A high school junior/senior's most dreaded question: What are you going to study?
For some, the answer is easy: Mechanical engineering! Physical therapy! Writing! As adults, we're so thrilled these kids have a path and relieved their search is over. For others, the answer is this: [crickets chirping....] They are interested in lots of things: robotics and ceramics and math and cooking and Spanish and Greek plays... but they're not set on what they want to do forever. When I meet these students I forgo the "what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up?" questions and instead focus on the "what-kind-of-life-do-you-want-to-live?" ones:
Only after they answer these do I then ask: What are you good/bad at? Math, science, language, art? What moves you? Figuring out the life you want to lead first and then marrying these choices with your skills gives you the chance to create a path that you won't regret when you're 40. After all deciding you hate working in an office at a desk alone might not be the best career for a computer scientist. So, next time you start to utter that dreaded question, ask instead: What kind of life do you want to lead? Then listen.
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Who?A College Counselor who asks and answers the tough questions. Archives
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