My youngest is a poet.

One of her most recent poems is about the beauty of calculus. Another is about the mysteries of music. As she heads off to college, what will she study? So many gifted kids face this paradox of choice. I have heard that many gifted children actually find their life’s work in the first field that does not come easily to them! As though the one thing they truly crave is a challenge!

This question: “What will you be when you grow up?” is one asked of kids all the time. When my youngest was in first grade, she told me she knew just what she wanted to be: On Mondays and Tuesday she would be a writer, on Wednesdays and Thursdays she would be a paleontologist. Yes, I asked what about Fridays; she said that weekends were too short! (Smart kid!) I am not sure that this plan has stood the test of time, but I am confident that she will find lots of interesting things to learn about going forward and will settle on something amazing. On the other hand, I am considerably older than my then first grade daughter, and have to admit that I do not have a definitive answer to that question for myself!

Happy new year to all of you. May this year find you and yours figuring out what you want to be when you grow up, or at least what you want to be doing for now!