Childhood interests and career choices

January 23, 2024 — I’m curious how many people, like me, showed an interest at a very young age for what would eventually become their career? I imagine it’s fairly common since we hear these stories about famous people often. Steve Irwin, “The Crocodile Hunter,” grew up loving all wildlife, especially reptiles. Mae Jemison, the first Black woman astronaut, was introduced to science, and developed an interest in astronomy at the age of 3. Steven Spielberg, the famous movie director and producer, became captivated by filmmaking as a child. 

On the flip side, 20 - 50 percent of college freshmen have an undeclared major (and up to 75 percent change their major at least once), according to some quick Google research.* I don’t think there’s necessarily an advantage to one experience over the other. After all, it’s good to have an open mind and explore the nearly limitless possibilities. The same can be said for those who enter trades or take other paths. Although not knowing what they want to “do with their lives” could presumably make some young people anxious. And that’s understandable. 

I suspect that for those who are college-bound, prerequisite classes and various electives might spark an interest. Life itself presents all kinds of circumstances that can elicit a spark. And if not, there are all sorts of assessments available to tell people where their interests and skills would be an especially good fit. 

A common question rises up from the discussion of early interests. Are children affected more by nature or nurture? And what I believe is a common answer — it’s a combination. In my case, both parents were writers. Some of that could be passed along in the genes, but also, I was exposed to seeing them writing and publishing articles and books. Did one play a larger part than the other? Who can say? I suppose some people are “prewired” to be drawn to a certain field or type of job. Just think about child prodigies. What are your thoughts and your experiences?

A related point of interest from when I worked in communications at the University of Michigan in a graduate science program (ecology and evolutionary biology): I interviewed new faculty (and others) for feature articles in our alumni newsletter. One of my go-to questions was what sparked their interest in their area of science? Interestingly, I’d say almost without fail, their interests began in childhood. I always loved hearing their stories. 

Sometime during early to mid-elementary school (hey people, when you date something, include a year), I decided to publish a family newspaper that I titled The G. Rodman Star. After a single issue, I shortened the name to The Gail Star — the little marketer in me must have thought it was catchier. Within the typed, carbon copied (remember that purple paper?) and Xeroxed pages, there were flash bulletins (breaking family news) and mysteries presented and solved (by me!), GardenNews, SquirrelNews (lots of squirrel news), BugNews, UnderWorld News (in the crawl space) and Upper World news (the attic), comics (not original), horroscopes (sic), requests for article ideas, and a lesson on how to draw a 3D-looking star. The paper cost a nickel or a dime, depending on the length of the issue. The issues began in July and ended with a Christmas issue, so I’m thinking the (almost) monthly papers lasted for about five months. Fast forward to today and my career involved being a freelance writer for a number of small, local newspapers and the writer and editor of several newsletters and some websites. And publishing my first real live picture book. I think little me would be happy to know this. 

A couple of The Gail Star stories, for kicks: “My corn is taller than DEREK. Now that’s tall.” 

“Here is a flash bulliten: (sic) Squirrel was seen with its fore-paws (sic) up on sliding doors in the breakfast room peering into our house.” The final feature was a poem I wrote called Snow. (definitely not reprinting it here ;) )  

I also used to write stories for school and at home, just for fun. I’d fill up those small spiral bound notepads with adventures of families of mice or rabbits. My first or second grade teacher, at Beverly Elementary School in Beverly Hills, Michigan, used to type our stories on colored paper and fold and staple them into little booklets for us to illustrate. (These are somewhere in the basement). I remember that was so much fun. I wrote in an earlier post about how my Dad “published” my first picture book by taking some of my crayon drawings and writings, piecing them together and enhancing it into a very short Halloween booklet, titled Jack-O. I can still recall the special thrill that gave me — and as you can see, I kept the booklet all these years! So clearly, my interests began very early, with some nudges along the way. 

In high school, my yearbook teacher taught a session on journalism for a couple of weeks and I was intrigued. I declared my major as journalism from Day 1 at Michigan State University. And never wavered. Some recent studies show a powerful connection between childhood interests, career choice and career satisfaction. I provide some links below if anyone is interested in reading more on the topic. Anyway, I just thought it would be fun to share some of these photos and my story. As always, I’d love to hear from you about your experience and anything else. 

In the spirit of trying something and not being overly disappointed if it doesn’t work out — I don’t have any contest entries yet. But that’s how it goes. People are busy and it’s tough to get attention for something like this, I totally get it. If anyone out there is interested, see my previous blog posts about the How Happy Is a Lark? contest with surPRIZES and send them to me (via the contact page) by Jan. 31, 2024. Knowing that there are plenty of folks who wait until the last minute, I might be pleasantly surprised with some entries. I’ll let you know what happens. 

Even if I don’t get any, it will be a standing offer to share with me and I’ll share some on my blog and/or social media. Deal? So, remember the old saying, don’t sweat the small stuff. And it’s all small stuff. And regarding the clearly not small stuff going on in the world, let’s all do our part to try to make a difference however and whenever we can.

A small thing I’m doing is that I will be sharing all proceeds from the sale of my book in January and February 2024 with Food Gatherers (a local food bank) and Washtenaw Literacy, which empowers adult community members with free tutoring.

*source BestColleges.com

Photos: 1. My childhood binder for The Gail Star. 2. The first issue of The Gail Star. 3. A page from the childhood book, Jack-O, my Dad published for me.

Further reading

New Research Shows Childhood Play Impacts Future Career Paths

How Your Childhood Interests Could Predict Your Career Path

YouTube video: Childhood Interests Can Help You Find the Right Career

Childhood Dreams: How They Can Lay the Path for Your Future Career