The delicate art of choosing wisely

It’s tough deciding which career path will bring the most reward

Grade 9 students in the Collective Voice program at Aden Bowman Collegiate share their lives and opinions through columns. Selected columns run each Monday in The Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

“What should I be when I grow up?” has always seemed like a hypothetical question. But now that I’m in high school, it’s more of a reality.

I have always been told to do something I love. That’s a logical choice, as we always seem to be best at what we love. Why? We care. However, something can stop us from doing what we love: fear. What if I do what I love now and end up hating it later?

A study conducted by Hays Recruitment Agency Canada in 2016 brought to light the increasing number of people expressing dissatisfaction with their jobs. In a survey of 2,500 people, 47 per cent stated that they were unhappy with their jobs.

Maybe these statistics show there is something to fear — that not everything will turn out the way we would like.

Do these statistics show that people are choosing careers based on status, money, or their definition of success?

Or do they show that they choose their occupation based on their passions at the time, but their interests grow and change?

Aside from choosing a career based on your passions, pressure can also be a major factor in a career choice. Surely, most teens have felt that slight pressure to follow in their parents’ footsteps.

When I was younger, I thought I would eventually pursue a career in business, but it wasn’t that I had a dying passion for it. It was what my parents, aunts and uncles did. It was the career that surrounded me.

As I look back now, it’s funny how things turned out. I still don’t have any dying passion for entering the business world, but both my older siblings have chosen to study business in university.

We may want to be exactly like our parents when we are young, understandably, because that is what we know. As we grow up and get older, we develop our own interests. Sometimes it leads us in a new direction and sometimes it takes us back around the circle.

As much as we all want to be as happy as possible, another factor may turn us away: money. This is especially true since the cost of living has increased significantly. When my parents were younger, a really nice house cost $100,000. Today, a similar house may cost four or five times that price.

Sometimes you may end up with a job you don’t like, just because of the money it brings. However, certain things could make a job you dislike substantially better. What if you choose a job you expect to be very successful at and donate a surplus of money to charity? Would that make it worth it? For a lot of us, helping others brings joy. I think that, ultimately, it depends on the person’s values.

What do I want to do? I most likely will not enter the business world. I might pursue a more artistic career path, like architecture. Or maybe I want to physically help others on a day-to-day basis in an occupation like dermatology, or by becoming a sleep medicine specialist.

I believe selecting the optimal career requires balance in three areas: success, passion and a way to fulfil a purpose. These three areas are all key components to success, but when put together they are synergistic. In spite of all this, we all need to remember at the end of the day that our careers are not everything.

In the words of Robert Frost: “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on …”

Whether or not we choose the right career, life will keep going.

As we grow up and get older, we develop our own interests. Sometimes it leads us in a new direction and sometimes it takes us back around the circle.