Learning for Life

I know that having to work out what we want to do with our lives once we leave compulsory education happens to everyone, but I remember when I had to do it and I wasn't ready then, and now my son is in the same boat I feel a deja vu coming on.

When he finished school he felt that he still had a lot to learn and was even more keen to absorb knowledge and master new skills. College was the thing and he is enjoying the study and the meeting of other kids who have a similar outlook to himself. My son is one of those who is fortunate - or not - to be very able across a broad range of subjects. But what will he end up 'doing' I wonder to myself, how will he decide about making a living when all is said and done? He enjoys all the subject areas and for the moment cannot decide which way to take them.

Thank goodness, I innocently thought when he first started college at the end of the summer last year, that he may be able to postpone the final decision by having those three years in higher ed. A little more time to try and decide what ticks the boxes, a little leeway to network and make a few connections and explore. Oh how wrong I was.

The ugly recession has affected everyone, including the innocents who were too young to buy into anything at the time the fiscal fiasco was gaining force. Universities are having to tighten their belts and so the pressure is on. The standard of A levels is being challenged, the increasing number of kids going to university is being questioned, university level places are dropping and will only be for the very highest performing A* students, finding paid employment is almost impossible for the young and inexperienced and the good old technical qualifications that are reliant on apprenticeships are in decline.

I am in a blind panic. Apart from working very hard for 4 A levels, it used to be 3 in my day, I am now encouraging him to get out there and make his mark to add to his CV. Am I being reasonable? "You want to write son, then do it. Send your stuff into the editors" I plead with him. "Go make the film you always wanted to direct" I suggest.

However - this is all water off a duck's back as he seems to have no drive or ambition whatsoever. He is still young - how the time has flown - I cannot believe that schooling is over and the hard cold facts of life are going to kick in pretty soon, the way things are going. And I want to protect him still but I know that I cannot, he has to face life and make his own decisions and I must learn to stand back and watch him ignore my advice and go his own way and, what is most upsetting, learn by his own mistakes.