Divergent: Do You Know Where You Belong?
By Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy)
Did you know what you wanted to do with your entire life when you were only sixteen? What if you’d been forced to choose and could never change your decision?
That’s part of the dilemma faced by Beatrice (who later calls herself Tris) in Divergent.
The society in Divergent is divided into four factions—Abnagation (the selfless helpers), Amity (the peaceful, happy farmers), Candor (the honest, justice-seeking law-makers), Dauntless (the brave guardians), and Erudite (the intellectual researchers and scientists). In their sixteenth year, teens undergo testing to see where their aptitude lies, and then they must choose the faction that will become their new family. Faction over blood. And there’s no turning back unless you want to live factionless, a homeless, hungry outcast.
The leadership insists that factions maintain order and protect their society, and so they ruthlessly hunt down divergents—people who don’t fit into a single faction. Tris is a divergent. When it comes time to choose, she doesn’t have the guidance the aptitude test is supposed to provide.
Such a society sounds awful to our freedom-loving ears (though my husband and I did have some fun on the ride home from the movie trying to decide which faction we’d fit best in), but it’s not really so far off. How many of us were uncertain of what we wanted to do with our lives when we had to pick a major in university or a program of study in college? How many people end up in a different career from the one they went to school for? How many people stay trapped in a job they hate, that they selected when they were too young to know who they really were?
Last September, my husband went back to school. He’d already worked as a government contractor in the U.S. and an editor in Canada. Now he’s going through to be a paralegal.
When he originally went to university fresh out of high school, he thought he knew where his career path would lead. He’s had the freedom to change course, but not everyone does.
In fact, I think more people don’t have that freedom than do. Family commitments. Financial commitments. And when they reach a time in their life when they could change course, they feel like it’s too late to start over. (It never is, by the way. Just take a look at Debra Eve’s blog about late bloomers.)
But all this got me thinking—would we have fewer people changing course or feeling trapped if we didn’t ask young adults to choose their path so early in life? Are you someone who changed course? Was it difficult? I’d love to know what influenced your decision.
And for fun, what faction would you be in the Divergent world?
If you like suspense, I hope you’ll take a look at my ebook Frozen. Twisted sleepwalking. A frozen goldfish in a plastic bag. And a woman afraid she’s losing her grip on reality.
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Apr 15, 2014 @ 11:26:44
Perfect timing! I just saw Divergent over the weekend I had many similar thought. First, I noticed that there was no creative faction, so I don’t know where I’d fit. I’d probably be divergent. Second, I totally agree that we ask kids to predict their future way too soon, especially with what we know about brain development. I think the idea of college is to go and study lots of things and discover what you like. Then when you graduate, you can take the next step and learn the next thing. You shouldn’t have to go in with a plan. I think we miss out on the apprentice stage because we assume college takes its place. I have changed course partially, but I think teaching will always be a part of what I do.
Apr 15, 2014 @ 12:22:02
I love the idea of thinking about college/university that way, and I definitely agree that would be the best way to approach it. I’m not sure that’s possible though when I think about the debt that follows most people out. We just finished paying off my husband’s student loans for university a few months before he had to go back to school. If attending a post-secondary institution were less expensive, it would also relieve some of the pressure I think. Right now, those going in feel like they need to figure out what they’re doing and fast, otherwise they’ll come out with debt and no solid job prospects. And once they come out, if they’re carrying student loans, they feel less like they can pursue that next step in learning and more like they’re trapped in the job they trained for because now they have big bills to pay.
Apr 15, 2014 @ 12:07:37
When I enrolled in college, I declared myself a music therapy major. 3 months in I’d switched to, I think, Psychology. For the next four years I switched majors at least 7 times. Maybe 8. I lost track. At the end I graduated with a degree in English because that’s where I had the most credit hours. I had no idea what I wanted to be. No idea where my skills or passions really were. But I had a good time going to a variety of classes and trying to sort it out. In the end, I went back for a Masters ’cause I still hadn’t figured it out. All I knew was I didn’t want to be a secretary my whole life. (the only job I’d been qualified for coming out of college). And, to be honest, even THAT degree was a “well, this might lead somewhere”. It did…a career in graphics/publishing. 15 years later I realized that I’d probably been on the wrong path and completely switched…and now I’m a writer. Is it the right faction for me? No idea. I suspect I won’t ever have it fully figured out. My parents call that being flighty 😀
Apr 15, 2014 @ 16:45:59
Definitely not flighty! I think it’s better that you kept looking until you found what fits for you. And if it ever stops fitting, hopefully you’ll be able to move on to something new you enjoy.
