Careers!

I have taught students for over 32 years. It has been a challenging but also enriching experience. Some of my students have gone on to enjoy exciting and rewarding careers. One of my former students started medical school in September and she will become an outstanding doctor who will contribute to her profession and society, continuing what she has done since I first knew her. Another student called me this week, asking if I would be one of his references for his medical school application. Originally, he planned to be a teacher and he would have been a much loved and respected teacher. Unfortunately with the tight job market he might have become disillusioned while he waited for that illusive teaching position to become available. The job market for teachers will be tight for the next ten years, a fact that corresponds with hiring practises 30 years ago. 30 years ago, very few new teachers were hired which means that there will be very few teachers retiring and this economic situation will also make it more unlikely that teachers will retire. All of this brings me to a student who I talked to this summer. She entered grade 11 this year. She is a very bright young girl: studied figure skating, piano, has completed hundreds of hours of volunteer time, started an orchestra at her high school where there is none. What surprised me about this talented and very hard working young girl was her girl choice- she wants to be involved in the stock market. In July, that might not have seemed a bad choice although it was not hers. Her parents had decided that this was a good choice and had not considered what her talents and desires might. She is a young girl who believes and obeying her parents. After the economic excitment of the past two weeks, I wonder if she is going to rethink this choice. Her goal is to go to an American University on scholarship followed by the London School of Economics and then become involved in funds and trading! Would love to see what she thinks about this plan based on current economic situation and theories about what needs to be done. All signs point to the fact, that we are going to have to rethink Capitalism- pure capitalism does not work!
I will leave my thoughts and the theories about Capitalism that are now considered acceptable for another post.