I got to spend a little time this week doing landscaping with Grandson Collin. He is making the transition from the high school to a lifetime of meaningful envolvement. For his parents it can't be fast enough. For Collin it is difficult to see the correct path.
I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer but I think both parties want the same thing!
Your Mom shared with me the difficulties she had as she approached graduation from high school (1958). She had decided she didn't want to go to college but had elected programs in high school aimed at being a secretary. Her typing skills were honed to a high level, office accounting was very important and because this was before computers, she had to learn shorthand (symbols designating words). Months before graduating from high school, her Mom (Nana) started to tell her she needed a job. Nana didn't ask what Mom was going to do, she sternly told her she needed to get a job. It didn't matter what the job was. It could be a store clerk, a production worker or a secretary. Mom was questioned regularly on whether she had found a job. Then one day, a local law office (Mooney and Mooney) in town contacted the high school for recommendations of potential candidates to be their legal secretary. Your Mom's name came up and the rest is history. She turned into a great legal secretary. Imagine the day Nana asked her the annoying question "did you apply any jobs"? "You have to get a job"! Mom responded she already had a job. Yes! Yes! Yes!
Collin is at the same crossroads. His parents want him hustling new jobs. Collin feels the pressure. Jobs are very scarce. Collin was unable to develop a special skill set like your Mom in high school. So the dilemma persists. Collin will find his place. It will evolve. He has lots of talent and will be very successful.
I have no right adding to Collin's pressure but my intent is very positive with years of wisdom (hence "acewisdom"). My advice is to pick something that interests you most and go after it. It could be trying to get a job in a field of interest. It could be pursueing tech school to develop needed skills. It could be college (he can do it). At this stage of Collin's life he can't make a wrong choice. It is a trial and error process. Try something. If it offers opportunity, keep going. If the choice is a "dead end", try something else. Failure is okay. Make looking for a job, a full time job.
The lesson Grasshoppers is when you are involved in making choices in life, the total picture is not always clear. Make the best decision you can. Keep developing your skills. Keep reaching for the stars. Suddenly you'll be thinking retirement.
Love,
Dad