How to plan life after high school
How to Find Your Path After School | Amba Brown | TEDxYouth@AIS
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ever since I can remember as being one
question I've continually been asked a
question I'm sure all of you here today
have heard dozens of times before what
do you want to do after school but I've
recently concluded that this most
frequently asked question two
generations of kids is now one we need
to delete it needs to be moved to the
spam file and today I'm going to explain
why and then replace it with an updated
idea that you can take away to help find
your path but first can you put up your
hand if you've ever been asked this big
question okay now keep it up if when you
answered it you weren't sure you wanted
to commit to doing this one thing
forever that's what I thought and
research supports this idea that most of
us don't know what we want to do after
school and why should you with no
experience yet in the world after school
have to commit to doing one thing
forever
you shouldn't is it stressful yes is it
constructive no and let me tell you
there are an endless amount of options
out there and you should have the right
to grow and learn explore and yes change
your minds this question isn't helpful
or inspiring and does nothing to help
you find your path so instead the spam
file is there it needs to be and here's
why yes it's stressful
while globally mental disorders are on
the rise the World Health Organization
reports that one in five youth are
affected another study conducted in the
US by a generational expert David
Stillman found that 75 percent of Gen Z
that's the 72 million youth of today
said they were more worried about
starting a career than finding a soul
mate
now these statistics not only highlight
the anxiety around the unknown future
but support the idea that we need a new
approach and although I just miss the
gen Z cutoff I get it it's stressful
there really is a ridiculous amount of
choice out there today
I can feel the anxieties I talk about it
now although that might be because I'm
standing on a stage public speaking one
of my greatest fears either way I do
understand
for me the transition from high school
was really tough and now when I say
tough I mean I wasn't just worrying I
was panicking to the point where I
actually felt like I was dying and this
isn't an exaggeration in my final year
of school I was suffering from
generalized anxiety that repeated
question running through my head what do
you want to do how do me paralyzed by
sharing this now I can see that I put an
unreasonable amount of pressure on
myself to pick the perfect path and to
make the best decision but how is that a
choose I remember going to visit my
school career counselor who got me the
city test that concluded that I should
be a teacher now I didn't know what I
wanted to be but I knew a few things I
definitely didn't want to be and a
teacher was one of them no disrespect to
the teachers I knew that I wasn't cut
out for it and then I was sent on my way
and at this point this was how I
imagined life should look but he's what
really happened so I finished high
school anxious and confused and then
decided to take a gap year I saved up
for six months working seven days a week
and then went traveling around the world
18 with my best friend and then I
decided to go to university and for me
university went from not knowing what I
wanted to do to realize thing I enjoyed
my psychology subjects to realizing in
my final year that I didn't want to work
as a psychologist so I started research
other options and found myself working
in a bunch of other psychology related
jobs until 2015 when I wrote a book on
the side about path finding because I
wanted to spread the message that no
matter that age we're all finding our
path that first transition out of school
it's just the first of many and then I
felt hopeful that my moments of what
felt like I was dying in school might
not have all been in vain and then I
found myself working as an author now
it's taken me two years to say that out
loud without pulling a face that
suggests I'm not sure I'm telling you
the truth and those facial expressions
they still sneak in when I think about
it now so again I'm not sure where to
next for me if I was told by that career
counselor all those years ago that I'd
be an author at some point after school
wouldn't have believed in of average at
English and plus I struggled to believe
it now but what I do now know is that
it's not just me fumbling up and down in
my path it's the same for everyone this
is life here are some names you might
recognize so as you can see last like a
roller coaster it has its ups and downs
and it's your choice to scream or enjoy
the riot and now to the pea and spam
puzzling when asked this question what
do you want to do it puzzles us because
firstly it assumes that we know the
answer do we in that same study
conducted by Stillman he found that 65%
of Gen Z will be employed in two jobs
that don't yet exist
that's most of you secondly the puzzling
question suggests that we're picking one
path but what about all the rest let's
break it down together I've outlined
four basic pathways so travel work study
or creating your empire now you don't
have to do them all but you can I've
tried them out now and while generally I
don't
joy telling people what to do and the
eldest of six so this may come naturally
to me but for this matter I do suggest
you try any of that interest you at
least that way you'll have your own
opinion let's face it watching David
Annenberg isn't quite the same as taking
a gap year and watching the social
network that's not quite what it's like
to go to university try them for
yourself so you now know that you can do
anything
the downside you can't do everything
these four basic choices will actually
turn into over four thousand cities to
visit more than four thousand degree
granting universities alone in the world
millions of jobs to choose from and an
