain dominance on 3 different websites. All my other classmates were able to take their results and get matched with a career. I, on the other hand, was told “The world is your oyster” by my teacher. This statement grew to be an absolute trigger for me.
When I eventually reached the age where you have to decide what you want to pursue, I was extremely overwhelmed and wished I was in a society similar to “The Giver” where they just assign you to the role you’re best suited for. Obviously, that was not the case. I was so confused on the matter that my parents had hired an actual career test worker to help me, but as per usual she had concluded that the world was my oyster and I would thrive in any direction.
On top of the pressure from authority figures telling me that this decision would determine the rest of my life, I was also constantly seeing more and more classmates discover what their dream job was. I ended up learning that engineering is a great stepping stone that keeps many doors open career- wise, and so that’s what I ultimately decided to study, which allowed for my career problem to remain a problem for later.
I was constantly in a state of feeling alone, thinking everyone in the world’s career paths were straight forward and figured out. However, as I go through university and meet more people, I’ve come to learn that it’s not a linear process. There’s no need for me to get myself worked up by comparing other people’s paths to my own. At the end of the day, it’s good to remember that everyone is on their own journey with their own timeline.