For years now I’ve been asked by various people what I want to do with myself… when I grow up; when I finish school; and now when I finish uni. Over these years I’ve developed a variety of responses to these questions. When I was in primary school I was convinced that I would become a Marine Biologist & spend my days swimming with Whale Sharks off the coast of Western Australia. It was a very specific fantasy that seemed to please adults who would ask me and so, for a number of years I stuck with the same story.
As I developed into a teen and I learnt more about myself & my interests I realised that perhaps Marine Biology wasn’t the right career choice for me. I spent years thinking that I was the only one of my age who didn’t know what they wanted to do at uni & then for the rest of my life. All my friends seemed to know exactly what they wanted to do, how they were going to do it, & how the rest of their lives would turn out. It’s funny looking back on these final years of high school where I spent a lot of time worrying about why I hadn’t figured out what to do with my life and in reality no one really knows what they want and everyone is constantly changing their minds!
Now that I’ve left school I’ve come to terms with the idea that there are many different pathways to deciding what career choice to make. One of the only disappointing things I experienced at school was that we were always told how the next stages of our lives would turn out, following a pretty standard routine of finishing school, heading straight to uni, and then after successfully completing the degree, traveling, entering the workforce and doing something that you enjoy for the rest of your working life.
In actual fact there aren’t many people from my year group who are following that plan. Some people decided that they didn’t like their course and have since changed and others have decided that perhaps uni isn’t the right place for them. It’s nice to know that I’m not alone in having difficulties making up my mind!
I have always considered myself to be rather a pragmatic person. I tried not to get too caught up in sticking to plans and instead doing something that makes me happy. Since leaving school I have experienced a number of things that I never thought I’d be exposed to and I have certainly learnt a lot. There are many changes that I have made in the last 3 years & I’m grateful for the support I’ve had from my family.
Since moving universities at the beginning of the year I have decided that the current course I am in, whilst I’ve completed 2.5 years of it, it’s not quite right for me. Many people would consider this a waste, that I have spent a lot of time at uni and haven’t really got anywhere. I, on the other hand see it as growth. Without experiencing student life and the Speech Pathology course I would never have been able to make up my mind on what really suits me the best. I can say with a fair amount of conviction that my new chosen direction could just be what I’ve been looking for. I’ve settled for studying Secondary Teaching. I’ll be staying in Newcastle and I’m excited that I’ve finally been able to make a decision. I hope that once I complete my course and become a teacher I’ll be able to channel all the positive experiences I had as a student to create positive relationships with students and hopefully help them understand that life isn’t straight forward. It’s hard, but ultimately if you do what makes you happy it’s possible to make a difference in the lives of others.
I’m still young and whilst I currently feel like I’m heading in the right direction I don’t really know if anyone can realistically tell you what they want to be when they grow up.
xxo Ariane
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Journal of a Whimsical Daydreamer 