Some kids are born knowing that they want to be neurosurgeons or kindergarten teachers, and some find their “calling” in high school after taking a government class, or watching a psychologist in action. It can be a process, but almost everyone I know has settled on one option, or at least one area, by the time they’ve reached their senior year of high school. I, on the other hand, meet the question “What do you want to do when you grow up?” with wide eyes and a mouth that opens and closes like a fish having a panic attack. My problem isn’t that I haven’t found my passion; it’s that I’ve found way too many of them.
From a young age, my mind has been full of ideas: veterinarian, author, chef, teacher. And as I grew up, my options didn’t narrow …show more content…
I job shadowed on the ambulance and in the OR of the labor ward of my local hospital. I volunteered my time at the elementary school and my church. After I left each place, I was entirely convinced I had found my calling. I thought, “Yes, finally! This is what I want to do with my life. I want to be an OB.” But I felt that way leaving each place. The sense of fulfillment I got after helping the paramedics was the same one I felt teaching a “problem child” long division. I was feeling more and more torn apart after each experience. My supervisors at each place assumed I had already made a career choice, and invited me to come back after I finished …show more content…
A girl in my speech class gave a cutting of Emilie Wapnick’s 2015 TED Talk, entitled, “Why Some of Us Don’t Have One True Calling.” If you haven’t heard it, I highly recommend that you look it up. As I listened to the speech, it was like looking in a mirror. In it, Wapnick identifies a type of person she calls a “multipotentialite.” She also lists three multipotentialite “superpowers”: idea synthesis, rapid learning, and adaptability. For the first time, I was seeing my affliction in a positive light. It was something many people experienced, and it never hindered them in life. If anything, it brought them new
From a young age, my mind has been full of ideas: veterinarian, author, chef, teacher. And as I grew up, my options didn’t narrow …show more content…
I job shadowed on the ambulance and in the OR of the labor ward of my local hospital. I volunteered my time at the elementary school and my church. After I left each place, I was entirely convinced I had found my calling. I thought, “Yes, finally! This is what I want to do with my life. I want to be an OB.” But I felt that way leaving each place. The sense of fulfillment I got after helping the paramedics was the same one I felt teaching a “problem child” long division. I was feeling more and more torn apart after each experience. My supervisors at each place assumed I had already made a career choice, and invited me to come back after I finished …show more content…
A girl in my speech class gave a cutting of Emilie Wapnick’s 2015 TED Talk, entitled, “Why Some of Us Don’t Have One True Calling.” If you haven’t heard it, I highly recommend that you look it up. As I listened to the speech, it was like looking in a mirror. In it, Wapnick identifies a type of person she calls a “multipotentialite.” She also lists three multipotentialite “superpowers”: idea synthesis, rapid learning, and adaptability. For the first time, I was seeing my affliction in a positive light. It was something many people experienced, and it never hindered them in life. If anything, it brought them new