9th grade. February.

Tamarind:

I have to do something with my summer. When I met with Miss Bliss this week, she suggested I find an internship that matches my career goals.

Hmm.

After what felt like an hour of staring at each other silently, she asked me what my career goals were. I didn’t feel “None” was an appropriate answer, so I blurted out, “Architect?!” Miss Bliss asked what my experience was in the field, and I couldn’t bring myself to say, “Legos”, so “None” sufficed.

Miss Bliss handed me a folder that she “usually reserved for sophomores and juniors” filled with recommended summer opportunities for teenagers. She also reminded me that I had planned to take classes at South Valley Community College in June so that I could take all the AP courses I wanted to during the school year.

Oops. I had forgotten about that.

“Have you enrolled? How do you plan to fit a job or an internship into your schedule? And, presuming you won’t age two years and acquire your driver’s license in the next four months, what’s your transportation strategy?”

Uhhh…

Miss Bliss told me to look through the folder, which included contact information for the pre-college program at SVCC, and discuss the options with my parents. Then she’d meet with me again in two weeks and we’d work on my “game plan for success.”

I have so much to think about.

Lilo:

When my daughter told me she was looking for a summer job, I couldn’t help but wonder about my own career path. 

How did it meander so far off track?

Years ago, when one of my previous bosses was away on family leave, I took on many of her director responsibilities, even though I was a manager. Then after a layoff, I moved to another company, where I took a step down to an analyst position, but I kept my previous manager pay rate. Then when I decided to switch industries to work in sustainable energy, I took a lateral move to another analyst position. So now, almost two decades into my career, I have the years of experience of an SVP, the quality of experience of a director, the salary of a junior manager, and the title of someone who was just promoted from their entry-level position.

I need to change this situation.

Grover:

I got my third quarter grades. Dad doesn’t understand why I’m doing bad. Not bad. Just not good. Mom thinks it’s the school. Dad thinks it the divorce. Tamarind thinks I’m better at some classes than others, so I should focus on those. That’s not really an option in sixth grade. We don’t get to choose our classes.

I don’t know why I’m not smart this year. Is it because I’m eleven and I got smellier and hairier instead of intelligenter? More smart?