The message often received in high school is that you have to work hard to get a job. The problem is, I’ve seen plenty of people get jobs, but then what? Is that it? Of course not. I know people in the working world who can’t manage multiple tasks. I know teachers who struggle to communicate with their students. I know people who are in leadership positions and fail to lead. All these people have high school diplomas and college degrees. So what’s the problem?
Many high school students see the diploma and the job as the final destination. The truth is the diploma and job are just the beginning of a lifetime of learning. Most people end up getting that first job, but many don’t do the job well or don’t enjoy the work. They feel confused about which city to live in, how to make friends in that city, and whether living in that city really makes financial sense. Climbing up the academic ladder is a series of planned out steps. You take the SAT and climb up a rung. You get into college and climb up another. You graduate from high school. Your professors give you assignments and exams. With each one you complete, you make your way to the top of that ladder until graduation day. Now you’re at the top of the tree when all of a sudden, the ladder gets removed from under you, and you have to figure out a way to get down. There are no more rungs laid out for you. There’s no next graduation or homework assignment. There’s no moving on to the next grade. Professors and advisors aren’t telling you what to do anymore.
That’s where those skills from school—critical thinking, organization, communication, grit, self-reflection—come in. They help people to keep learning and to figure out what the next best steps for them are. People have to get truthful with themselves and think about what actually gets them excited and motivated. They have to create the path for themselves for the first time instead of letting others create it for them. They do this process again and again for years and decades. To say the end goal is the first job is foolish because it’s actually when the real learning begins.