Interests
Update on Last Post
Looking over this past week, I’ve been
fairly successful with maintaining all of the habits I set out to create,
except for waking up at 6 am. That still hasn’t happened consistently, but I
will keep trying to implement it anyways.
Also if I remember to post this on Friday, which is the day I’ve decided
I will be updating, I will have successfully maintained this new habit as well.
Pushed
As I study to become a High School
English Teacher and hope to become a writer, I can’t help but feel pushed
towards a career in science, math, engineering, or technology (STEM). Every
other day it seems as though I’m hearing about how there are shortages in those
majors, the jobs in those fields make tons of money, and they will be the next
new innovators (1, 2). Although the intentions of these promotions aren’t to
put down other fields and disciplines like the liberal arts, education, and the
arts in general, that is the effect. Who hasn’t heard the offensive saying
that, ‘those who can’t do teach’? How many people were told by their parents to
not pursue a career in art, music, or theater, because it was unrealistic?
Some Stats
According to a study done by an education
not for profit ACT, 67% of 1.2 million high school graduates didn’t pick a
major that was a “good” fit based on their interests, including 32% that
selected a major that was a “poor” fit (3). These statistics align with a study
from Pew Research center that says less than half (49%) of American workers are
“very satisfied with their current job” (4).
Parental Pressure
It isn’t just companies, advertisers, and
societal adages that are discouraging people from chasing what they want. Plenty
of parents push their children towards jobs that they don’t want. My
older-younger sister’s friend would love to pursue a job in art, but her
parents basically said a job is to make money, not for your hobbies. My very
successful English professor chose his career path against the wishes of his
father, who wanted him to become a lawyer or doctor. Similarly, an orchestra
director at a local college I had in middle school had his parents tell him
that a career in music wasn’t a viable option. He told us before we continued
practicing that it was very possible, you just had to be flexible and keep
making connections with different players and conductors to hear about more job
opportunities. My older-younger sister wants to have a career in theater, and
she just met someone who has made a career enough to support his family doing
exactly what she wants to. He isn’t famous, he isn’t in movies, but he’s doing
what he wants.
We Do Need STEM
I want to be clear. This isn’t to put
down STEM careers. Obviously, we do need more people in them. Just ask former
President Obama or the myriad of celebrities promoting STEM (5, 6). But if
people are going into STEM merely because of the money, they won’t be any good,
because miserable people probably won’t do a good job. Plus, who wants to wake
up every day for the rest of your working career waiting for five o’clock to
finally roll around? Definitely not me. When I finished a Mock Trial in eighth
grade everyone kept telling me how great I did and that I really should be a
lawyer. While I don’t know whether they were just telling me I did great, to
reassure me, because of how nervous I was and how much I dreaded the entire
class, let alone the trial, they were right in that I could be a lawyer. I
would just be a miserable one. I could be an engineer, or a nurse, or major in
business, like my dad, but I wouldn’t enjoy it.
The Joy of the Passionate
When I talk to various people, sometimes
I’ll get luck enough to hear what they’re passionate about. People who I
thought just acted infuriatingly nonchalant towards everything start using
endless hand motions. Whereas before they would say three words maximum in a
conversation, they won’t stop talking about whatever they actually enjoy.
That’s when I like people. It’s so powerful to see what people are passionate
about, that it can actually make me feel swept up in it to the point where I
forget that I have no interest in being a mathematician, political science
major, nurse, or a thespian. Their enthusiasm is bizarrely contagious. Then
after the conversation moves on, I come back to the realization that I don’t
have those interests. But for a moment I did. While they were showing me how
they see it, it was the most interesting thing in the world, even if I couldn’t
completely understand what they were saying.
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