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What do I want?

Now that I’m in high school, everyone’s favorite question is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I’ve answered a million different things: doctor, journalist, lawyer, therapist, PR officer, neuroscientist; the honest answer is, I don’t know. But if I tell people that, they just give me a look of unconcealed disappointment.
It’s been drilled into our heads that we need to take the classes that align with our desired career paths in order to be successful. If you want to be a doctor, Biomed and AP Bio is the way to go. Or if being an author has been your dream since you learned how to write, you should take classes like Creative Writing and AP Comp.

 But what if you don’t know what you want to be? What then?

 There is so much unnecessary pressure to know exactly who you want to be right now. But the thing is, high school can still be a fruitful experience despite not taking all of the classes that “go with” what you want to do. This is a time to experiment, to see what you like and what you don't. Two of my favorite classes this year, orchestra and journalism, have almost nothing to do with each other, but both helped me develop skills beyond the curriculum which are not only useful in college, but life in general. Communication, time management, working on a deadline, listening to others; these are just a few of the things I've learned from these classes. It proves that even if I don't end up majoring in music or journalism, those slots in my schedule were not wasted. These four years are just the beginning of the journey. The end destination does not yet have to be set in stone.

By the beginning of freshman year, everyone “hates school.” But this isn't because the teachers are bad, or the material is boring, or people lost interest all of a sudden. High schoolers still have passion for learning and new experiences. But this passion is being stifled out by a sense of duty to fill schedules to the brim with “important” classes. It's what makes coming to school not something enjoyable, but just another thing to check off of the list in order to go to college.
What people forget is that despite everything, despite the driver’s license and the part-time jobs and the internships, we're still kids. We don't have it all figured out. And that's okay.
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