How do you want to be when you grow up?

How many of us were asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” This often translated into “What do you want to do when you join the workforce?” In my memory of it, we were asked about our intended jobs, professions, careers, and vocations. As I continue to grow up and observe the supposed “grown ups” around me, I find myself wishing the question were phrased differently: “Who do you want to be when you grow up?” would have yielded a much more impactful focal point for us lost youth seeking a way to orient ourselves into adulthood. Instead of scoping the landscape of potential jobs, maybe we would have spent time considering the type of person we wanted to become. Perhaps we’d have begun to get curious about the qualities of the adults who surrounded us and sought guidance from the examples we found inspiring.

As I continue to grow up (I believe this is a life-long journey that in fact has no concrete end point), I find that it’s much more helpful to spend time with the question of who and how I want to be over what I want to do. In this way I pursue work and put forth effort towards becoming a person who is patient, inspired, trustworthy, compassionate and creative as I navigate the paths of growing up that far exceed the primary school question as it was initially intended.