Learning What You Love
The dreaded question for teens everywhere: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It is an innocent and fun question to ask a toddler, but once a young person hits the teen years, it dredges up feelings of uncertainty and make teens feel they falling behind some unstated expectation.
Personally, I had no idea what I wanted to be until I was in my mid-30s. Even then, it has twisted, turned and morphed into something I never could have imagined, never mind articulated at the age of 17.
Instead of focusing on the career choice for a young person, I invite you to consider the idea of exploring what young people love. This approach is a recommendation often used for adults in the working world, as read in my current favorite business book, How We Work by Leah Weiss, and echoed in a recent New York Times article by Tim Herrera on finding happiness at work.
The concept is simple, and easily applied to early and later teen years as a way to discover possible fields of study… or even a career start. Essentially, the approach requires paying attention to the parts of the school day that students enjoy most. Two ways to go about this:
Activity Journal: Journaling can help identify trends/themes in areas of interest. Carrying a journal for a week, students make daily notes every time something in the school day captures interest, an intriguing discussion takes place, or an activity is enjoyed.
Diagram Your Schedule: Each week for a month, students look back at activities and assignments, jot down what was enjoyed and what was disliked. What was looked forward to? What was avoided? Similar to the above, this is less of an in-the-moment effort, and more reflective in nature.
In reviewing both exercises - something that can be done a few times a year - students, parents and guidance counselors can help identify areas of study to explore and potential careers that stem from those interests. Including extracurricular activities in this activity can add even more value.
Be careful to use this approach as a way to explore and not to prescribe. Expect that interests will change many times over the years. That’s OK. The practice itself is intended to help find the things students love and that will inevitably lead to fulfilling opportunities.