When the time comes to choose a career, high school students are asked countless questions as they prepare for college and the real world.
One of the most popular questions is “What is your true vocation?” A true vocation is related to the desire, feeling, and personal appreciation of a profession or career. For a vocation to be considered, we have to connect it to the etymological and original origin of the word, directly related to spirituality.
I personally find it very important to know the spiritual origin of any term and in this instance, the word vocation gives us a very partial vision of any profession or career choice. This would have a determining approach when choosing where to guide a person’s professional life, displacing those who do not. If we believe that vocation and motivation are inextricably linked, we run the risk of excluding excellent professionals, as well as incorrectly accepting that only vocation determines the best professionals.
The professionals that spent their lives studying many topics and working in varied careers sometimes realize that what they have studied or worked in originally is not their true vocation. At approximately 18 years old it is nearly impossible to fully understand what your true vocation is and to find where you truly belong, many work in numerous fields until they are able to find their true vocation. Many people end up working in fields entirely unrelated to the field that they studied in college and/or obtained degrees in. For some, they might find their fit on the first or second try. Others might be in their 50’s or 60’s and still say they don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. Either way, it is important to do what you love and never give up until you find what that is.
Having said that, we cannot deny that it is evident that to study any degree, a minimum of interest, pleasure, and appreciation is necessary. This pertains to both the chosen degree and the professions that degree can allow us, an issue that can help the student to overcome many of the barriers and obstacles that appear in careers and professions. Some may feel they have been “called” to a profession while others stumble across their true vocation without aiming to find it. No matter what road you take to find your true vocation, enjoy every step of the journey.