A Healthy Mind: Doing What Matters Most For Your Child's Developing Brain

Little kids everywhere have imagined what they will become as they grow up; a doctor, a musician, a teacher. As an eighth grader, I’ve been given the opportunity to look in-depth at what careers I should consider. Through surveys I’ve learned about my more prominent skills, which has led me to the discovery of paths I should take as I draw closer to high school. As I continue to see my results and take a deeper look at my possible plan for the future, I hope to learn more about myself, discovering a career choice I haven’t considered before, and end up with a better understanding of who I want to be.

Every child wants to “be something” when they grow up. A doctor, a lawyer, a veterinarian, the list continues indefinitely. Most people fixate on one particular career; even if it changes, at any given moment they have one goal. For some reason, that never happened for me. My friends and family would ask “what do you want to be when you grow up?” and I would immediately rattle off a laundry list of different things. “An inventor, a scientist, a dancer, a chef, a translator! I’m going to learn every language in existence!” was my excited reply. Apparently I was quite the ambitious child.

Growing up the main question a child is asked is, “What do you want to be when you grow up? “ , and most kids respond saying a doctor, lawyer, or a cop. In reality not everyone sticks to their first idea, and it’s slim that they actual start working in the chosen career. In my case, I have always wanted to work as a social worker or a therapist, but I realized it wasn’t in my budget. Therefore, I have decided; as well as, grew interest in being a dental assistant for a pediatric office.

The one question almost every young child or teenager asks themselves is, “What do I want to be when I’m older?” For many, the question remains unanswered, but for the ones who have researched careers, they may already know. Everyone has different interests; therefore, everybody will most likely want to do a different career. In life, people don’t normally end up working with their friends from high school or college; they branch off into their careers and may never really talk to them again. People do not choose careers from what their friends want to do. People choose from their interests in life, so researching careers is important when finding a job. The world of careers is massive: doctors, teachers, chiropractors, bankers,

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life´s coming attractions. (Albert Einstein)” Choosing a career at young age expands the imagination in one´s mind. At the age of five, my imagination was expanding because that was all I thought about. Growing up to me meant there would be plenty of responsibilities that would have to be taken care of. This is something that our parents teach us while growing up. What is more important of those teachings is the significance. If you can pursue any career path, then do it without the ideas of others. This is what I did.

Like many of the children growing up in a struggling socioeconomic community, I wanted to obtain a profession that would change my family dynamics, serve my community, and make my parents proud. Most children have dreams of becoming a doctor, lawyer, policemen, or firefighter. Although, they are prideful professions, I had visions of a career that rarely came up in daily conversation. If fact, it was so far from the mainstream during that time, high school guidance counselor were tasked to seek out possible candidates for the career field. I was selected as one of the prospects for a career that not many children in my neighborhood spoke of. As an 11th grader, I was invited to attend a two week seminar at the

As expected, I did not have a specific career goal as a child. Instead, my goal was to find a career that can assist me monetarily in rescuing my parents from financial turmoil. At the age of fifteen, I began working to ease the financial burden on my parents and ever since then, I struggled with the mental burden of providing my parents with a financially stable lifestyle. Consequently, ¬their struggles encouraged me throughout life because all of my goals were inspired by the idea of improving my parent’s financial

Ever since I was little I have dreamed about what I want be when I grow up. Well now I closer than ever to being a grown up. The basic skill and career cluster survey found on cfnc.org helped guide me on the path to finding a suitable career.

Cognitive processes can enable all other learning to take place, as well as children’s knowledge of the social and physical world. Strengthening children's cognitive development can be done through practicing cognitive skills and those concepts and skills in a variety of subjects such as, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science. Early cognitive skills include memory, thought, reasoning, and problem solving. Children will begin to show signs of memory when when they begin to reenact a series of events that they have observed at an earlier time. This is often seen when a young girl takes care of a babydoll the same way her mother does with younger siblings. By doing that the girl is learning to “recreate complex ideas, events, and situations

Growing up as a child and through school years, kids are asked what do they want to be when they grow up. When so young, children never really know what they want in life. Consequently, their response would be something referring to everyday life, or something or someone they admire the most. For instance, a superhero whose known to save the world, or a police officer whose known to help and protect you, your typical neighborhood heroes. I on the other hand always knew that being a young business owner, being in the medical field, and being a real estate agent were careers that I dreamed of.

“MOMMY! MAWWWMMY!” the little girl dressed like a princess shouted. “What? Whaaat?” The mother asked, glaring at a little computer screen.“I’m going to be a ballerina, pegasus, princess when I grow up,” the little one proclaimed proudly. “That’s great sweetie,” mom said cheerfully while turning to see her little peanut twirl and lose her balance. “SEE!” She squeaked stumbling to the side a bit and flashing the biggest, tiny smile. Mom clapped encouragingly. Almost every little girl or boy dreams of being a hair stylist, ballerina, football player, firefighter, veterinarian you name it, but not every tiny tike dreams of being a gastroenterologist. To be honest, neither did I. At least not until I was a tiny tot plus about twelve years.

The one question you hear all the time as a little kid is “what do you want to be when you grow up.” Most children give the same three answers: doctor, lawyer, or astronaut. The adult who asked the question usually replies with a little chuckle underneath their breath because they know what achieving one of these prestigious jobs entail. In today’s world only the elite will ever have a chance of receiving such an astounding career opportunity. Now, looking back at the top three answers given by children, the reality of becoming a doctor or a lawyer is much more likely than receiving the job as an astronaut. Today the qualifications you must meet to be eligible for this career include: exceling in an array of required skills, passing

Every kid wants to go to the moon one day, or save children and families from blazing fires They all have a dream. We were always asked the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The stereotypical jobs always came to mind. The thought of being an astronaut, floating through space and discovering the planets. The thought of being a firefighter and saving the town from disastrous flames. These were normally the first ones. Kids would always argue over who would be the best police officer. They would run around the playground playing “Cops and Robbers”, testing each other's heroic abilities. Then, there was me.

The understanding of young children is a concept that is forever developing and evolving. This is the result of the collaboration of multiple theories, giving society many insights into the life and development of a young child. Two theorists who act as pillars to the understanding of children are Jean Piaget, a cognitive theorist, and James Baldwin, an early developmental theorist. By analysing the two of them, it becomes clear how their early lives, study and upbringing led to the discovery of such intriguing theories revolved around both learning and development.

A child’s mind is said to be one of the most curious types; it is always wondering and questioning the world around it. As a child, I was always inquisitive towards the world around me. Although many of the children of my generation passed their time by playing with Barbie dolls or watching Disney Channel, I took it upon myself to search for answers and better understand the world around me by submerging myself within the books of my local library. As I read more and more, my interests began to broaden, and my keen admiration and curiosity for how and why things work in certain ways progressed. As I grew older, I became infatuated with science, and soon realized that it could be used to answer many of life’s most complex questions. In my prerequisite classes, I was always taught how things happen. For example, how nerves send signals to the brain, how the brain consists of different parts that work together, and how osmosis works. However, what happens if these nerves are severed, if one’s brain doesn’t function like it’s supposed to, or if one’s body retains too much water? These questions were all beyond the scope of any undergraduate class, which led me to take a keen interest in the composition and mechanisms of drugs, and subsequently a career in Pharmacy.