Helping Teenagers Find Their Dreams
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‘Sup GBD!
The New York Times had a Question-and-Answer article for parents who want to help their teens figure out what the heck they want to do with their lives. Even though the Q&A is meant for parents, I thought some of y’all out there might find it useful. Maybe if your parents are stressin’ you about college and such, you can sneak the article to them somehow. Hehe.
Here’s an excerpt:
Q. What if your teenager has no idea what career to pursue and no desire to discuss it?
A. That’s the time to back off, Ms. McLean said, because some students just aren’t yet ready to explore questions about their future. “They will figure it out eventually, as long as you bring it up periodically and leave open the possibility of a dialogue,” she said.
Remember that it’s rare for 17-year-olds to know exactly what they want to do in life, Ms. Chansky said. “Help them identify the things they do know about their likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses,” she said. “This will show them they have some information, even if they don’t have it all,” and they can eventually translate that data into potential career pathways.
Go to the article to read the rest.
Alyssa
November 12, 2009Great article Kathy!
I have, or should I say HAD a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do when I grow up, but just the other day my mom asked me if it’s really what i wanted to, she told me I really need to answer that for myself. My dream for the past 6 years was to work in business, and get a business degree, my mom told me that she thought I was just in love with the idea of working in business administration/management, she said that I was more than capable of doing it, but she just couldn’t really see me doing it, I think because of my personality(I’m very laid back, and kinda quite).
She was absolutely right, well to some degree. I want to own my own business, and I’m excited about that, but there’s something else I want to try as a career that I’ve been too scared to admit.
So the moral of this long post is that sometimes, yes sometimes our parents are right! Sometimes our parents know us better than we know ourselves, and can be helpful with the “What to be when I grow up” question. I’m not gonna lie and say my parents haven’t stressed me out asking “what are you gonna do with your life” but they really have our best interest at heart.