Personal Narrative: Life After High School

It can be hard to know what one wants to do when they’re older. There are certain things to consider, like a level of interest in the topic, how much information one would already know, how much that will be needed to know, and to take in if this is what one would want to do in their future life. I know for me when I have to think about future plans it can really worry me. I tend to get stressed out, scared, and wanting to avoid the topic entirely, even though in the back of my mind I know I need to stop running away with what I need to currently take care of. It’s a lot like in the tragedy play of Macbeth. There was so much pressure to always be something more. If a right hand man of the king

when I was six years old. I discovered my passion for arts administration and political advocacy when I became a student

When I was young I never put serious thought into what I wanted to be when I grew up. I made up silly dreams like being a wrestler or a monster truck driver, but I could not see myself pursuing any of these professions. It was not until my junior year in high school that I started to think more in-depth about where I saw myself in ten years. I began to take criminal justice classes at a technical school and explored the different jobs within. Two years later I am in college and I am no longer pursuing a job in the criminal justice field.

medical profession so I could decide once and for all if I belonged there or not. I was instantly hooked. Once I

As a child, I always wanted to be a doctor and as I got older that changed. I then wanted to major

find my niche. I went from wanting to be a doctor to a nurse and eventually landed on an

Since I had three weeks to think about it and a lot of parental “attention” I decided on something. Wait that’s wrong I didn’t decide on something. It was more of I got hospitalized from a flare up of Crohn's Disease and I had to be in St. John’s for two days. I thought about it and realized that I could help people like the doctors that helped me and have a job where I would work with the people that would help me.

My mother (as any mother) would begin asking me questions about my plans after high school. “Do you have an idea on what job you are interested in”. "What college are you thinking about "? Before then, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. My mind was as blank as the paper I am writing on. Whenever I was with my dad, he would always tell me to find the job that you will enjoy doing every day. The only thing that came to mind that I could be is a teacher like my mother, a forensic scientist or detective, like the ones I saw on television every day after school. At that moment, I was still unsure on which one I should be, until I woke up finding out on social media that a close friend of mine has passed away and till this day whoever killed him is still out there. Ever since then I knew what I wanted to do, all I can see myself doing later in life: investing in a position in the law

As graduation nears, everyone asks "What're you going to do after high school?" I've always responded by saying I would be attending college, but I didn't ever think about the idea anymore than that. Recently, I have taken time to sit and actually think about what and why I want to do once I graduate.

“Whatever you do, make sure it makes you happy,” my grandfather once told me. I have been gradually planning my entire life ever since I could imagine. All I wanted to do as a young girl was to grow up. The thought of it fascinated me. When I was seven I wanted to work at Petsmart

All our adolescent lives we get asked the same question “What do you want to be when you grow up”? For me, I had no idea how to answer this question because there are so many options. I felt so lost because I could see myself in so many different career fields. I thought to myself I could be a teacher, architect, or a doctor. But, it wasn’t until my senior year of high school, when I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I remember as a kid, young teen, even up into this last year, I have contemplated where I wanted to take my future. I had thought about everything as a child from being a baker, to interior design, to

was. I believe that I started out like this. Being unsure of what I wanted to study and grow up to

I’ve never been that kid that knew exactly what they wanted to do. In fact, the common question of “what do you want to be when you grow up” has always been a difficult one to answer. My parents have told me that around the age of 5, I pronounced that I wanted to be a school bus. Not a school bus driver, but the actual vehicle. Even as an older child, I don’t remember having a clear idea for my future. In this way, I feel lucky because I haven’t committed to one profession, but able to explore what I liked best.

Ask question: How many of you knew exactly what you wanted to do after high school?