countable dreams.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
When i was young, i wanted to be a pilot. My friend awino wanted to be an engineer. In our primary school, we all wanted to either be a pilot, a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer. It was as if there were only four careers. I dont know how many attained those dreams but certainly me and awino havent, at least not yet.
Watching news yersterday made me remember my childhood dream. The news item was the release of the results of KCPE(Kenya certificate of primary education) Exams. The top achievers were being intervieweid. You can guess what they wanted to be when they grow up. Just one of the four careers mentioned above. The interesting part was when they started showing adult prisoners who had passed the exams. All but one wanted to be doctors. Is it a stage we all pass through? I got the feeling that if i take my grand ma to school right now, she'll want to be one of the above when she grows up. To make my sample more unbiased, I called my two nephews and asked them what they wanted to be when they grow big...one a pilot, the other one a doctor.
I cant understand why the dreams of the kenyan children are convergent....why our dreams were countable. Is it a case of parents living their dreams through their children? Could be, i certainly know of kids whose parents want them to be what they never managed to be. Or is it because our young minds options are limited to only those careers which are perceived to be well paying here in kenya?
7 comments:
That's so true man...most somali parents want their kids to be doctors and my dad was no different. As soon as i got my high school results, he brought me about 5 university prospectuses dealing with medicine. Thank God he never insisted when i told him i cant be a doctor.
asalamu aliakum
My dad said that he didn't care if i became a doctor,lawyer, engineer and so on but rather he'd be pleased if i got a degree in islamic law ( may Allah bless him I've disagreed with him many a time but today...) my mom on the other hand well, she wanted me to be ..guess what? a doctor. lol I'm now a nurse.
Interesting. Medicine is certainly very appealing for children, especially the more studious ones. I wanted to be an international spy when I was growing up. I would've settled for a hired gun. Oh well, an office monkey is close enough.
Those are the 'serious' and 'respectable' careers, aren't they? It's what African and Asian mums compete on ala 'My son is an Engineer!' 'Oh yeah? Well mine is a Surgeon!' 'Bah, my daughter is a Waitress! Err, I mean a Lawyer!'
I aspired to a job that would enable me to wear suits and travel (not one for grand dreams, me) when I was growing up. I do neither now.
muslimah; Mashalah, ur dad is a great man...u are lucky to have him.
aya;seems like u were weaned on too many James Bond movies...am sure its the glamour potrayed that appealed to you.
Firefly
Good observation. I wanted so badly to be an Air Hostess when I was growing up. The pops sat me down one day and convinced me maybe a pilot was better. Anyway, I think it is about economics and whatb is deemed reputable in the society. Right now I'm sure more kids want to be musicians and producers and DJs and radio presenters.
It's weird, ain't? I mean, most kids in developing world have only those four options mentioned, and the fact is, most of the kids do not want to become any of the professionals mentioned above. As far as I know, most Somali parents want their children to be a Doctor, what's up with that? Unfortunately, a lot of people become their parent's dream instead of following their own dream. Do this: ask a Somali person who's studying or has already become a Doctor whether it was his/her choice. I bet 99% of the time, it wasn't their choice - their parents made them study medicine.