Finding Somewhereland

BY MARY ANN WILLIS, College Counselor - Bayside Academy, AL

You are 16? Do you remember 16? The older I get, the harder 16 is to remember. Did it ever drive you crazy when a caring, well-meaning adult inquired “What do you want to be when you grow up?” If I said, “Plastics!”–would that bring back any memory about trying to decide what your college major would be, what you wanted to be when you grew up, and/or where you wanted to work for, say, the next 30+ years? Certainly you had your future all planned out at 16 and things have gone e-x-a-c-t-l-y as you thought they would . . . yeah, right.

Where exactly are you on the I-know-what-I-wanted-to-be-and-I-stuck-with-it scale? The reality is that many of us don’t work in a field that we had as an undergraduate major. If we do, the changes that have taken place in our field since we were 16 are mind-boggling. At 16, I had no idea I wanted to be in education. Now I can’t imagine working in another field. But education, like every field, has changed dramatically. Change is unavoidable. If you can’t discern in life between when changes aren’t needed and when they are, you could be dead meat? unemployed? passed over? unhappy? all of the above?

Education is about exploration, dreaming, growing–becoming able to read, write, think and learn in a global way and being a lifelong learner. If you learn how to learn, really learn–not just for the tests you have to take in class or the job performance level you need, but for the real test of a productive, ethical, well-lived, meaningful and contributing existence, you stand a far greater chance of being vibrant, employed, successful, happy or all of the above.

I’ve recently conducted group guidance sessions with the 9th-11th grades. We’ve talked a lot about academic performance, test scores and what lies ahead. They are eager and curious, attentive and questioning. Many of them are also intimidated by, in awe of, or just flat scared numb about their futures. I used to tell them that I was their AAA tour guide through the college admissions process. Recently, someone told me “No . . . you’re more like their GPS.” That makes a lot of sense. Now, really successful travel takes more than a map and a triptik. But, to be successful, you don’t have to know now with immutable certainty what you’ll major in or exactly what kind of job you want. In a world that is increasingly complex, data- and technology-driven, and as Friedman notes, flat, we have the flash capacity to be in touch with everyone and everything. Figuring things out seems tons harder and more complicated than when you were 5 and wanted to be a fireman or a nurse.

It’s your job, and my job, to help our students find their bearings . . . and keep them preparing, planning, stretching, seeking and making their marks in the world. Empower them by encouraging exploration; help them connect real world experiences and performance now with future opportunities and options. In many ways, it’s about helping them find their vision about what they want to do and what they want to become. It’s not about what career we want them to have. They are unique separate individuals, truly a part of us, but distinctively separate. All we can do is stand on the sidelines, cheer, and be their GPSS, Grown-up Positioning Support System. If we are encouraging and supportive, hopefully, they won’t be stuck in neverland–they’ll find their very special somewhereland.