Week 2 Story: What Do You Want to be When You Grow up?


What Do You Want to be When You Grow up?

It was Senior year for Ben. The most exciting year in high school for any student getting through the hell that was high school. For Ben, it was another year in hell. 

He was excited to graduate, most definitely, but this was just another year in high school, nothing special. When people asked him why, it was because he was constantly asked the infamous line to anyone in their final years of high school: "what do you want to be when you grow up?" or the student version: "what are you going to major in???"

He didn't know. More importantly, he didn't care. He was just going to going to following his father's footsteps of being an accountant. The most straightforward, bland, version of what anyone could do for the rest of their life as a career, at least to him.

And so the months sailed by, month after month, week after week, and day after day, the same question echoed both within him in his mind, and in his surroundings as everyone asked him and themselves, "what are you going to major in?"

Suddenly, it was the first day of college. His father was excited for his choice, of course, so he was all set and ready to go. He was declared an accounting major, his schedule was made, and he was already part of an accounting club, all thanks to his father of course.

Just like any student, Ben had to take electives, and for Ben, it was biology this semester. To his surprise, he loved it. He looked forward to it and did well on the exams. He wanted to be a biology major.

So, he went to his advisor and changed his major. His father didn't have to know. 

Little did he know was that his interest was all a lie. It was actually the bits of chemistry taught in biology classes that he enjoyed. So, one more trip to his advisor, and Ben was a chemistry major.

No one sane majors in chemistry. Although he seems like he isn't, Ben is mostly sane. So in a blink of an eye, Ben had declared himself a physics major. All his friends loved it. They all wanted to be astrophysicists and learn about the stars and galaxies, and now he wanted to, too.

Then he remembered that he never passed a math class in high school without cheating. And so his dreary reality set over him, and the question echoed again: "what are you going to major in?"

When Ben went for a talk with his advisor, he was let in on the sad news that he had passed his limit on major changes for a semester. So much so that he couldn't change his major ever again. "A new policy," his advisor said.

So he was cast as a physics major for the rest of his college career. With no turning back, he grew to love it. There was something about working with numbers that he enjoyed. It was like being an accountant, but hating his life and despising everything a little more. Plus, he began to fall in love with the intricacies of the universe.

And that was it for Ben. Is there a happy ending? No. He once again remembered he was terrible at math, but now he is terrible at math AND failing all his classes. To this day Ben wonders what he wants to be when he grows up.


--- Author's Note ---

My story is a version of The Man in the Moon, where a blacksmith wanted to become different things based on his condition. He wanted a cool breeze, so a wise man made him become a stone, then he was too cool, so he wanted to be the sun. Over time, and after thinking the moon was cool, he became the moon. The wise man, however, was fed up with his indecisiveness, and he was cast as the moon forever.

I tried taking this story and making it to a college-based story, but as college majors instead! Most college students, and even high schoolers struggle with coming up with what they want to do, as it is a very hard question they have to ask themselves, which is what they want to do when they grow up. Although the story seems like one has to make a decision and keep it for the rest of their life, this is not the case. So choose what you want to do based on how you feel, and do not worry about how long it takes to figure it out! There is not "policy" of how many times you can change your major. Not one that I know of, at least :-).


Bibliography/inspiration of story:

Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899). The Man in the Moon. Source.


Comments

  1. This was such a good parallel for the story, I loved it! With the way the story is set up at the beginning in addition to him falling in love with biology, at first I thought to myself that there no way it was this easy for him. However, the more I read, the more realistic it became. Especially the end! I really liked how you applied this concept to the Man in the Moon story, great job!

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  2. Hi Z,

    I also read the Man in the Moon as my story! I love it so much. I also love your story because you turn it into a modern day situation. I like when people do that because it is easier to relate to and makes it almost easier to comprehend! Well done.

    The ending was a little confusing, but other than that it was very enjoyable!

    -Libby

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  3. One of the aspects that stood out from your story was the twist at the end of course; however, it's more of the fact that I, alongside with many other college students, relate to this story and conclusion wholly. I do wonder though, what ever happened to Ben? Did he end up loving college? Did he drop out of school and start a mediocre t-shirt making business? These are the questions I think your audience wants to know. You should definitely make a sequel to this.

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