Who do you want to be when you grow up?

Lately I had a thought. Does anyone ever know exactly who they want to be when they grow up?

I don’t really believe in ‘what’s meant to be, it will be’. I don’t belive in fate, destiny and the whole ‘our lives have already been written for us’. I think there is a lot more complexity to who we become and how our lives turn out. I believe our lives are a combination of random series of events, coincidences and chances; background we come from; family circumstances; choices we make; how hard we work; how intelligent we are and so on.

So how do people know who they want to be and how do they become that person?

What prompted me to think about this was my old friend. Both she and her husband have degrees and work within their degree’s fields. She works in an environmental sector and he is a geologist. They both enjoy their jobs but she recently said to me that if she had to make the choice again she would become a veterinarian and her husband said he would become a chef. She didn’t study veterinary because she was scared to move away from her family for 5 years as it takes 5 years to complete a degree in Poland.

So does anyone know who they want to be at age of 16 when they have to make that first important educational choice? Many young people go to uni and study subjects they don’t really like but feel that they need a degree of some sort. Also many people come from well-educated families and get pressurised to becoming doctors, lawyers etc.

I never knew who I wanted to be. I tried few different jobs and did few college courses. I was just as confused and undecided in my early twenties as I was as a teenager. Finally at age of 28 I have made my choice and I am so happy I decided to start my studies with The Open University. It took me so long to realise that I have always loved science, I have always cared for the environment. I am now finally motivated enough to pursue this path. I feel that any other time in my life I was too young and too confused to make this decision.

I am so grateful that The Open University allows people like me to get higher education without compromising their lifestyle. Hopefully in four years time when I’m all grown up, I will be who I want be.