Rethinking My Options
Sitting around a conference table at the top of a tall building I stare around the room. I see a sleek modern office with floor to ceiling glass doors engraved with names from Greek literature. We are at Parthenon, a global consulting firm’s office in Mumbai. Eighty percent of the work from the office is related to education. We hear from Alana Rush, former teaching fellow at Andover, current Parthenon employee. She tells us of her life as a consultant, her life in India, and about her time with the company. I am intrigued. Consulting was a career I have never really considered. As she explains what she does, I realize that I might also like working as a consultant. When people ask what I want to do when I grow up I tell them the easy answer. Be a lawyer. However, there are a huge amount of other career options open to me. In limiting myself to this one path, I run the risk of missing out on other potential options like consulting.
Meeting Alana Rush and hearing her talk gives me hope. I sometimes become discouraged when I think about the subjects that interest me and what I would like to study in college. Majoring in philosophy does not exactly translate into a stable career path. However hearing from Alana has given me hope. There are a wide variety of things I can do within my current interests. It is comforting.
Visiting the United States consulate and listening to a panelist there also left me with a similar feeling last week. Before then I had not seriously considered a career in foreign service or anything like that. Hearing people who worked at the consulate talk about their jobs made me interested in learning more about this career. I enjoy traveling and I like dealing with issues related to governments. Working in foreign service sounds like something I could enjoy.
Our trip to Parthenon and the United States consulate in Mumbai gave me yet another perspective through which to examine my own expectations for my life. I realize that I am only seventeen. I do not necessarily know the path my life will take or what career I will have. However, I know there is something out there for me. Previously, my thinking was very limited. I was going to college for four years, law school for three and then I would be a lawyer. But it is unrealistic and harmful to close myself this way.
Alana told us not to worry, to be curious, and pursue our passions. This is good advice. This perspective has given me another opportunity to question my previous expectations for myself and examine what I want out of a career. Being open to what life gives you may be cliche. But it is important.
--Rachel