It
is often a scary thing to think about your future. For so long my parents,
teachers and family friends would ask me what I want to do when I’m older and
my answer is forever changing. At 5 it was a ballerina, at 10 it was a vet and
now I’m set on being a journalist. My parents are constantly telling me that
the only way my dream of being a journalist will become a reality is by working
hard, but I tend to disagree, I think it is all about ambition.
As
somebody who has very strong views I am very good at getting my point across
through speaking. My mum told me a few years ago that rather than arguing with
people about what I believe to be right, I should start writing it all down.
Taking this advice on board, I now run a blog with random articles that offer
my opinion on matters I believe to be important. One of my friends asked me why
I would voluntarily want to do more work. I replied by saying it is not work to
me because I enjoy it and writing is something I would choose to do in my spare
time. This is where ambition is key, if I was asked to do a bunch of maths
problems in my spare time I would politely decline, I hate maths and therefore
have no desire to spend my time doing it. However I am an ambitious writer and
the drive I have to achieve in my writing is the tool that moves my pen on the
paper and allows me to complete my articles.
People
often think they should go into a career that requires skills that they are
good at. If you are good at maths be an accountant, if you are good at sports
be a personal trainer. This is something I am guilty of, I am very good at
English, and it has always been my strongest subject. In fact at my year 2
parents evening my teacher told my parents “numbers are not her thing, words
are.” My mum always reminds me of this, the other day I asked her how I can
convince my dad to lift a punishment he had given me, she said “use your
words,” so I wrote him a 600 word letter with all the reasons why my punishment
should be lifted and it worked. The point I am trying to get across is that
yes, ability is a very important element of success, however without ambition
it will get you nowhere. For example, my dad is a very talented trader; he
works in fashion and is good at his job. However he does not enjoy what he
does, he makes the sales but he lacks passion for his job and he believes that
the reason he has always stayed at the same level in his job (never being
promoted) is that he has no love for his job.
Being
a sixth form student, I have become aware of many mistakes that adults make
whilst giving us advice on our future. They often encourage us to stay with the
academic route, go to university which will enable us to get a highly paid job.
I believe that the youth of today are not told enough something that is perhaps
the most important thing to remember while thinking about the future – we all
have choices. The different paths one can go down are endless – leaving school
and going to college, getting an apprenticeship and starting to earn money
straight away or indeed carry on with further education. Personally, I love
education and want to stay learning more for as long as possible, for this
reason I definitely want to go to university. However many students go to university
even though they lack ambition, they have no idea what they want to do
afterwards, they just go because they were told it was the best option and the
most highly regarded. This is wrong, although university is highly regarded,
having passion and fire in your eyes is just as much appreciated in interviews.
Some kids just are not academic and do not enjoy the rigid structure of school,
they would much rather be earning money and going out with their friends. This
is fine, their ambition may lie in things that are not academic; adults need to
encourage this more in the youth of today.
I
am very fortunate in the fact that my parents are proud of me regardless of
what I choose to do. They told me at the beginning of this academic year that
although I achieved excellent GCSE results I should only go to 6th
form if I really want to, if my ambition and drive lies elsewhere they would
support me. However, I chose to stay on at JFS because I love it and I am who I
am because of the school. I have a strong sense of identity and I know what
makes me tick. I am an ambitious writer and like to inspire others with my
writing, whilst also analysing other’s work in my English Literature classes
and learning about different styles. JFS has given me the tools to take my ambitions
further and I hope I graduate successfully from a university of my choice and
go into the field of my choice. I am aware that although I want to be a
journalist now, this could always change but I know that whatever I choose to
do in the future, my ambition and the support from my loved ones will help me
to reach my goals.
