In junior high, my daughter was given career aptitude tests.
They declared she would make a great pharmacist, an idea that repelled her. She
wanted to be a fashion designer, an artist, not someone who studied medicine for
years and then worked behind a counter distributing pills.
At the Bible college where I teach, students are pushed to
declare a major. They enroll as a Sports Ministry major or a Pastoral Studies
major with an Intercultural Studies emphasis. Their career choices are
interwoven with their Christian calling which adds even more pressure to the
choice. Some students arrive their freshmen year with career goals oddly
defined: I am called to work with orphans in Romania.
Really!? How do you know?
My own life’s ambitions have rolled out like a tattered carpet
littered with failed dreams. I wanted to be a Bible translator in the 7th
grade. Yes, I know it is an odd career choice in junior high. But, I admired a
missionary woman who had come to speak at our Baptist church. She was a bit
bookish (like me) and loved Jesus (like me), so I figured I could quietly
follow in her leather, sandal-clad footsteps. Years later, after claiming my
first “C” in a phonetics class, I realized that dream would probably never come
to fruition.
I was focused on news journalism throughout college, until I
landed a part-time job at a daily paper in Normal, Illinois. I was thrilled by
the bustling newsroom and grumpy editors. I proudly took my place at the
copyediting station, typed in headlines, and corrected poor comma usage. My
heart beat quickly when I earned my first actual assignment and took the paper’s
car down to Springfield. As I bounded up the state capitol steps toward my
first press meeting, I felt like a real reporter.
Certainly, I had grown up.
But my dream spiraled downward from there. After a few months
at the paper, I realized I would never be a dedicated journalist. Rather than
thrilling me, the atmosphere of the newspaper office exhausted me. I found the
minute by minute news spewing from the AP wire more than a bit depressing.
Every few seconds I was reminded that houses were burning, kids were missing,
and people died. The cyclical nature of news and the crazed dedication of those
true journalists who loved to live at the office quickly sealed my fate. I
would never be a journalist – and that was my major.
Since then, my career has taken an odd and unexpected path.
I became a teacher reluctantly. I entered public relations because of an
unexpected job opportunity. I started fundraising writing because I found I was
good at it. I wrote a book – something I had secretly dreamed – but never
thought would come true. All of these odd parts have come together in a way I
never expected. I can only conclude it was God-ordained. I never would have
imagined it and it certainly never appeared in a career-finder chart.
To my daughter and to all of those feeling the pressure of
deciding what to be, I offer this bit of advice:
1)
Hold your plans loosely. Know that any dreams or
ideas of what you will be or should be may very well change. Life has a way of
interrupting or even rerouting those dreams. When I became a mother, I switched
to full-time teaching. It fit that lifestyle, and I enjoyed it. Since then, my
job has shifted again. And, I expect it will in the future. I know very, very
few people who are today what they thought they would be in college or
especially high school. It is fine to plan, but know that your dreams may
shift, doors may close, plans may change. You may find that what you end up
with is better than what you expected.
2)
Expect rough patches. After I graduated, I was
floundering. I took a job without benefits. It was a new position, and I didn’t
have a desk. I carried my stack of papers and belongings from vacant desk to
vacant desk. I was living at home because I couldn’t afford rent. I was
depressed. As I made endless copies and sealed hundreds of envelopes, I felt
like all my work and ambition had gone down the toilet. That happens. It is
part of life. Keep going. Trust that this is the long haul, not a short sprint.
Hang in there and keep your eyes open for the next opportunity.
3)
Know what you love. Rather than deciding on a
job, consider what you love to do, what you are good at. I wanted to love
journalism, but I finally realized that I never really liked being on the staff
of a paper. I liked the idea of being a reporter more than the actual job. I
wasn’t willing to sacrifice my time or lifestyle to achieve that dream. My
inclination toward journalism was not completely wrong. I did love writing. I
like interviewing and telling stories. I like interpersonal interaction with
others. Look at what you are drawn to and let that influence your choices.
4)
Don’t be surprised when some of your dreams
fail. Failing dreams does not make you
a failure. It may mean that they were never the right dreams in the first
place. Our big grand vision is what gets us off the couch and sends us on a
journey. But, we can also expect that our ambitions may change as we grow and
mature. Very few boys grow up to be a race car driver or fireman. Very few
girls are now ballerinas or princesses. We don’t realistically expect those
childhood dreams to come true. But, dreaming in itself is not bad. It is
shaping our vision.
5)
Be realistic. Think practically about the
lifestyle associated with the careers you are considering. If you want to be a
journalist (as I did), but you aren’t willing to work long hours or move to a
new city to pursue your dream, it might not be the best choice for you. Trying
to shoehorn your personality into a job that doesn’t match it will be a painful
learning experience.
6)
Keep striving. If you really want something, don’t
give up. This is especially true for artistic careers. It is not easy to become
a writer or a musician. It takes time. It takes years of doing jobs, sometimes
unpaid or on the side, before you can actually spend quality time pursuing your
true calling. Your career dream may not be lucrative. That’s okay. You will do
it anyway.
I don’t have all the answers, but I do know that a career
builder test would never have predicted my path. Only God knew, and I am
thankful for His hand that guided me in ways I never expected.
For years, Psalm 32:8 was my favorite verses: “I will
instruct you and teach you in the way you should go, I will counsel you with my
loving eye on you.”
God knows you better than anyone else. He has His loving eye
on you. His ways are not our ways. His path is best. Trust in that. Move ahead.
Do what you love. Enjoy each stage of your life without focusing on what you
never achieved.
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