Girl Blog

Overwhelmed with Options

Usually, my teacher starts off English class by making us respond to a topic in our journals. I look forward to what question she has put on the board for us to answer. Some require you to think really hard and others simply ask for a yes or no answer with your reasoning. Today, I was not surprised to see the question. Though it was not new to me, I had to think about the answer for the longest time. It was the question that seemed to follow me everywhere I went, "What do you want to do when you're grown up?" This is the question that -to me- still remains unanswered.

When I was little, my favorite cartoon was Sailor Moon. It was an anime show about a young girl that discovered that she was a super hero called Sailor Moon. At that age, I was certain that my life goal was to be Sailor Moon. I remember insisting to my mom that she had to call me Sailor Moon from then on. That dream slowly changed into my desire to become a Pastry Chef for my love of cake. Then there was the time I wanted to be a Teacher because of my deep admiration for telling people what to do and teaching them to do new things. Right now, I want to be a concert violinist because music is a big part of my life and I would like to keep it that way. I still long to be a pastry chef, I want to teach kindergarten, I’d love to travel around the world, I want to write a book, and I have always considered being a veterinarian. This list can go on and on.

As a Eureka Intern I have had opportunities to explore a variety of careers in the past summers.  I learned to work in different fields with a number of people. My first internship was at the library where I was an assistant to the children’s librarian. I worked with children of all ages, organized books and even did a bit of reading. My second internship was at a non-profit organization, The Watershed Project. With a group of workers, we taught in recreation centers about the harm we cause to our environment and how we can protect it. These two internships gave me an idea as to what kinds of careers are available for me. Even with the hands-on opportunities, I still have trouble deciding what I want to do.

Every time someone asks me that question (which is often), I feel like I am being rushed to make up my mind. If I did make a decision, would I have to stick to it the rest of my life? I used to think that I had enough time to think about my profession but as college approaches, it seems like people want a straight answer. At this point, I have not made up my mind. With resources that Eureka has offered me, I have added new possible career choices; which has made my list longer. My mom tells me that I have enough time to think about my future goals, that nothing should ever be rushed because the outcome may not be the one that we desire. For now, I will focus on doing the hobbies that I love that might bring me closer to my unknown career and, maybe even try new things. By exploring, I can only learn more about myself and sooner or later, provide an answer to”the” question. The future is not set in stone so I still have enough time to explore just like Eureka has encouraged me to.