The Dictated Future?

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Have you ever set yourself a goal? Something that you have always wanted to do or have? But how many of these times have these goals, which could have once been reality, faded away into dreams, or these dreams faded away into wishes, or even these wishes faded into the unrealistic or hopeless. We all have things we want to do in our lives, whether it is a list of one hundred things or a sentence with one thing. You may not even know what you want or where you want your life to go yet. Many people don’t. That’s okay. The ideal is that at the age of 16 you have your whole life planned out in front of you. School, then college, then university, to pay all this money to then get a job in a career you might not want, but because it’s what you thought you wanted at such a young age and took the path of, you are now stuck there. You study all your life. For what? To end up in a dead end job doing something you wish you weren’t? Knowing what you want, that’s the ideal. But It’s just not the truth. It’s what everyone expects of you, and at such a young age I don’t even know what I want to do at the weekend. Never mind years and years on in the future. Don’t Panic. Okay?

 

I have my wish. I have my dream; and I damn well think I have my goal. I have things I want from my life and things that will get me to where I want to be, or things that will help me achieve my goal. I won’t map out my plans for you just yet; I want to keep you guessing.

 

The thing is, to get where I want to be, I don’t believe you need University or degrees. The media and pretty much a lot of adults will disagree with this. They will say ‘Go to uni and get a degree’ because it’s the only thing they know. It’s the norm. It’s what we are expected to do. People can’t cope with the idea of breaking away and doing something different, it’s unexpected and a shock and, let’s be honest, people don’t like change.  But who wants to be like everyone else? I thought the whole point in applying for a job or writing a CV was to show what you have to offer that is different from others. The things that would get you hired. The things that make you the one best chosen candidate. Right? So why would we want to follow everyone else? Why would we choose to throw away those years of our lives just to get a few words on a piece of paper that declares us more worthy of that job? Or does it? I was always under the impression that the more you had of something, the more the worth went down. So if I had 500 people with degrees, surely they aren’t as valuable then? Surely you have wasted the money and time by doing that and now it’s nothing. What about if you have one kid. That one kid who stood up against the system and chose to break away. They went and travelled the world, got work experience, did an apprenticeship, started a business, or so many other things. Doesn’t that show they have more intuition, independence and drive than any one of the sheep that just head off to uni because it’s what is expected? People like university graduates. They like them because it shows the top students, who can get that degree. But what if your talents don’t lie in that field. Not everyone learns through books and paper. So why is that the only way we are tested?

 

I went to see a careers advisor. When I walked in and sat down she asked me about my subjects that I had taken. I proceeded to list the gruelling lessons of which I had weekly and then she asked how I enjoyed these lessons. Initially she never gave me an option to say I didn’t like them, or they weren’t for me. She told me to rate them 1 �" 10. 1 being they were good, and 10 being, well, great. I told her that I could not answer this and suggested to her that she re-phrased what she was asking me. She looked genuinely perplexed at my suggestion. Did she even deserve this job; did her degree get her this? Because I can tell you that she was getting confused by a teenager. We hadn’t even got to the complicated part yet. She couldn’t grasp the fact I didn’t like or hated all my lessons. She persisted by saying ‘You must like one of them’. I told her that this is not how I learn and this is not what I want to do with my life. I carried on to say that I would study for my exams and would hope to get the grades I am expected, but I am doing this because I have to not because I want to. These letters we will be getting in August mean nothing to me nor my desired career path. But because it’s what further education want to see from me, I told her I would do it, despite me despising the idea of it. So we got past the fact I wasn’t happy at school with my chosen subjects and she asked me what I wanted to do in the future. For once in my life I was confident with the answer I was about to give. I sat there, took a deep breath and said ‘I want to be in a rock band’. To this she raised her eyebrows and gave me that ‘That’s a stupid idea, now give me your serious answer’ look. This same look I had seen way to many times before. I repeated myself. She looked equally as unimpressed. So I gave her more detail. I said ‘I want to be famous, as cliché as that sounds. I want to be a drummer and tour and gig and do what everyone of my favourite bands gets to do on a daily basis.’ She looked at her computer which was already loaded with the screen for oxford and Cambridge university places. Her response to me shocked me and brewed the dislike I was already starting to feel for her. ‘But you’re an A/A* student’. To this, I said: ‘Just because I can remember some facts about photosynthesis, quadratic equations and how a mountain is formed, does not mean I am going to become a doctor, accountant or vet. At the end of the day those A*s don’t prove I am intelligent and can operate on a person, they prove I have a half decent memory for a short amount of time.’ Because that’s all they are teaching us isn’t it? Once again the shell of a woman that was sat opposite me looked confused because of the comments I made. To this I got up and told her that I didn’t think that this would be of use to me anymore, and walked away. This ‘interview’ just backed up the thoughts I had on how people think we should live or what we should strive for.

 

I don’t care about having lots of money, I don’t care about promotions or bonuses. I want to be in a band. That’s the end goal. Drumming. My idols are all my favourite bands. I bet most of them didn’t go to college or university. They got out when they could and made their music, doing what they love. And look at where they are now. I have things I want to do to get me there. It just buries me how people can think that there is one career path or one future, and that suits all. That’s just not the case.

Author's Note

Ignore my grammar please, I know its not great. I know a lot of people will disagree with what I have said here but this is something I feel passionately about and wanted to share this piece of writing. Also I know this doesn't apply to everyone I just wanted to show my view because that's all I can do.