Dear World,

At five years of age, I had no clue what my professional aspirations were.

Of course, there were jobs and titles that sounded fancy and that I felt I would enjoy, but in reality, I was too young and focused on my little bubble to think about the future at that point. Heck, there was a time when I believed my current location and the people around me was all there was to the world. So, how could I have ever dreamed of becoming some fancy schmancy working person?

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Introspection

As a child, I went to the doctor quite often because I was sickly. Whenever I sat in the waiting room with my mom, I would always see posters on the walls of children with verbiage that said, “What do I want to be when I grow up? Alive.” Those posters stood out and haunt me to this day. I don’t recall what the messaging was for exactly or what illness the messaging was educating people about. I just remember asking my mom why children would say they want to be alive when they grew up. I thought it was silly, because why would they die young? Yes. I was quite sheltered and naive. However, that’s how children are or ought to be. Regardless, it stuck with me and I think those posters impacted my thought process. So, why would I even consider future professions when there are kids out there who might not even survive to see adulthood?

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As many adults do, those around me aspired for me and proclaimed that I would become a doctor, lawyer, teacher, or nurse. I can remember some saying, “Oh wow! You’re so smart. I bet you’re a future doctor!” or “You speak so well! You’re definitely going to be a lawyer in the future!”. The medical predications over my life were plentiful, too. I began to wonder if those adults had unfulfilled dreams and so desperately hoped to be live vicariously through me if I chose that path. I understand, however, that they truly wanted the best for me and becoming a doctor was it for them.

Some even predicted I would follow in the footsteps of my parents, with careers in finance and publishing respectively. Today I hate figures and will only really deal with them when it comes to the very necessities to lead a fulfilling life as an adult. Bless God for calculators and other tools to help with crunching numbers and equations. My dad worked with paper and books, and though I don’t work in that aspect of publishing, it’s close enough.

Suffice it to say that I now lead a life with words and phrases, punctuations (which I often misuse), and the grammar that colonisers taught my ancestors, and now I automatically focus on mastering the English Language, even though it isn’t my native tongue.

Writing has followed me from childhood to adulthood, and it continues to be my anchor as I strive to refine my skills and discover the niche I truly belong to.

Signed,

The Suburban Girl JA®