I love writing and editing, and I can’t imagine ever not doing it. That said, there are other jobs that I think I also would have enjoyed. Maybe I’ll do the best of both and write about them 🙂
Apr 15, 2014 @ 18:49:54
In my teenage years, girls were directed into three areas: secretary, elementary school teacher, or nurse. Being a loner and different (as immigrant child) I chose the first career path in high school. I had no girlfriends who went beyond high school, but I broke the mold and enrolled in a Secretarial Science program UWO but later changed universities and chose Geography as my major with a minor in English. My goal was to become a teacher, but not in the elementary system. I graduated from the Faculty of Education, UOT with a Business as my teachable subject but ended up teaching in several different subjects over the next 25 years. So the point of this is that all education is good and beneficial until we find what we were meant to do. Now I like to write. My husband changed jobs and careers several times. At 50 he began as a real estate agent which he loves and is very successful at using all his previous studies to his benefit.
Apr 17, 2014 @ 15:05:10
I’m glad girls aren’t funneled that way anymore. It was brave of you to take a different path.
I’ve often wondered if things would be a little different if high school students were required to take a class (or classes) where the whole purpose was to teach them about different potential careers so that they could make better educated choices. But perhaps what we want from a career also changes as we change.
Apr 17, 2014 @ 16:05:56
I *like* that idea of having a career-oriented semester-long class in high school. It could include several of those tests to see strengths and interests. 🙂
Apr 15, 2014 @ 20:04:26
This subject has come up quite a lot lately because our school has the kids thinking about it at 12 yrs old! My oldest child confused the school because she refused to conform to the standard specialty areas. My youngest just plain doesn’t want to think about it yet and every time they bring it up at school she freaks out. The pressure at that age is ridiculous.
I switched majors after my first semester from graphic design to secondary English education. Graduated. Then went to work in the office of my family’s business. Now I’m a writer.
I honestly don’t know too many people who’ve stayed with what they majored in college. I know more people who began and stayed in trade jobs and are satisfied with it.
Thanks for the interesting discussion.
Apr 17, 2014 @ 14:38:14
I agree – that’s way too young. I can remember teachers asking me what job I planned to have when I grew up, and I also remember that my answers weren’t acceptable to them because they weren’t practical. I think that when you’re that young, you should be allowed to dream and imagine rather than having to practically decide what career you want to pursue before you’re even in high school. You don’t know enough about the world when you’re that young to make any sort of real choice.
Apr 15, 2014 @ 20:07:26
I’ve reinvented myself half a dozen times (at least) over the years. Although I’m quite content with this latest iteration, who knows what will happen tomorrow! 🙂
Apr 17, 2014 @ 15:00:09
I think the scariest part of Divergent for me was that once they chose, they couldn’t reinvent themselves. It’s wonderful that we can!
Apr 15, 2014 @ 23:02:25
*raises hand* Master of reinvention here. 🙂
I changed majors…BEFORE college even started. LOL! I was lucky enough to go to a college that allowed for a “No Pref[erence]” designation for the first two years, which were all general education anyway.
But I still didn’t declare a major until a professor offered me a scholarship if I switched to that department (only $500, but that was better than nothing). So yeah, I sold myself to a college major for $500. That doesn’t sound very good when worded that way, does it? 😉
Of course, I never did anything with that major, but it’s been helpful for creating my mindset about technology and future potential. I then switched careers more times than I can count, but like you, I now can’t think of doing anything else. 🙂
As far as the idea of college being more about discovering ourselves, I disagree for the same reason you mentioned: expense. Personally, I think too many jobs require degrees that don’t really require degrees as it is.
If college were less expensive, it wouldn’t be a big deal to use that time to explore, but as it stands now, the expense is what traps people, not the choices in college themselves. Maybe the expectation should be that kids DO apprenticeships or stick with community college until they’re ready to make that expensive commitment.
Apr 17, 2014 @ 14:58:37
I agree whole-heartedly that too many jobs require degrees.
I was one of the fortunate ones. I went to a university that had a program called Scholar’s Electives. I don’t know if they still run it now, but basically, if your high school average was high enough, you could customize your own program. (The catch was you had to maintain a certain academic standard to stay in the program, and you’d find yourself degree-less if you didn’t.) You could even carry extra classes if you wanted, and they’d waive certain prerequisites.
That gave me the freedom to dabble. I took classes in statistics right alongside my classes in English, I took history classes, anthropology, sociology, psychology, etc. By the time I finished, I’d narrowed my focus some and they eventually called my degree Social Psychology. I’ve been self-employed since I finished my master’s, so I’ve never actually used my degrees except for the knowledge they gave me 🙂
Apr 17, 2014 @ 16:07:30
Interesting! I’ve never heard of a program like that before. Very cool!
