📰Headline Shocker
MIDDLE SCHOOLER CHOOSES CAREER PATH BASED ON LUNCH MOOD, NOW $80K IN STUDENT DEBT AND QUESTIONING REALITY
CINCINNATI, OH — According to sources, 13-year-old Daniel Thompson selected “Hotel and Restaurant Management” on a career interest survey because he “likes staying in hotels.” That single click snowballed into an accelerated high school track, a college scholarship, and now — at 26 — a growing sense of regret every time someone says “continental breakfast.”
“I didn’t even know what ‘hospitality’ meant,” Thompson admits. “I just thought hotel lobbies were cool and the mints on pillows were thoughtful. I didn’t realize it involved managing people who forget how elevators work.”
Daniel later discovered he just enjoys being helpful — a trait that also shows up in teachers, nurses, social workers, nonprofit directors, and literally dozens of careers that don’t require explaining towel policies to angry tourists at 10PM.
“I was never passionate about hotels,” he confessed. “I was passionate about making people feel seen.” Daniel is now considering a pivot to something that feels less like customer service… and more like purpose.
🪑 From The Editor’s Desk
The Personality Quiz Trap: Now in Middle Schools Near You
We get it. You want kids to explore their future.
But maybe—just maybe—the person they are at 13 doesn’t need a career label just yet.
Maybe instead of building educational pipelines based on who likes puzzles or shows leadership on group projects, we should teach students how to ask better questions:
- What matters to me?
- What kind of work gives me energy?
- What kind of people do I want to work with?
- Who do I want to become?
Because if your entire future hinges on one survey question answered after gym class, you might not be tracking toward a career.
You might just be tracking toward a midlife crisis in khakis.
