The Great Resignation and the great reDirection

The Great Resignation and The Great Redirection

Did you realize that many of our high school seniors have opted out of college? This year, with an abundance of open jobs offering $17/hour and more, many graduating seniors have done the math and chosen to work rather than study. Instead of burdening their parents and themselves with college debt, many grads are deciding to work and help with family bills (or strike out on their own). After all, a $20/hour full-time job will earn almost $40,000 – that’s a huge boon for struggling families.

The Great Resignation among working adults has created the Great Redirection for high school grads.

A recent conversation with a Bend, Oregon high school counselor explored the stakes for her students and society. She wondered whether her students will ever return to the classroom after a few years of work. If they do return, will they have lost their student’s edge, forgetting the academic and self-management skills that took so long to foster? Finally (and most troubling): will choosing today’s fast money and pleasure become a way of life, undermining the grit and foresightedness so crucial to success?

I share her worries but will add one more. Will these students never discover their life’s calling? By opting for a paycheck today, will they learn to see their lives as a series of indifferent jobs that simply pay the bills? Will they never develop a deeply felt sense of calling, where a higher purpose inspires their work – wherever they may toil?

There is an important distinction between a “job,” a “career,” and a “calling” and it has nothing to do with the training or status involved in one’s work.

• A job is any activity, where you feel your duties are imposed by others and you comply in order to get a paycheck. “If you do your part (pay me), I’ll do my part (deliver my work product).”

• A career is any activity where you see your duties as contributing to your life’s ambitions. A career is, frankly, self-centered, pursued to build one’s reputation and worldly success. Careerists may put in long hours, because they feel they are working for themselves – even if they have an employer.

• A calling is any activity where you see your duties coming from a higher purpose or power (like God), where you intentionally align your daily interactions and activities with that greater purpose or power. Those who have a calling can cope with daily frustrations and meager rewards because they serve this higher purpose – not their own personal happiness. Yet, they feel deeply fulfilled by their calling.

Here's what is most important. The very same work can be a “job,” a “career” or a “calling” -- whether that work is as a lawyer, store manager, nurse or parent.

Why, even an eighteen year-old high school grad, working as a produce assistant at Safeway, faces the choice of viewing his work as a job, a career or a calling.

• He can say, “Produce is just a job, a way to pay the bills,” and be indifferent to artichokes and apples. He finds happiness after he punches out for the day.

• Or, he can say, “I am here to build my career in produce,” and will leap at any opportunity for advancement. He’ll attend training sessions and work extra hours when the job demands it. He wears Safeway t-shirts to the beach.

• Or, he can say, “I am here for a higher reason, my calling. I sense I’m in produce because this is the department where there’s the most customer interaction. Here, I can show real care – some of our customers live alone and I may be the only person they speak with today! And I use my talent for design to create beautiful displays that distinguish our store.”

Our high school graduates will know more internal satisfaction (and external success) when they treat their work as a calling. And any post-high school work can be a crucial step in exploring one’s purpose and talents.

The Great Redirection can actually further our grads’ sense of calling.

But, are our grads prepared to do this? Have they asked themselves the question, “Why am I here? What are my gifts? What excites my heart and mind? What do I really love to do where I forget the clock and myself?”

Although these are, at heart, spiritual questions, public schools are prepared to help. Every Bend public high school subscribes to an academic web platform, SCOIR, which includes YouScience, a personality and skills inventory (please don’t call it a “test”!). And, if your high school subscribes to Naviance or The College Board, they offer similar, free inventories.

Frankly, it doesn’t really matter which one you decide to use. Treat the results as an initial but important first step toward identifying your calling.

According to that Bend high school counselor, however, it’s tough getting students to sit down and take these inventories. An inventory may take a few hours, including follow-up conversations. That’s not required for graduation, and doesn’t provide a credit.

Maybe that’s the problem. Our students treat this like a job – and why work without pay? They don’t yet have a sense of calling.

But after punching a clock for a year, perhaps our high school grads will wonder, “Was I made for more than this?”

Come see me when you’re ready to explore your purpose and higher calling. It’s an essential step in creating a compelling college list and composing a strong application.

But more: it’s the start of an exciting, empowering way to see your life, plan your future and find joy each day.