You say job, I say panic

I tripped twice on my first day back in school. Though I didn’t kiss the ground, it was still pretty embarrassing since there were spectators.

“It’s a sign,” a friend said.

Not that I’m a superstition person, but I hate to think that I’d be tripping all over the school for the rest of the school year. But then again, I’m a major klutz, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I trip every now and then.

Now that school is officially in, we once again go through the customary “Hi, my name is…” introductions to the point where it becomes a mind-numbing activity. By the end of the day, you already know your classmate’s telephone number, date of birth, address and probably her vital statistics.

Yet one famous classroom question has continuously haunted me and many others.

“What would be your future career?”

I suspect that poking my eye out, would be easier than answering that question.

In the early days, that question was so easy to answer. “I want to be doctor,” was the most typical and dare I say, overused answer. (I used to want to work in a Circus, but that all ended when I developed a chronic fear of clowns. I blame it all on that psychopathic killer doll: Chucky.)

I do know what I want to do with my life, and I’m sure everybody else knows what they want to do with their own lives, yet it’s rather hard trying to figure out a particular path. I don’t want to sound philosophical, but in life we are presented with many paths to choose from and it’s quite hard to pick just one or two.

So for those who have panic attacks when asked about their future career: Try to stay calm and just keep your options open. There’s no harm in dreaming, may it be farfetched or close to reality. Hey, I hope to run a magazine someday and own a beach house where I sip champagne languidly and write international bestsellers.

I think, we should all stop panicking when we hear that question. It doesn’t bring us any good and will probably only give us an aneurysm. We all just got to have at the very least something in mind as our future career – after all, we are all going to college, aren’t we?

Great, now I sound like Dr. Phil.

So what would my desired future career be? I’d be a one-eyed professional writer. I’m keeping my fingers crossed – I really want that beach house.