WHAT FUTURE PATH DO I WANT TO FOLLOW?
It’s time to start drawing the road towards your dream job…
Some of us, young students, will probably say “I want to become a monetary policymaker! I need to study Economics. Or famous: “I want to become an architect, I have to study Architecture!”
Others do not know which path should we take, or which career should we study, we do not even know what life we want to live. That uncertainty is drowning us down, making us feel anxious.
Professors, friends and our family are constantly asking us, what do you want to become?… Where do you want to go to university?
Every time they ask us this question, they bring pressure to bear on thinking over this matter. We might start having feelings of worthlessness, deprivation, and emptiness. We might feel pain inside our chest and guilt for not having an answer to these questions. Regardless of our inner struggles, we might think up something to say, pretending we are mentally lost. But we truly are lost, so lost…
I am a young student, originally from Spain, a small island called Mallorca, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
Two years ago, I was struggling to decide what I should study.
I knew I loved learning languages, and I was good at them. I was studying six of them at the time. My closest friends would tell me; “You should become a writer, a translator, you have so many writing skills…. Study Humanities.”
Also, since I was little, I loved painting. My mother would always buy me the most expensive bouquet of pencils, blocks, paper… My family invested so much money into amazing painting tools so I could make the most beautiful drawings. I also became a musician and a clarinettist. Up until that moment, I would say everything about my life was encircling art.
Nevertheless, in high school, I was taking Chemistry classes, Mathematics, Biology, Physics… I felt attracted to the scientific explanations about the nature of life. My professors would advise me to study Biology or Engineering; I had good grades and the mental capabilities to intake a science career.
The polarization of my interests made me realize I was not attracted to any specific field, I did not want to become a Chemist, a Writer or an artist, I was passionate about life itself.
This constant mental pressure people were putting on me was drowning me down, every day I felt even more lost. One day I wanted to become a psychologist to help people, another one I wanted to become a teacher to convey my knowledge to others.
My “only” mental struggle during two years was to find a career that would help me develop as many skills as possible. I wanted to enlarge, and broaden my knowledge, in as many fields as possible. I wanted to make the most of my abilities and use them to make the world a better place.
After achieving one of the best grades in the school, and getting into the top Economic universities in Spain, I realized that was not enough for me.
One day, when I woke up, I looked and told myself: Estrella, you have achieved so many things in life, and you are only 17 years old.
Now, it’s time to decide (it was the summer just before starting university). What do you want to do, where do you want to go?
Deep inside, take away all mental preconceptions, biases, and role models, and FORGET what people have told you. Breathe. Take away all this pressure people have brought on you.
Transform this oppression into mental power.
Looking at my eyes in the mirror I said: I need to leave Spain.
I need to discover who I am as a person. It’s OK if I don’t choose right now the “right” career which will help me achieve the job of my dreams even if I still do not know which one is it.
Decide. Chose something you think you will like, something you enjoy, something it will make you feel good and every day, you feel it will embrace your interests and make you feel, every day, willing to learn more about it.
Remember, there are plenty of uncertainties in life. You do not know where you will end up working… Who will be your friends… with whom you will be surrounded in the future…
This way, I decided to study Business and Economics in Brussels, Belgium.
I knew the language spoken there, so I felt it would be a good decision after taking some thought. I felt confident about my choice. Business is about people skills and management, and I had always been a good organizer and leader. Economics is about the frame of mind, and understanding how the world works. I told myself “You will enjoy it, you’re a critical thinker, and you enjoy philosophy and broadening your understanding and different perspectives of life”.
Nowadays, I am still studying it, and I believe I chose the best career I could have chosen. My interests have never stopped growing, and I have filled all my free time with all the other things I enjoy doing.
This way, last summer, after finishing my first university year, I wanted to travel, but also to learn about the world, I wanted to work in the business industry, understand the practicalities of today’s nowadays, and also to have fun.
I discovered ECCEDU, this amazing company.
I spent all my summer in Prague, the Czech Republic, and I got the opportunity to know their amazing engaging team of professionals. I attended the International Business Program and afterwards, I had an internship in the Department of Finance with a company there.
They also have programs for students of architecture, Law, and IT, and they are still widening the opportunities. They know how important is for students to get an insight into what “law” means, even to know what does mean to be an “energy lawyer”!
That’s why they bring professionals to their programs who will explain to you from the inside how is their daily work, even examples of projects they worked on during their professional life.
No matter what career you chose, the most important thing is that you chose something you are passionate about. Take ownership of your future. Take as many opportunities as you can to discover what is that thing that will make you feel happy.
If you feel overwhelmed right where you are, remember that there are many golden opportunities and chances to study abroad, to get an insight into what is to work as a “lawyer”, an “architect” or even a “business analyst”. To get experience. To know if that is the path you want to pursue in your life.
My message to you, young students, and future successful professionals: The mindset is powerful. Trust yourself, what you are capable of and who you believe you can become.
I am just an undergraduate student, but I was just in the same situation as you a few years ago. I will leave you with the phrase that inspired my whole journey and it’s still empowering me to go forward: Trust the process.
Writen by:
Estrella Bibiloni Rotger
