Episode 4: What do you want to do after high school?
In this episode, I discussed about the possible options of what to do after high school, and why pursuing university studies might not be for everyone.
Transcript
Welcome to Fulfilled Within Podcast. My name is Gaby, and I'm the host of this podcast. Today, we are going to talk about what teenagers need to prepare when they're approaching the end of high school.
So, usually, teenagers in Year 12 will take a lot of time to prepare for HSC because they want to get the best chance to apply to the best universities. But the thing that is most often neglected, is the question of: what do you want to do after high school? This is an important question because it informs the trajectory of one's own lives.
And the thing is, usually teenagers and parents focus more on getting the best HSC results and forget about this part.
HSC is important, but if you don't know what to do afterwards, then it can be confusing. The thing is, not all teenagers want to pursue a uni degree after high school. Some teenagers are actually better off studying at a TAFE, or taking a gap year, or going straight into work apprenticeship, for example. And these are usually less considered, as they are considered to be less stable than being in uni.
But that's the thing. Everyone has their own path in life, and it's not guaranteed that a university degree will take you further than a different option. Because some teenagers actually thrive when they are learning in a different environment. It would be beneficial for certain teens to pursue something other than a uni degree. And so, putting too much focus on HSC then doesn't really make sense, depending on their goal.
Of course, for some teenagers, say, they are very passionate about aerospace, they are very into mathematics, and they have certain goals and aspirations that make sense for them to pursue aerospace engineering in a reputable university, for example. In that case, it would make a lot of sense for them to study and focus a lot of their energy on getting good results in HSC, which would enable them to then pursue their dream.
And so, the point I'm trying to make is, not all teenagers are meant to do the same thing, or the highest possible HSC mark might not be the goal for every teenager.
And so, for the teenagers who don't know what to do after high school, it might actually make more sense to get clear on that first, rather than focusing on getting the highest HSC mark possible. Because, ultimately, what's the long term plan? What's the long term goal?
If someone's goal is to be an aerospace engineer, compared to someone else's goal to be a plumber, that would require very different steps. And so, a step which might make sense for one, might make zero sense for the other. And that is why it's important to get clear on that next step.
Then, there is also the pressure of being around peers who know what they want to do. When you don't know what you want to do, and you see everyone else knowing what they want to do, it can cause some sort of imposter syndrome, or some sense of:
“I'm not good enough”
“I don't know what I want to do, but my friends do”
“There is something wrong with me”
And that would affect the teen's self-confidence.
The thing is, a teen is still in the very peak of their developmental stage. Their brains are still very malleable. And so, it's not fair to put the pressure on them to get their future figured out and set at that point. Especially expecting them to figure it out on their own.
However, well-meaning parents might also unintentionally get in the way. Because, what the parents think is best for the child might not actually be what is best for the child.
The teen themselves would know deep inside themselves what is best for them. But, it might not be very clear. And so, that's where therapy can assist them in excavating what they truly know deep down, deep inside themselves. They need to develop their self-trust in order to action on their inner wisdom.
