Anxiety, fear, and hope filled the hallways as brave students whispered, “What are you going to be when you grow-up?” Amazed by the break of silence, students would “Hush!” to the traitor who dared to speak at a time that would determine our fate. All the seventh grade students had to complete a personality assessment to match our character traits with an occupation. Imagine, our fate determined by a bunch of circles that had been filled. Life stopped for a moment; instantaneously, I graduated from high school, went to college, and I started a career. Or worse, I dropped out of school, and I lived a life of poverty. My mind swirled as it tried to catch up with my beating heart. I was in despair because I did not know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but a mere test would determine my path. I had to have faith that a simple test knew me well enough to determine my future.
Young children are impressionable and easily influenced by role-models in their life. Easily, a word or two can help motivate a child or shatter their dreams. In chapter two: Identity by Peter Johnston, Johnston expresses the opinion that children are “developing personal and social identities” (22). Johnston make an important point to remind teacher’s to consider how they praise students, but also how students can be encouraged to work independently and “constantly developing achievement” (24). Words are valuable and should be utilized with precision and a purpose. As educators, the purpose is to build a student’s intrinsic motivation to learn, yet precision describes a teacher enabling a student to seek self-satisfaction and motivation to guide their own learning.
Consequently, after waiting aguishly for the test results, I was told by my teacher, “I am so proud of you. The test said you are suitable to be a psychiatrist, a nurse, a police officer, or a family counselor.” My mind stopped listening after I heard the word “psychiatrist”. My skills had been noticed and named; my identity had been determined by filling-in circles. I was swept with euphoria as visions of college filled my mind and without a doubt, my head swelled as I tried to envision the role of a psychiatrist. Despite the blessing of a career, there was a dilemma to instantly knowing my fate, I had no idea who or what was a psychiatrist. Well, the test achieved to label my identity, but it was my personal will that took the initiative to discover, research, and learn about being a psychiatrist. Later that evening, I went home in a daze. I climbed out of my ego-enriched bubble, and I reached for the phone book. Determined to learn, I dialed the phone number to a psychiatrist. As crazy as the psychiatrist may have thought I was, I talked to the doctor for two hours about his profession. In spite of my research of the field of psychiatry or the test results, I did not full-fill the outcome of the test and seek a career as psychiatrist. I actually became a police officer, yet I have never forgotten the psychiatrist who took the time to talk to a crazy 13 year old.