24 Oct 2016

After the high school door shuts firmly behind you, and decide which door you want to enter next, you’re going to hear a few phrases quite a lot.

“Oh wow, such a special time.”

“Must be exciting.”

“Your life has just begun.”

“What do you want to be?”

Like most things, after a while, the repetition will start to rub you the wrong way. And who can blame you? Having the same conversation with every person you meet saps the energy out of you. But none so much as ‘what do you want to be?’ 

Maybe it’s the fact that everyone thinks they know best. Maybe it’s the fact that everyone thinks you want their input. Or maybe it’s the fact that you can’t really provide a definitive answer without the other person opening an entire can of worms.

Listen up question-asking stooges, because I’m only saying it once. On behalf of all the fresh high school graduates, stop. Don’t ask me what I want to do. Don’t ask me what I want to be. I don’t care if your son, daughter, niece, nephew, postman’s cousin’s goldfish’s accountant did something a certain way, and oh golly, they run a boutique law firm now. How sweet and dandy for them. Leave me alone. Give me some time, space, and its ensuing continuum to figure it out for myself.

During my time in that three-month corridor, this was something that irritated me to no end. I wasn’t sure which direction I was heading at first. And then when I thought I was, it was a matter of recycling the same answers for the same conversation with everyone and their mother.

Frankly, it was a little obnoxious. It started off coming across like genuine interest in me, then it quickly became about them, who they knew, what they knew. But then I started to have a little fun with it. I tested out different responses with different people. Fielded some reactions. Threw curve balls back at them. Cobbler. Sponge maintenance. Artisanal rotisserie chicken engineer.

Sure, it’s always helpful to get some outside insights, but in the end, it is all up to you and what you want to achieve in life. Anecdotes and stats be damned; this is about you and your future. Remember this when you’re standing in the corridor, deciding which door to open (hint: the mystery door is always fun and sometimes has a Kawasaki motorcycle behind it).

More importantly, the room on the other side will not be the last. There will always be more corridors to stand in, and more doors to open.

by Garry Lu