At 15, You're Supposed to Know What You Want to Be. Really?
We ask young people to make decisions about their futures at an age when they are still discovering who they are. Perhaps it is time to rethink the questions we ask.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
It is probably one of the most familiar questions we ask children. At five, the answers are wonderfully imaginative: an astronaut, a footballer, a scientist, singer, sometimes all four . At fifteen, however, the same question suddenly becomes serious. Which subjects will you choose? Which university? Which career? What is your plan? And somewhere along the way, curiosity becomes a decision, exploration becomes preparation, and the future starts looking like a deadline... Yet I keep coming back to one question: why are we so eager to make young people decide who they will become before we have given them enough opportunities to discover who they might be?
Are We Confusing Direction with Certainty?
Having worked in education for nearly 30 years, I have met many young people with extraordinary potential. Some are academically brilliant but unsure what interests them, others have a very clear career ambition, often influenced by their families, yet surprisingly little understanding of what that profession actually involves. And then there are those who do not know and I have never considered that a problem. What concerns me far more is when a young person stops asking questions because they believe they are already supposed to have the answers.
I sometimes wonder how often we mistake a well-rehearsed ambition for self-knowledge. A teenager who confidently announces that they want to become a doctor may receive immediate approval. Another who says they are interested in science, literature, psychology, arts and perhaps something they have not discovered yet may be encouraged to narrow things down. We often talk about preparing students for a changing world. Yet we continue to measure their readiness partly by how confidently they can describe a future that none of us can predict.
The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2026 estimates that 39% of workers' existing skills will be transformed or become outdated before 2030. The report also highlights analytical thinking, resilience, flexibility, creativity and lifelong learning as increasingly important capabilities. Of course, young people need knowledge, qualifications and ambition. But if the world itself cannot tell us exactly what it will need in ten years, how reasonable is it to expect a fifteen-year-old to have a definitive answer?
The Science of Not Knowing Yet
There is a good reason why adolescence is a period of exploration. Research in developmental psychology shows that adolescence is a particularly important stage in the formation of identity. Young people are developing their understanding of their abilities, values, relationships and place in the world. This is something I believe educators and parents should think about more carefully as much of the young person’s choice is influenced by others without having considered the alternatives. We naturally want the best for our children and students. We want them to succeed, avoid unnecessary mistakes and make choices that will give them opportunities in life. But there is a fine line between guiding a young person and quietly deciding their future for them.
Potential Is Not Always Where We Expect to Find It
Another assumption I find increasingly difficult to accept is that academic performance tells us everything important about a young person's potential. It tells us something, certainly. But not everything.
A student who excels in mathematics may discover an ability to communicate ideas. Someone who has always considered themselves artistic may become fascinated by science. A quiet student may turn out to be an exceptional leader when given the right environment. How can one discover abilities they have never had an opportunity to exercise? Perhaps an even more uncomfortable question: Are we always developing young people's potential, or are we sometimes simply rewarding those who are particularly good at meeting our expectations?
Education Should Open Doors, Not Close Them Too Early
This thinking is central to what we aim to achieve at Academic Summer Camps. Young people from different countries, educational backgrounds and cultures join our programmes. They learn in English, explore academic subjects, exchange ideas, work collaboratively and encounter perspectives that may be very different from their own.
As Course Director at our Westminster location, I’ve met many young people with very different ambitions. Some arrive knowing exactly what they want to study, whether medicine or entrepreneurship. Others are curious about several disciplines. And some are still searching for something that excites them. That diversity makes the learning environment valuable. Through programmes such as Own Your Future, students explore academic and professional fields, develop communication and leadership skills as well as they begin to understand what their ambitions might involve in practice. Our Experience London programme offers another kind of discovery, connecting academic learning with the cultural, social and intellectual experiences of one of the world's most dynamic cities - London. What matters to me is not only what students learn during their time with us, but what they begin to notice about themselves. Perhaps a student discovers that medicine is exactly the right direction, while another realises that technology offers far more opportunities for creativity than they had ever imagined.
What If We Asked Better Questions?
I often wonder what would happen if we changed the conversations we have with teenagers: our students and our children. Instead of asking, “What do you want to be?”, we might ask:
- What makes you curious enough to forget about time?
- What have you tried recently that surprised you?
- Which ideas do you disagree with, and why?
- What would you love to explore if you were not worried about being good at it?
- When did you last change your mind about something important?
These questions do not demand a career plan, but they invite reflection. This is, in my experience, where meaningful learning often begins. I would also like us to become more comfortable with young people changing their minds. I meet students like this very often in my university work, and I am convinced that while commitment is important, so is the ability to question our choices and reconsider them in the light of new knowledge and experience. After all, this is precisely what we should expect from an educated person.
Perhaps the Adults Need to Rethink Their Expectations
We live in a society that admires people who know exactly what they want. We enjoy early achievement, clear ambition, carefully planned futures. I wonder, however, whether, in doing so, we sometimes underestimate the intellectual value of uncertainty. We encourage creativity, but feel uncomfortable when it challenges established plans. We praise curiosity, but become impatient when it leads students away from the path we had imagined. We tell them to think for themselves, then worry when they do. Education should challenge young people, stretch their thinking, encourage discipline and help them recognise the possibilities that effort can create. But it should also give them permission to question, experiment, change direction and occasionally discover that they were wrong. That is not a failure! It is part of what education is for.