It is nice to be a kid until you hit the age of five then you go to preschool and learn your colors and numbers. After that, you go to elementary school and get asked to say your ABC’s, then you go to middle school and get asked, “Are you scared of going to high school?” Now you are in high school and all you get asked is, “Do you know what you are going to do after high school?”
When I got halfway through the first year at Crownpoint High school, my family started asking what I wanted to do after high school. I honestly had no idea what to do after high school, I had so many options I was lost in which option to choose, so I asked my dad what I should do and he said, “Sometimes the system needs to be broken to make good people.” This stuck with me because my dad is my biggest influence and mentor, and I have seen him build himself a good life even when things did not always go as planned. After high school, you are expected to work or go to college, but that is not what I want to do after school. I want to do things in life that I know will make me happy enough to stick to it for a career, like become a rockstar, or astronaut. The only thing about that is school teaches the same things our ancestors learned. If generations keep getting taught the same things, how are we supposed to break the system and become something different?
Now, all of us have friends, some from middle school, some are childhood friends, but I know distance can break friendships. I took a survey to see if my friends knew what they are going to do after high school, and surprisingly most of them have an idea or know what they are going to do after high school–most want to go to college. I get that college can offer you a lot, but it does not teach you how to be a boss and run your own business; it just teaches you to be an employee. I believe my friends will make something out of it though. Most of them want to be nurses, and that is impressive because nurses are people who know how to take care of themselves and other people, and they have a good life.
Once you get out of high school, there are a lot of distractions from what you should be doing and although it is good to have fun, having too much fun could lead to more problems. You are finally independent and can make your own decisions but there are still things that could influence your decisions, and both could affect your life positively or negatively. The only thing you should consider is not to get too distracted and keep your goals in mind.
In an interview with Crownpoint High School freshman, Audrey Riley, I asked her if she had any influences on what she should do after high school and she answered, “I had no influences, I decided myself because it interests me to get a good education and a make a good life for myself.” This is a convenient answer, because you should not let others influence you to do something you hate, and no one should tell you that you can and cannot do something.
In a survey conducted with twenty students at Crownpoint High, I asked them “Did anyone influence your decisions on what to do after high school?” Of the twenty surveyed, 55% of them answered “No one had any influence on my decisions.” This is good to hear because no one should put any influence on what you think. This is your life…make the wrong decisions, learn from your mistakes, because in the end, everything will be okay.
Although you may have your heart set on one goal, why not do everything you want and can do? People usually go to college then go straight to work, which is not bad, but I know that most people dreamed bigger when they were younger, so why not fulfill all your dreams, the ones from when you were a kid, the ones from when you were a teenager, and even the dreams you have now. You can do anything you want in life, and the only one it depends on is you. Whenever I talk with my dad about what I am going to do after high school, he tells me “You know, I can actually say I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to in life, and not many people can say that, so in my advice do everything you can to benefit yourself and family.” I remember this word for word, because this is exactly how I would like to be, and I would want to say this to my kids.
Honestly, I still have no idea what to do after high school. I have been presented with the choices to go to college, go work, become a silversmith, or even become a rockstar! At the same time, I have goals like becoming Navajo Nation president and making the reservation better for future generations, or going to the marines and continuing what my brother started, or even to start my own business and expanding around the world. At the same time, you have one hundred years to live and all that my mind ponders is, “Why can’t I do everything I want and can?” If we limit ourselves to one thing for our entire career, do you really think we will be happy with what we have done in life? I would love to be old and look back on my life knowing that I was once just a lost freshman student who was ready to take on the world.
