What do you want to be when you grow up?

Has the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” ever kept you speechless? It was in the month of August of 2015 where I first seriously thought about what I was going to do after my time in school. In hindsight, I’ve come to realize that, although this question inspires people with what they could be, it can also narrow down the choices of what people could be. I strongly believe that setting the right goal is the secret to success.

So I thought about it for a while and began to list out the things that I was passionate about and the things that I thought I was good at. After speaking to my friends and family for the next couple of months, I felt that my choices began to narrow down as I was told by many people that my choices for my higher studies needed to be specific and should lead to a career in the long run. I came to realise that focussing on a narrowly focussed life has been romanticized for too long in our society.

But the thing was, I had many interests at that time in school. I enjoyed swimming after school as much as I did doing drama or in taking part in competitions or making new friends in some of the clubs in school. I simply couldn’t figure out what path I was to once I was done with school. I knew that I wanted to be successful. So I decided to get advice from someone that I identified to be successful. I don’t want to dwell into the specifics of what success is. I simply wanted to speak to someone that I was inspired by.

After a brief chat with this particular individual, I came to realize that as humans, we tend to learn from our mistakes and experiences. What better way to know the career path that I needed to take until I tried it out for myself ! Inspired by this particular individual, I was thinking, what better place to pursue my higher studies than in the United States! The possibility of getting a full scholarship was very appealing to me as well!

Shortly afterwards, I started preparing for my SAT at Prep Academy while care- fully working on my university applications to the top three universities that were in my mind at that time.

Long story short, I didn’t get a full scholarship to the university that I wanted to get into but, I did manage to get one to the university that was my third choice, which was good enough for me. My parents were thrilled of course!

I am currently in Sri Lanka for my summer break and am on the verge of completing my internship at a prominent information technology services company. I will be flying back to the US next week to complete my third year of studies and have also decided to change my major to a different field of study that I feel I am more passionate about.

If there’s any advice I could share with someone who isn’t able to answer the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, it is that you should set the right goals for the right reasons. Don’t always be pressured to narrow your focus. Innovation comes from the intersection of multiple fields. Being a little open to the possibilities will help you to adapt to the situation and to learn faster. Always make sure that your objectives are significant, concrete, actionoriented, Inspiring. Especially to yourself. That will ultimately get you through your finals and will help you achieve key results. Most importantly, always answer the question ‘Why?’

Please feel free to contact me on 0779111617 for more information.

So I thought about it for a while and began to list out the things that I was passionate about and the things that I thought I was good at. After speaking to my friends and family for the next couple of months, I felt that my choices began to narrow down as I was told by many people that my choices for my higher studies needed to be specific and should lead to a career in the long run. I came to realise that focussing on a narrowly focussed life has been romanticized for too long in our society.