The Crooked Path
When I was in high school, my friends were very grade-conscious. In the fall of our senior year, they all signed up for Advanced Biochemistry and Creative Writing. I signed up for Public Speaking and Typing/Shorthand. My friends nagged, “You’ll ruin your class status!” Each class rated a quantitative score based on difficulty. Since I was not science-oriented and writing made my stomach hurt, I took speech and typing.
In college, I first majored in Elementary Education, the only career I had ever wanted. Mentors told me that teaching jobs were scarce, so I transferred into Business Administration/Accounting. After graduation, I worked as an accountant for three years until my daughter was born.
When she started kindergarten, I volunteered in her school library. Her teacher encouraged me to get my elementary certification, so I returned to school and did so. After three years of subbing, I was thrilled to get a job teaching second grade. New teachers were required to get a Master’s Degree. A friend suggested a new program in Children’s Literature. The summer classes were intense. My shorthand skills came in handy. One of the program’s components was Creative Writing. Hadn’t I skipped that class? I got some pointers from my class mentor and did my best.
Just about this time, home computers became popular. Hey, I thought, I can type! Back at school, young teachers started showing up at my door, “I hear you can type. Can you help me?” My public speaking skills helped me keep my students engaged. Soon I began writing down my thoughts and submitted them to a new county newspaper for parents.
Madeline Levine, in her book Ready or Not: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World, writes that many parents expect their children to chart a course in kindergarten that will take them straight into a high-paying career. Instead, Levine writes that “life is a series of detours” in which people travel “a squiggly line… a meandering and often unexpected path” to success. According to the World Economic Forum, “65 percent of today’s children will end up in a job that doesn’t exist when you read this.”
Facing an uncertain future job market, Levine suggests that children develop skills such as flexibility, adaptability, curiosity, and creativity. Children need opportunities for trial and error, to practice careful listening and critical thinking, and to collaborate with others. Encourage children to ask questions and don’t provide all the answers. Parents can model the skills they use for problem-solving. By cultivating a spirit of hope and optimism in their children, parents create a foundation for success: We don’t know what the future will be, but we know you will be up to the task.
Many of us followed squiggly paths. My class status doesn’t matter now. I read with children. I speak in church. I write a blog. My squiggly path led to you reading this right now. Where has your meandering path led you? What squiggly path will your child forge? Won’t be exciting to find out?
(Quotes from Madeline Levine: Ready or Not: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World. I hope you can read it!)
