I remember sitting in my Grade 10 careers class thinking that I had to decide on my future job right then and there. I mean, what’s the point of asking a 16-year-old to do a presentation on the ins and outs of the industry they want to go into? In my opinion, they should have added an “I have no idea what I’m going to do with my future yet” option to the assignment.
It has become socially acceptable to expect that young people know what they want to do when they’re older. Even younger kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up, to which they normally respond, “princess, firefighter or movie star.” My question is: why are we demanding answers at such a young age?
These questions at age five, in careers class, in high school in general and in Grade 12 especially when applying to university programs have forced me to think years ahead when it comes to my career. This is unnatural. Yes, we should be somewhat planning our next move in life, but not to the extent that is demanded of us now. I do want to say that it is not impossible to choose another path once you’ve already gone down one but it’s just not the easiest to admit you want the change and take the necessary actions to get it. I have witnessed people in my life decide that they didn’t want to pursue what they have studied for years, and that’s okay. We’re allowed to change our minds and many people do. It’s not really surprising that later in life people don’t like the decision that their 16-year-old self-made and therefore change their careers.
Now that I’m in a business program at university, the next big thing that I’m expected to have a plan for is my career. Through the co-op program at Laurier, I have had a taste of what that could look like but as someone who is not confident about what I want my future career to be, I’m still playing defensively. I was looking for a job that I liked but I know that subconsciously I was also looking for one that wasn’t too specific so that I could keep my options open. Furthermore, I was also looking for a job that could lead to a career that won’t be too work heavy so that I could have a good work-life balance. Isn’t there something wrong with that? A 19-year-old thinking about work-life balance? The expectations I have set up for myself stem from what I experienced as a kid. Both my parents worked from home, were incredibly successful in their careers and also managed to be present for every part of my growing up. I now understand how rare and special that is.
So why am I already worried about my future work-life balance? Because I have always been expected to plan years ahead. I know that I am years off from having a family of my own, but I sometimes catch myself wondering if my career or the career of my future partner will allow me to raise my family the way that my parents raised me. I want to be a successful businesswoman and a caregiver for my future family at the same time. Today, that might seem impossible, but I know it’s not.
To anyone to feels that their future depends on the decisions they make today, know that you are not alone. To any woman who feels that it doesn’t matter what their job is because they’re going to have to quit it anyway when they have kids, know that’s not true. To any man who feels societal and biological pressure to be extremely successful so that they can provide for a family, know that maybe your partner will be the breadwinner, which is okay.
We all have expectations about our futures and worry about what will happen if things don’t go exactly as planned. The decisions we make each day do affect our future, but not as much as we all think.