Steffi

 

Meet Steffi

Steffi, a 23 y.o. who teaches the world to smile Q: Are you employed? A: Yes, I am employed. Q: How do you feel in your job? A: I really like my job. I think it is a very nice job as far as jobs go. I get to work with people, I get to work with kids. I work in a team with people that are my age, share my values education-wise. It is very diverse because you get to try different activities with the kids and basically whatever comes to your mind - you can   just try out with them. You get to go outside a lot, you get to play outside a lot.. because you're with kids, you gotta be spontaneous, you gotta be fun, you gotta have fun. You can't create fun environment for the kids if you're not having fun yourself. And I get to learn a lot of new things because I am new to the job. So I learn a lot of about the administrative side, I learn a lot about how to put programmes, how to engage the little ones, how can I engage a small child better than the older child - because of course a two year old has different needs to a six year old. I just think that it is a good job. Even the other day I just suggested that we all just go on a swing and our colleague pushes us and we play together. Or we were watching a cat, just like standing there for good 15 minutes watching a cat climb between branches and come down again. And you get to marvel at the wonders of life and teach them to the kids. You also get to see the world through the different perspective because a child doesn't see the categories and the established rules which we have and we are so used to. So I think I really do like my job.  Q: Do you want to stay at the job or change it? A: For now, I definitely want to stay in the job because there is a lot to learn. I am only like 3-4 months in now, so there is still a lot for me to explore, and get my head around and grow together as a team. But I think that come next year I probably do want to change my job - but not before next summer.  Q: Why? A: As much fun as my job is, I kinda have missed educational side to it. When I went to university, I was so used to being challenged on a very sophisticated academic level all the time. Like you just are thrown questions or articles at and you would have to answer them all. Working with the kids is challenging itself and it is a challenge that I am not used to because you have to let your inhibition go away completely. I am really glad about that experience but at the same time I miss being challenged academically.  I miss having a more mental aspect to the whole thing. Also I kinda miss teaching.. since I have the little ones what you teach them is very basic needs-based coping with challenges like climbing a ladder, using the bathroom, washing your hands. I’ve never realized what a complex and completely mind-blowing thing can be if someone tells you to wash your hands. You have to switch on that water and then you let it pour over your hands, then you make sure that you get the dirt off your hands, then you use the soap, then you wash off the soap, then you switch off the water, you take the towel without gripping it to pieces, then you dry your hands, then you open the bin and you put the stuff in the bin.. it is a challenge but it isn’t the kind of challenge I'm looking for necessarily. And I think I would get bored in time if I don’t have a challenge that is more concerned with a science per se. I am a tutor in my spare time and just seeing how kids understand language is much more sophisticated.  Especially because I love languages and I think I really want to teach something more academically. I  wanna teach something that is not necessarily to do with basic motor skills but slightly more sophisticated, moral, knowledge-based things and I think because of that I might want to try something else. Also because I do miss science and I might even go back into science just because it's been a very enriching experience.   Q: What are the key qualities of a dream job for you? A: I think that is a really difficult question and I don’t think that I have all the answers to it yet because I don’t think I've got enough experience with jobs yet to really say that “oh, this is what I wanna do!”. I've only worked at 4 different positions in my life so far but I think what’s definitely a key thing for me is working with people. I love sharing ideas, I love hearing other people's ideas and I think I would really need to work in a team. Working independently I don’t think is quite for me.. I need to get feedback, Ii need to be involved with others. Even in research where you   carry out testing other people and were you have frequent meetings with supervisors. I think that is really important for me. I think it is also important that the job challenges me all the time. I don’t wanna have to face the same stuff over and over again, which is why I love working with people. Judging from my current job, one day the child might struggle to put on a shoe, and on the next day it might be fine but “oh, how do you put on the jacket?”. 