At a young age, children are commonly asked a simple-stated question: what do you want to be when you grow up? Now, at the age of five, the question may appear relatively easy as the imagination runs wild. However, as most Antioch Community High School students have grown older, they have also grown farther away from their dream.
Multiple reasons may lie behind the change in career; junior Matthew Poulos discovered over the years that the job choice he made as a child was not what he wanted to do with his life now.
“My dream job was going to the NBA,” Poulos said. “Playing basketball became more of a fun hobby to me [and] I realized I couldn’t achieve that career, so I decided to drop the dream.”
Poulos is not the only student to change his mind about his future career. Senior Hannah Benes switched her career choice, but it may have been two dream jobs before settling on one.
“I wanted to be a professional bull rider because I thought it was really cool on TV,” Benes said. “Then it changed in about fourth grade to wanting to be a cardiovascular surgeon.”
Though changing a dream job since childhood may sound sad due to sentimental value and nostalgia, sophomore Klaudia Dorado could not be happier with the alteration.
“I always dreamed of being a fashion designer part-time in New York and the other part in Paris,” Dorado said. “I don’t think becoming a fashion designer is as realistic as it would be really cool.”
For these three Sequoits, their dream jobs as children sounded incredulous to them as years passed. In the outside world, some may say the same.
According to Mental Floss, a TollFreeForwarding survey found that out of 2000 U.S. citizens, only 10% reported holding their dream job. Financial worries, unskillfulness and prioritizing family played a role in their overall career choice. However, only 39% of those people communicated that they regretted it.
“Many people lean towards being doctors because of the money they’ll make in the end, but I think it’s more important to find a job you’ll enjoy that won’t feel like work,” Benes said. “Something that you can do to help others around you while staying true to yourself.”
The money factor impacted Poulos’ career choice when he was younger; it attracted him to basketball.
“It isn’t only a job where you get to play your sport; it’s insanely lucrative,” Poulos said. “You make millions.”
Though it is difficult to close a chapter of their lives behind, these three have their whole future ahead with differentiating paths than before.
Poulos does not have a solid plan for his career, but an art director sounds interesting. Dorado aspires to go to college and become a travel NICU nurse until she is ready to settle down somewhere. Benes hopes to work for NASA using computer science and engineering, working her way to becoming an astronaut.
