subject: Careers, Occupation And College Majors [print this page] When our oldest daughter was graduating from preschool they had a little program where they asked each graduate when they got their little certificate to pause at the microphone and say what they wanted to be when they grew up. The answers were typical for the age and everyone had big dreams. Our little girl had never in her life mentioned medicine, nursing or care giving, but when her big moment came she looked straight at the audience and proclaimed that she wanted to be a nurse. It was pronounced without the "R" as she struggled with that particular sound at that age. That was news to her father and I, a nurse. Sounded like a great idea. That night was forgotten and time marched on.
During high school she took a certified nursing assistance class and passed and was licensed to practice in the hospital or do home health care. She loved working with people, especially the elderly and eventually did receive her nursing license and now works in a hospital in Lafayette.
Our son on the other hand in now in his second year at the University and no idea what he wants to go into. He is not alone, many of his friends are struggling with the same thing. What to be when they grow up? A question that causes many sleepless nights and lots of wasted class time, credits and money. If you know you want to be a dentist from the time you step foot into college you save yourself a lot of time, worry and money, but if not, you have to take a lot of exploration classes to see what interest you and what you would like to pursue as a career. A long hard choice.
What to be when we grow up, a question that plagues most of us at one time or another. A firefighters, a doctor in Lafayette, an astronaut or a scientist, the world has need of all of these, why can't our lives ambitions be as clear as when we were five?