1 need a very challenging level, I need to feel that my job challenges my knowledge. I have to keep learning. I think especially since after university, I've really missed learning and I need to learn new things everyday. If I don’t learn something I get bored. So because of that I think it is also important that I work in the field that I have to challenge myself and be like “okaaay, so I’ve known this before but maybe this time it works differently”. I don’t even know, I need to educate myself.. Bringing my hobbies in is also a big quality. Maybe a job where I either work hours that permit me to go outside or have a job that actually takes me outside. I couldn’t stand being inside an office 24/7 or having a tiny window where you hear birds - that is not enough. I need to be outside, I need to be able to breathe fresh air at least once a day. I guess I preferably would do a job where I get to move around a bit.  Q: Why do you want to have a job? Is it for money, fulfillment, challenges, anything else or everything in together?  A: I’m not sure where I stand because I’m not sure what kind of career I want. I think personally, I want something diverse. I  don’t wanna stick with the same field all the time. I’m just gonna go with the flow I guess. I've got a lot of friends who are very unsure of what they wanna do and where they wanna go. They’ve got these little things they hold on to: “my parents can pay my bills, so I’m gonna go for more traveling/I wanna see the world, so I’m gonna go around the world..; I have friends who are gonna save the world. It is so different for everyone. Most people after stressing out for awhile get to the point where they are like” you know, that doesn’t matter that much as long as I can survive”. Because of that I learnt to be more chilled about it. First, I want to learn my strengths and my qualities and then see where I am and who I am; what about my current situation I would like to change. Like I said, I feel like I need to be educated more and I need more intellectual challenge. Good - so I know this and I can look for jobs that are more intellectually challenging next year. I'm definitely gonna not risk everything and be just like “oh f**k it, I don’t need a job - jobs are overrated”, but I think that it is important to look at my personal growth. If it doesn’t work out for me - bad luck for me, and I would hopefully find some job to pay something. It is more about my personality at the moment than a career per se - but I don’t know what career I would pick now if I had to.   Q: What are your priorities? A: As for my priorities, I am not sure. It is definitely not the money. I think money-wise it should pay something and I should be able to survive on it but it doesn’t need to be extraordinary amounts of money. What I think is very important for me is fulfillment. I need to feel like I’m actually doing something. I go crazy and sad, really genuinely upset if I feel like the things that I’m doing have no purpose what so ever. Since that really gets to me it is really important for me to find the way to do something that will allow me to make a difference and to feel like I’m actually changing something. It is the same with challenges. If I do a job were I'm ok, I am doing alright but I’m not actually doing anything, you know, change things, that doesn’t work for me either. I need to find something new, for example now because I don’t feel intellectually challenged much in my job, I’m looking for side things that I could do to educate myself. For now my priorities are always having a job, always being employed, being able to stand on my own two feet. I think that is the key thing for your personal wellbeing - if you can’t sustain yourself, you get upset. At least personally I don’t wanna have to rely on other people to make my life. I mean it is ok sometimes, but not in a long run. And then I really need a fulfilling job. I guess it needs to be balanced. Although, if I get a very well paid job that I don’t even care about, I wouldn’t take it. I would always take the job that pays ok that I feel happy with. I've seen people in my family that are unhappy with their jobs and there is nothing worse than having to drag yourself out of bed everyday. I much prefer the way it is right now where I wake up and yeah, maybe sometimes I am tired, but usually I wake up and I’m like “oh, yay, work!”. I don’t feel bad about it and that something that is worth a lot.  I thank Steffi a lot for very explicit answers. She feels more chilled about the future than a lot of people that I know who recently graduated (myself included). I take her words into account and rethink every sentence she said a few times. There is a lot for me to take and put on my 'dream job' list. As she emphasized, personal growth is one of her top priorities, that includes challenging herself academically, moving forwards, not sticking to dogmas and being open to learn new things. Learning learning learning is the key. Learning about myself, learning new things about the world, the surroundings and others. I will only be able to be happy about my career choices when I I know what I really want and who I really am.   I once made a little bucket list for myself, but after I got into my current job, I forgot to take care of myself and my growth. I guess, I am going to dig that bucket list out and going to add a few more things into it..