When I grow up, I want to be a teacher. When I grow up, I want to be a veterinarian. When I grow up, I want to be an actress.
You might get the image in your head that these were said by three separate, completely different, Lunchable-loving third graders. Actually, they were all said by me before I hit double digits. So apparently in a nine year time span, I felt it was in me to teach children their colors, arithmetic, and the story of Stella Luna, medically take care of dying pets, and become the next Julia Roberts minus the obnoxiously large mouth.
First off, I think asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up is like asking a meteorologist to predict the weather for August… Of 2013. There’s no way they can make an intelligent judgment with the unpredictable circumstances.
Then again, fast forward to when I am 24 and not only can I not predict the future, but I can’t even give you potential options. This time my responses need to take into consideration a) if this job I pursue will fit well with my starting my own family one day b) do I need to set aside many years of my life to go back to school for it? C) if I go back to school, how many more thousands of dollars will I be in debt? Which takes me back to my first point – if I am in debt, how can I start a family?
I am 24 going on nine. I don’t know where my path is yet. I have a boyfriend who just graduated law school. I am so proud of him not only because he achieved such a great accomplishment in life, but also because he chose something about which he is passionate.
But, I don’t feel too intimidated, because those around me are all over the career spectrum. There’s me who enjoys my full-time job, but is waiting to find that “spark.” My boyfriend who found that spark and will always look forward now to his Mondays through Fridays. My friends who have demanding jobs but still enjoy them. The ones who aren’t crazy about the position, just the people they work with and the name brand company that they can associate with. Then the ones who make bank, but tell me everyday, “Adrianna, I hate my job.”
In this economy, each of us are just lucky to have a job. I shouldn’t complain, but I feel as if I am going through some mid-20’s life crisis. What do I need to do to move forward and make my life richer… Making myself financially richer wouldn’t hurt either.
You grow up thinking if you don’t know what you are going to do, then it will at least be figured out after you graduate college, because it just has to, right? Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Nowadays, instead of just entering into jobs people don’t know if they want to do, others will go back to Grad school, because the “Masters” is the new “Bachelors.”
At the end of the day I just have to appreciate that I work with people I like, and enjoy many parts of my job. Heck, there are people about to retire who never found that “spark,” but are happy. Maybe that will be me? After all, maybe only one out of ten Lunchable-loving third graders is really able to find the dream job, or at least knows someone who knows someone who works somewhere like Cosmopolitan Magazine or ABC.
