Leticia Desouza
Staff Writer
Photo by Leticia Desouza.
While growing up, we would often have an idea of what we want to be when we grow up, ideas such as being a doctor, firefighter, a vet, a dentist, an astronaut and the list goes on.
For some they serve as motivation to do well in school. As for others, it is a goal they must reach to support those who they care for.
When we’re kids, these jobs seem so tangible, and easy to get. But as we get older and begin understanding how the world outside works, the so tangible dream begins to fade into the distance as we try to figure out what is the best way to survive in the real world.
I myself have a dream job. From when I was little, I would dream of working as a doctor and treating those who need it. I had a little doctor’s kit with the necessary tools for a check up. I would take the little kit, and go around and treat my family members as well as some of my friends. I remember it giving me joy to see my patients smile at my services.
I held on to the idea of becoming a doctor, and of working in the medical field. But the more I grew, I began to realize how my dream job wouldn’t be achievable if I didn’t work hard on my studies. With the soon realization that my dream could be a very hard task to reach, also came more ideas, and opinions of the idea of “dream jobs” in general.
And so now, at 16 years old, I can honestly say that I have no idea of what my future will be like. I want to be successful with my studies to get a fair job that will pay me enough to support myself, and my family. But I also don’t want to stay in one place for my whole life. I want to explore new areas and new skills. To see what I can do with the things I learned from the previous places I’ve been to. With this mindset, I try to keep my mind open to different possibilities of where my life can head towards. I try to keep tabs on what interests me currently so that I can find jobs that will be supported by those interests and I will enjoy doing that job a lot more.
My more recent experiences have led me to the realization that our society is overly focused on work. From a very young age, we are often asked the big question of “What will you be when you grow up?”. But what most adults don’t realize is that many of those young individuals haven’t lived enough to make up their mind of what they will be doing for the rest of their lives. It was very nice of my mother to buy me a toy doctor’s kit when I was little, but would she have bought me another kit if I wanted to follow through with a less respected job? Society is so focused and obsessed with work that many forget that the “dream job” isn’t the biggest goal. One’s job doesn’t need to be the ultimate goal, it just needs to be what the person is enjoying at the current moment.
Our thoughts and our goals are continually changing throughout our lives. Nothing is permanent. This is the same thing for jobs. Our ideas about what we want to do with our lives can change momentarily or never change at all. This depends on how each individual is and what they want to pursue.
Overall, I feel like the idea of “dream job” should not be as normalized. The topic itself can cause a damaging mindset to the individual thinking about it. Instead a more healthy approach should be introduced for people to choose what they want to do with their lives. The approach would be to follow what you currently enjoy the most. This way, individuals would be satisfied with the things they are doing without going with the ultimate goal of a “dream job”.
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