What Do You Really Want to be When You Grow Up?

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

It’s a simple yet paradoxically trivial question. We often hear children ask that amongst themselves in between play and the afternoon lull, or come across it in grade school-inspired slum books. Though the premise seems juvenile, that single question may very well be the factor that defines our lives.

When we were kids, we would often answer that question as we only knew how — with a bright sparkle in our eyes and a winning grin. “To be an astronaut-slash-doctor-slash-movie star,” we’d respond with a flourish. Our parents were our ultimate role models. We would also catch profiles of famous industry leaders on TV and secretly wished we’d be like them. And for the girls, we even managed to fill in a daydream or two about being the next Mrs. ___, married to the celebrity we found cute. What wishful thinking! The possibilities were endless, as well as the limit of our ambitions. The world was big; why shouldn’t we dream big?

As high school students, that question became more serious and impending. Filling up college application forms was a task that has never been more life-threatening, to make an overstatement. What is it that we really want to become? Those who have pondered that question long enough can write the course code with much determination. They can count themselves lucky.

Oftentimes, with the present conditions we’re at and the steep price of living, childhood ambitions aren’t as easy to fulfill anymore. Dreams have taken on a more realistic nature. The mantra of “Live to work and work to live” resonates clearly in this dog-eat-dog world. Sometimes we choose a profession that, while met with initial reluctance, we have finally come to accept because it is more practical. We shelf that mirthful dream we nurtured long ago to the idle recesses of our minds for the pursuit of one that would give us more security, not just for ourselves, but for our families. Eventual breadwinners surely know this. Who wouldn’t be charmed by the idea of giving a comfortable life for their kin and having extra income to spend for oneself, thanks to that high-paying profession? There are always those to inspire and motivate. I’ve heard of stories from people who may not have taken up their “first love” but then are relatively successful on their chosen careers. Others are not as blessed in pursuing the “new dream”. Some aren’t even sure of what career path to take, leaving some to shift courses while earning a degree. And some, while pushing through with it and graduating, become dissatisfied with their work and are left stuck in a rut.