Apr 16, 2014 @ 00:57:39
I’ve had four fulfilling careers in my lifetime, and none of them were the one I thought I wanted as a young college student. Yes, we expect kids to make this choice too young, and without enough information.
But I agree with Pirkko. All education is useful. Even if it just tells us what we don’t want to do.
Apr 17, 2014 @ 14:48:17
I will agree that all life experience is valuable because of the lessons it teaches us. My heart just breaks for people who get stuck though and, for whatever reason, can’t change.
This is a little off topic from your comment, but as I was replying, I began to wonder if there isn’t also a difference based on where you live in terms of how easy it is to change careers/go back to school. For example, there are more opportunities to get out of a job you hate and easier access to education if you live in a big city. If you live in a small, rural town, and you make the wrong choice when you’re young, you often end up locked in.
Apr 20, 2014 @ 20:55:32
I agree, Marcy. Where one is geographically may limit options, and also finances. I used to be a first year adviser when I was teaching college. One of my tasks was to help my freshman students move toward declaring a major. I was amazed at how little information students are given about their perspective careers, and they often have misconceptions based on Hollywood.
I had them list their priorities re: what was most important to them in a career (fame, fortune, helping society, enjoyment of the job, flexible hours, security, etc.) and then interview someone who was doing that job already and ask them about their typical YEAR (not just day or week but a whole year) and what they liked best and LEAST about their jobs.
I had a few students each year who totally changed their minds once they had done these two exercises! But this is not something that is routinely done with college students to help them make good choices. 🙁
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Apr 17, 2014 @ 05:30:19
I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was in high school. I took the test that was supposed to help me narrow in on where I belonged and it told me to join the army. Hmm. That didn’t feel right. When I got into college my parents were so excited because I was among the few accepted to the school of architecture. Well, it didn’t last. I dropped out within the first few months. Not because I couldn’t handle it, but because I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
After graduating with a business degree I went on to have have four different careers over the course of (well, you really don’t need to know how old I am). None of those jobs satisfied me. I guess you would say I’m still searching. Isn’t that part of life? Discovery and exploration. I’m taking the long way to finding me. Think I’m getting pretty close…finally!
I have some friends who were extremely focused and always knew what they wanted to do with their life. The college path worked out beautifully for them and today they are thriving. I realize this isn’t often the case. What would you suggest as the alternative? Maybe some well organized internship as Jamie has proposed? I worked a lovely one with G.H.Q. They dumped me the day they had to start paying me, in favor of another (free) intern. Sigh.
Apr 17, 2014 @ 14:45:12
I definitely don’t have all the answers to what type of system would be better 🙂 I think it would help, though, if young adults were able to get some real world experience before having to choose the direction of their life.
For example, I worked at a vet clinic during high school. When my high school guidance counselor tried to pressure me into choosing to become a veterinarian, I knew it wasn’t the job for me. I’d gotten a look at what was required. If I hadn’t had that look, I don’t know if I would have known not to go that route. I would have spent a lot of time and money before I discovered the blood and emotional strain were too much for me.
If we developed a system that enabled teenagers to better understand their own strengths as well as what happens “behind closed doors” at different careers they might be considering, I think it would go a long way toward people finding what makes them happy earlier in life and not wasting so much time and money on what doesn’t. Not a perfect solution by any means, but I think it would be a step forward 🙂
Apr 17, 2014 @ 16:10:09
Yes! Love that idea of getting a look behind closed doors. 🙂 Some high schools around here encourage students to do that, but the school doesn’t do as much to *enable* that as they could.
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May 19, 2014 @ 16:31:07
Hello 🙂
I’m really glad I found this page!
I’m a Master’s student in communication but I really have no clue about what type of job I would like to do later! It’s really frustrating, as I always keep asking myself what I should do. I started my master because I wanted to continue my studies, but there wasn’t any subject that appealed to me, so I continued with this. During my bachelor’s degree, I changed my subject so many times! Of course I did many ‘tests’ to figure it out, but it never really helped.
Sometimes I feel a bit sad about it. It is not easy to work hard when you don’t like the subject. And thinking about the future doesn’t help. I have always envied those who knew exactly what they wanted to do! But anyway, I think the positive side is that we’ll have learned a bit of everything, and somehow we’re more ‘open’ to the world around us :D!
Not so long ago, I read an article about ‘a day in the life of’. I love these articles, I never miss one, as I always hope that one day I will have a ‘revelation’ and think “that’s what I want to do!”. Once there was an interview of the granddaughter of Estée Lauder.
She works in her family’s company. In the interview, she said that when she was in high school, she sometimes used to work in the company and worked in different areas. I found it so nice! How great would that be ? Being able to work from time to time when you’re still in high school and literally try anything you want!
I agree with the fact that high schools should really do something to help students on that matter. It could help a lot.