I think we should stop asking people in their 20s what they 'want to do' and start asking them what they don't want to do. Instead of asking students to 'declare their major' we should ask students to 'list what they will do anything to avoid.' It just makes a lot more sense.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes focusing on what individuals want to avoid rather than what they aspire to do.
Amy Poehler suggests a shift in how we guide young people in their educational and career choices. Instead of pressuring them to declare a specific path or ambition in their 20s, it may be more beneficial to understand what they find unappealing. This approach can provide clearer insight into their values and preferences, ultimately helping them find a more suitable direction in life.
In practice
In a classroom discussion about career choices, a teacher could reference this quote to shift the focus from ambition to personal values.
Be easy on yourself. Have fun. Only hang around people that are positive and make you feel good. Anybody who doesn't make you feel good, kick them to the curb. And the earlier you start in your life the better. The minute anybody makes you feel weird and non-included or not supported, you know, either beat it or tell them to beat it.
Anybody who doesn't make you feel good, kick them to the curb. And the earlier you start in your life, the better.
Open-faced sandwiches take risks and live big and smile with all their teeth. These are the people I want to be around.
You become more attractive when you love yourself. You ATTRACT the right things when you have a sense of who you are.
We don't want to be afraid to make a choice because we're afraid to make a mistake because most decisions aren't final. Feelings change all the time. You can always change your mind and taking risks and making choices is what makes life so exciting because we never know what's going to happen. Every day something new comes our way.
It’s very hard to have ideas. It’s very hard to put yourself out there, it’s very hard to be vulnerable, but those people who do that are the dreamers, the thinkers and the creators. They are the magic people of the world.
I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself.
I am often amazed at how much more capability and enthusiasm for science there is among elementary school youngsters than among college students.
DonorsChoose enables teachers not just to go public with learning needs in classrooms but also to unleash their imaginations about the best ideas to help students learn.
Our priests and presidents, our surgeons and lawyers, our educators and newscasters need worry less about satisfying the demands of their discipline than the demands of good showmanship.
I have been a teacher myself all my life. I have an intense passion to share with people. Our only salvation is in knowledge, in learning.
All my mind was centered on my studies, which, especially at the beginning, were difficult. In fact, I was insufficiently prepared to follow the physical science course at the Sorbonne, for, despite all my efforts, I had not succeeded in acquiring in Poland a preparation as complete as that of the French students following the same course.
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