This essay will discuss my plans for the next ten years of my life. I have just finished high school and my main aim for my career is to get a degree in plumbing. I was academically OK at school, not one of the best in my class but neither was I one of the worst. I don’t see the point in taking my formal education any further as this costs a great deal of money and is not guaranteed to enable me to find a job once I graduated. Unemployment is high amongst college graduates and I would rather not get myself in to debt trying to pay for a college education, only to end up unemployed afterwards. I’d rather train for a practical career that will allow me to earn money as I go along and be assured of a decent wage once I am fully trained.
As the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012) shows, on average, plumbers earn $46,660 per year or $22.43 per hour, with the job outlook being 26%, which is faster than average across all other sectors. I am happy moving in to a profession that will enable me to start work without having a massive debt from a college education and that will ensure I have work from the moment I become qualified. For me, I am happy living on an average of $44,660 per year. This would allow me to live in the way I would like, to buy my own house, for example, and to be able to have children. I am not interested in making lots and lots of money just for the sake of it: I’d rather have little money, appreciate it and use it well.
Aside from the worry that getting in to debt for a college education would cause me, I have chosen plumbing as my career because I am interested in a life outside work. I don’t want to be tied to a desk doing someone else’s work, for someone else. I want to be free to plan my own days and to be able to leave work early if I want to some days, to be able to have free time for myself. I don’t want to be forced to work until late every day and not see my family and I am prepared to sacrifice some earnings for that. For me, my quality of life, my happiness is more important than earning a few thousand dollars more per year. I don’t think happiness has a price and I’m not willing to compromise my happiness. I value my health and my happiness above all else. I want to have time, for example, to exercise and to take care of myself, physically. I don’t want to be stuck behind a desk where I can’t move. That’s not my idea of a good time.
As to where I see myself in ten years, I will be a qualified plumber and I expect that I’ll be running my own plumbing business, possibly with one or a couple of employees. Professionally, therefore, I’ll have realised my dream of not being tied to someone else’s life, and not being in debt to a bank, to earn my living. I’ll have freedom in my working life, which will allow me to be happy and healthy. I imagine I’ll be working on local projects and that I, and my business, will be respected in my local community. My community means a lot to me, and it is important for me to take part in my community as much as possible. For me, this would mean helping vulnerable members of my community for little financial recompense, for example. If there’s an old lady or a single mother that need some plumbing doing, I’d like to think I’d be the one helping them without landing them with a massive bill they’d struggle to pay.
Aside from my career, in ten years, I see myself as being a respected member of my local community. This means, for me, being a regular churchgoer and a regular volunteer in my community. I like the idea of helping my local community as much as possible: this is, after all, where I grew up and where I would like my children to grow up. It is important, for me, to contribute to my local community in order to help it to stay cohesive. I see so many problems in communities, stemming from the members of the community losing touch with each other. I really believe that if people are committed to their community, the whole community benefits and all its members feel these benefits.
Aside from my career and my desire to be a respected member of the community, one of my main dreams for my life within the next ten years is to have a wife and a family. I have a girlfriend who I intend to marry and would like to have three children within the next ten years. I don’t expect my wife to work, as I would like her to be a stay at home mother. I strongly believe that children need their mother at home to be able to grow strong emotionally and spiritually. I also very much like the idea of supporting my whole family through my work: that would make me feel like I have succeeded in my life. It is important for me for my family to be secure and happy, valuing what we have and what we are as a family.
In summary, as to where I see myself in ten years, I see myself not having taken on a huge amount of debt to attend college; not having chosen to work for someone else and to live my life doing someone else’s work; and, perhaps most importantly, not having turned my back on my local community. I see myself working an honest job, as a plumber, perhaps with my own little company. I see myself happily married with children and as a valuable and respected member of my local community. Importantly, I see myself as happy. For me, happy isn’t having a million dollars in the bank, its having enjoyed every moment of my every day by living it in my way. It’s having time to relax, to smell the flowers, to see the beauty in life. Happy, for me, isn’t working for someone else, working until late every day or being so far in debt that I wouldn’t be able to see or work my way out of it. Ten years is a long time if you appreciate every day of them.
References
US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012). Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters. Available from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters.htm [Accessed 2nd November 2012].
