What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
“When I grow up, I’m going to be a YouTube Shorts video creator,” I tell Amina.
My pretend friend raises her eyebrows and says, “But I thought you wanted to be a graphic designer.”
“I could be a graphic designer who makes YouTube Shorts.”
“When I was a child, I wanted to be a fashion designer,” says Amina. “I loved making clothes for my Barbie dolls. I had loads of ideas for fabulous clothes collections.”
“Why didn’t you become a fashion designer?” I ask.
“Everyone said only a few people become successful designers. Perhaps I wasn’t good enough. I should be sensible and have a career guaranteeing a secure living. So I became a nurse. I do love helping people. Nursing is a very rewarding vocation, but it just wasn’t what I really wanted to do.”
“I wanted to be a writer,” I say. “But, like you, I got this idea that it was sensible to do something safe, so I got a science degree. The funny thing is I found it hard to get a job after I qualified! Too much education for the available positions.”
I look at Amina’s stylish appearance – she made her fabulous floaty, multi-layered skirt – and say, “It’s not too late for you to pursue your dreams. You could go back to uni or college and get an arts degree.”
Amina nods and says, “I think I’m content designing clothes for myself and my family these days. And for my girls’ Barbie dolls. That gives me joy.”
“And I no longer want to be a famous best-selling author,” I say, “I’m content to write about unschooling and other family things.”
“I suppose we’re both doing what we love, but it took a lot of time for us to get here.”
“It’s different for our kids,” I say. “They can do whatever they like right from the start.
This morning, I was talking to Andy about the career options kids have these days. People asked us, ‘What will you do when you leave school?’ They expected us to choose careers they regarded as safe and acceptable. And we thought we didn’t really have a chance of doing anything different.
But our kids can dream big and say such things as, ‘I want to design video games,’ or ‘I want to be a YouTube video gamer…’”
“Or ‘I want to create an app,’ or ‘I want to have a handicrafts or art business,’ or ‘I want to be a musician and make music videos for YouTube’,” continues Amina.
“I want to be a YouTube Shorts video creator,” I smile.
“I want to be a dress designer for Barbie,” Amina grins.
Unburying Our Talents
It’s good to have dreams, isn’t it?
My pretend friend and I had dreams. Even though they never came to anything, we knew what we enjoyed doing as children, but are there adults who have yet to discover their talents?
Sir Ken Robinson said, “Talent is often buried, and we have to go looking for it. We have to create the right conditions for it.” He suggested there was a teacher in the late 1950s who had half the Beatles in his class, and he missed it. The teacher never discovered their musical talent. He had no idea that the boys would go on to be the most successful musicians of all time. That sounds a bit unbelievable, doesn’t it? But it’s true. You can hear that story in this video:Unburying Our Talents
I think unschooling provides the right conditions for our kids to discover their talents. I hope it gives us the courage to encourage their dreams, whatever they are. And maybe it gives us permission and the opportunity to explore what brings us joy and use our talents too.
An Unschool Challenge
If you’d like to ponder the topic of talents and interests, you could do Challenge 18: Discover Your Talents. You can find it in my book The Unschool Challenge!
I meet up again with Amina at a parish lunch. We’re sitting across the table from a woman who says, “Hi, I’m Samantha. I’m a childcare worker. What do you do?”
“I’m a YouTube Shorts video creator,” I reply. I look at Amina and grin.
So, what do you think?
What are your talents and interests? Were you encouraged to use them when you were a child? Or maybe you never found out what you’re good at because you were too busy doing required schoolwork? Why not stop by and share a story?