Three Possible Futures

I always wonder about my future, but honestly I never made any specific plans. In fact, as a first-year student in university, I have reached the point where it is the time for me to decide what I truly want to do in the future. When I started this investigation, I mapped out three possible futures. Although I am still uncertain about my future, it has helped me get a general idea about where I’m going.

 Accountant:  Becoming an accountant is my first possible future. As my mother is an accountant, I have started to know some basic accounting knowledge since I was in middle school. Therefore, I applied for Rotman Commerce at U of T. The first step is to complete my undergraduate degree at U of T with a relatively high GPA. Then I will make great efforts to pass CPA exam and try to find a stable job in Canada. After two years of working, I will probably apply for immigration and become a Canadian citizen. It would be nice if I could have a decent job in Toronto and own a house here because Toronto is such a big city with lots of opportunities. This plan is currently the most realistic and possible one because it is the natural outcome of where I am at right now. The only challenge is to pass CPA exam because it is considered extremely difficult. However, I am confident that I can make it with sufficient efforts.

 

 Start my own business:   My second possible future is to start my own business in China. Growing up, I never like being charged by others. Therefore, one of my dreams has always been becoming my own boss and I also think it is cool to be a female boss because it requires lots of courage, independence and intelligence. To achieve this dream, the first thing I need to do is to specialize in Management in Rotman Commerce. Although I like Toronto, I’m not used to the extremely cold weather here. As a result, I might go back to my hometown Shanghai to start my own business if I don’t want to stay in Toronto. Since Shanghai is a great city with enormous potential and all of my family and friends are in Shanghai, it would be challenging but still feasible. The cons of this plan is that the knowledge I learn in all the business cources at Rotman is based on Canadian business background, therefore, I will have to adjust to Chinese business background when I go back. However, since I’m familiar with the current situations and ongoing events in China, it will be quite easy to make the adjustment.

 Tennis Coach:   My last possible future is the most unrealistic one but I would absolutely enjoy it. I have been playing tennis since I was 8. I have won several competitions among youth group when I was in Shanghai. If I want to achieve this goal, I will have to take more tennis courses and be trained to be a tennis coach. Although tennis is an increasingly popular sport both in China and Canada, it won’t be an optimal plan because it won’t help me make as much money as the first two plans. Besides, my parents would like me to be successful in other fields rather than being a tennis coach since they have paid a large amount of tuition for me to study at U of T. My family is very traditional, so I fully understand that they will think being a tennis coach is not as successful as being an accountant and I want them to be proud of me. It is most likely that I will only continue playing tennis as an interest, not a way to make a living.