When I was applying to high schools (yes, you do that where I live), I went to an interview for an academic program I was trying out for. I gave my spiel on why the school was a good fit for me, and what I wanted to get out of a "high school experience," and then the director of the program asked me a question that I got asked a lot (and frankly, still get asked a lot). "What do you want to be when you grow up?" My heart sank. I absolutely despise this question, when asked of anyone, especially kids. I cannot stress how horrible it made me feel growing up that I had to pick out what I wanted to do with my life from a very young age. Yes, I am aware that It is allowed to change, and you don't have to know, blah, blah, blah. It's just infuriating that we're forcing kids to think about their future so far in advance. Asking a seventh grader where they want to go to college and what they want to major is is crazy. Now, asking this of a high school junior or senior I can understand, but when you ask your 4 year old niece what she wants to be when she grows up, it puts pressure on her to decide (or it did for me). When I was in sixth grade, my homeroom teacher told my class that we were going to fill out a survey to figure out what we wanted to major in in college. I started crying. Right there in the middle of my homeroom class. People had been asking me for years what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I always told them that I wanted to be an engineer, or an actor, or a lawyer, but the truth was that I really didn't want to have to choose. I had years to figure that out. Years to try new things and decide whether or not I liked them. So, that day in the high school interview, I told the director that I didn't want to choose. I told him that high school was the time that I wanted to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. That's the answer that I want kids to be able to feel that they can give. That they don't have to decide yet. That they're still figuring out that they like and don't like. They don't have to grow up just yet. When I was in fifth grade, my teacher wanted to make a booklet for all the kids with photos of the kids holding up a chalkboard with what they wanted to be when they grew up written on it. I don't think I have the book anymore, but I think I said I wanted to be on broadway. I remember that all the photos had kids saying "doctor," or "lawyer," or "scientist," but there was one kid that stood out. Instead of writing his chosen profession, he wrote "happy." That's what kids should want to be when they grow up. Happy.
In honor of a dear friend of mine, whose birthday was yesterday. Happy 14! Just know that you don't have to grow up so soon. Enjoy high school while you can.