"I'm gonna be an astronaut!"
"When I grow up I'd like to be a kindergarten teacher."
"I want to find the cure for aids."
"I'll get married and have kids and a dog and we'll all live in the same house."
These are just some of many answers you might receive from children when they're asked about what their future plans are. Some will reach for the stars, so to speak, applying no limitations to what they could do. Others will gravitate towards what people in their immediate surroundings work with, either by applied influence or genuine interest. You'll also get a group who have considered their potential before deciding on something that they can achieve and equally enjoy.
One thing they all have in common is a level of ambition or aspiration, if you will. Whether or not the dedication to their desired career will carry through to adulthood is a whole other story. What I'd like to focus on is the concept of ambition in combination with a career.
My first memory of being faced with the classic question is at age 8 or 9, writing in a Friends Book where "what do you want to do when you grow up?" was placed last after questions on hobbies, favorite colors, and such. I recall sitting there, not being able to think of anything, and my stunned silence that followed when it became apparent I was the only one who didn't have a thought out answer ready or even an inkling of a possible career.
What did go through my mind was how ridiculous it would be to decide on a job at such an early age. Is it possible when you're 8 years old to truly grasp everything a job entails and determine that you'd be capable and committed to achieve that goal? Or did you decide to be a vet just because you were at the zoo and wanted to pet the animals?
At that age I was still very much the quiet girl, aware that my perception was not in harmony with my peers, therefore I never voiced any thoughts that would conflict others. So my entry to the career question changed each time I filled it in. No one questioned or challenged that course of action. Except me. For every Friends Book my frustration grew from being forced to give an answer I didn't have.
