Career day in elementary school was pretty much your only chance to dive deep into your interests and express yourself. Some kids loved every bit of career day. Getting to dress up and have an actual reason to not feign illness that morning was the holy grail to some people. But I can speak for some people and say that it was never my jam.
Call me a party pooper but I'd say that elementary school is a little too early to decide what you want to do with your life. I get the idea of kids exploring themselves and finding out what they want to do at an early age, but I've never been the best candidate for that logic.
Every time that dreaded day came around, I would freak out. It felt like teachers were constantly looking down on you, whispering pressuring words in your ear about how you need to choose something.
Every year I'd choose something different, hoping that this year would be the one where I finally choose a job and stick with it. I could choose something that is passed down from my family like working in the community of first responders, or I could do something creative like I've dreamed. But what?
What could I possibly choose??? All of the years of elementary school flashed by, with aspirations of being a voice actress, a math teacher, an author, a movie director.
Nothing stuck.
Career day didn't feel like Career day. It felt like "Wake Up At Six In The Morning And Contemplate Your Existence As An Eight Year Old Day."
Ew.
Ew to both the wake up at six part and the contemplating existence part.
I've never understood the people that can just wake up that day and know exactly what they wanted to be, and as I've gotten older, I still don't fully understand. Truth be told, I never really understood myself all that much.
