Questions on Career Day

Last Friday was Career Day at our school. Six guests came to talk about their jobs, and each class could choose two of them. Most of my friends picked the game designer and the YouTuber. I picked a surgeon and a bakery owner. My friends laughed at me. "Those jobs are boring, aren't they?" said Kevin. I didn't know what to say.

Dr. Lin, the surgeon, was a small woman with a soft voice. "I work more than sixty hours a week," she told us. A girl in the front row asked her how she stays awake during long nights at the hospital. "Coffee," she said, and everyone laughed. Then her face changed. "When a patient's life is in your hands, you don't feel tired. You only feel responsibility."

The bakery owner, Mr. Chou, was very different. He used to work in an office in Taipei. He had a good income, but he hated his job. At thirty-five, he quit to pursue his dream and opened a small bakery in his hometown. I asked him if he ever regretted it. He thought for a moment. "I make less money now, and I get up at four every morning," he said. "But I'm happy to go to work. I can't put a price on that."

On the bus home, I kept thinking about their stories. In reality, neither of them knew what they wanted to do at fifteen. Both of them made mistakes and changed their plans, and I admire them for that. I still have no idea what my future job will be, but I'm not as worried about it as before. Maybe the right question isn't "What do I want to be?" Maybe it's "What kind of life do I want?" Now that's a question worth thinking about.