infinite amount of projects that you can
make up yourself well makes its might
can be stressful and now how do you glad
that you know I just have to pick one
but no one told me this no one gave me
the memo that there's an infinite amount
of choices out there no one told me that
I could be a mattress jumper or a Disney
imagina or a waterslide tester you're
sound awesome don't get me wrong this is
a big choice you make when you finish
school but it is the first of many more
choices to come this isn't a
make-or-break choice if you pick
something can like it great if you hate
it it's time to pick a game you don't
have to get it right the first to go and
this doesn't mean that you chop and
change when things get tough it simply
means when you've given it your all and
things aren't working out that you can
make a change and it's important for me
to clarify here that the problem isn't
the choice choice is a privilege as I
give this talk many people your age
don't have such choices so it's
important to also be grateful if you do
don't wish away your options the problem
then lies in the lack of support for
students to make the transition and the
emphasis we place on picking one path
which leads me to the next point hey
it's action the questions outdated the
days of employment for life are over you
no longer have to stay in a job because
you picked it years ago now I don't want
to take you back to the dark ages but I
want to give you a brief overview of how
the transition has changed so while the
traditionalists and baby boomers
commonly worked their way up the ranks
working in one job for twenty forty
years it was Gen X that broke away from
this traditional path with the famous
examples of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs
creating their own so today you know
that you don't have to follow the path
of others this isn't new information
anymore 20 years ago it would have been
motivating now the anxiety around the
choice can overshadow the inspiration
today we're slowly seeing a bend towards
an increasingly customized path where
you can literally pay that your own with
some universities allowing students to
create their own majors companies
allowing employees to create their own
job titles responsibilities and hours
and as our paths become more customized
the same question still exists what will
you choose now in the past the model was
the longer the better now it's the
happier the better the shift is away
from the companies and back onto the
value of the individuals so sorry that
being lazy or entitled which are words
that get thrown around a lot today it's
about staying true to yourself
and your path and making the most of
this one life we have now lastly and
worst of all in the question misses the
point it's not helpful or inspiring and
doesn't teach you how to decide instead
being asked this question continually
over your lives focuses on the idea of
having to make one choice where there
are so many other questions that we
could be asked instead like what do you
enjoy doing or what are your strengths
what what makes you
happy but these questions don't get
asked often enough instead we keep
getting us the same old question so by
the time people say well if you don't
know what you want to do what are you
interested in get absolutely no idea
because you spent your whole life
focused on picking one career path one
stream not giving you interest the time
of day so you've had a lifetime to date
of answering this question and now it's
gone what's next for a generation who's
grown up on the Internet this isn't
something you can google you can try get
in the end you'll end up with more
opinions and more questions so how do
you find a happy path after school you
tap into your own Wi-Fi W watch your
interests focus on what you enjoy doing
make a list of five things you do in
your spare time or things you think
about when your mind wanders don't
underestimate these things I investigate
your options now start by writing down
five things that you'd like to do when
you finish school so when I was younger
I said I wanted to be a lawyer a poet
and a marine biologist because these are
some of the options I had in my head the
second part then is to research and
write down five new things you didn't
know existed and with these five new
options you can switch out any on the
initial list and if you do this every
month in your final year of school
alongside your interest list some
interesting options will start opening
themselves to you and although some of
you will be confident about your answers
and you only need to write one thing on
this list if this is you I'm not saying
you have to come up with more options
but I do urge you to keep open stay
aware of your interests even be
persistent about them
and know that in the future if you'd
like to make a change or try something
on the side
I know that you can f follow your dreams
and dream big whatever they are never
make a decision about your future based
on fear pleasing others or how hard you
think it'll be to reach your dreams
there's a great quote by ol Nightingale
that says never give up on a dream
because of the time it'll take to
accomplish it the time will pass anyway
and lastly I if that age-old question
sneaks in through the spam let's face it
it's going to take a while for the
Oscars to catch up then you can answer
with this I'm interested in and I'll see
where it leads me to conclude I want to
leave you the message that I'd share if
I could go back in time and speak with
that overstressed and freaking out
17-year old me I'd tell that lanky
wide-eyed teenager to stop searching for
a perfect path and start focusing on her
path instead I'd tell her to tap into
her unique Wi-Fi I'd tell her to trust
trust that if she makes a decision from
the information she has based on her
interests her research her dreams then
that is without a doubt the best
decision she can make thank you
you
[Applause]
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