Each generation of a family wants to build a better life for their children. They want to see their sons and daughters carve out a little more success than they had themselves.
In America, success is often portrayed as a single pathway: study hard, get good grades, go to college, graduate, and get a white-collar desk job that supports your family and funds the mortgage of your dream home with the white picket fence. Well, as a 2024 high school graduate, I’m not buying the picket fence. I’m building the picket fence—and defining success on my own terms.
Growing up, my family didn’t have some of the advantages that make things come easy, but my parents, along with my aunt and uncle, instilled in me the importance of hard work.
“You have to work for what you want. Focus and get it done,” they would tell me over and over again.
It wasn’t just talk. My dad worked 12-hour days as a mechanic to support our family. When our car would inevitably break down, he would spend his limited time off work fixing it. And I would roll up my sleeves and help. When something is broken, you fix it. We would focus and get it done. Other times, I would help my uncle tinker with his project car—a cool gray Ford Mustang—and I’d see the satisfaction and fun of working with your hands alongside someone else.
The college path and student debt or hands-on learning?
My parents wanted me to go to college. They wanted me to achieve the academic milestones they didn’t and have as many doors to success open as possible. As I got older, I felt the pressure from my parents and teachers to apply for college and pursue the stereotypical American Dream.
But it wasn’t my dream.
College can bring success. It can also bring debt and regret. I had the grades to go to college, but I didn’t have the desire to. I am endlessly curious and love learning, but I knew that I could never sit in a lecture hall, passively taking notes in class after class, hour after hour, for four years. That is not how I learn.
I’ve always had an artistic bent and considered pursuing ceramics or becoming a tattoo artist, jobs that would enable me to work with my hands and shape success on my terms. Through working with my high school guidance counselor, Ms. Hamlin, I explored different career paths that would benefit me and fit my personality. That’s when I got connected to the Construction Academy at my high school, which is designed to prepare students for careers in the building industry.
It clicked immediately. The course emphasized hands-on learning. It was as empowering as it was enjoyable. It tapped into the active learning I craved, while teaching career-focused skills. I was home.
I wasn’t the only one in my high school discovering the freedom that the trades offer. My friends pursued diverse interests after high school. One went to community college to become an HVAC tech. Another started his own painting business. Someone very close to me took a gap year to earn more money for school—and decide if college was really something he wanted after all. Their creativity and boldness embolden me to carve my own path. Not all of my peers have the support and validation that I did. We must broaden our understanding of what success looks like and allow young people to forge success on their own terms, not follow a single predetermined path. Our definition of success is broken, and we need to fix it.
Building a career—in the homebuilding industry
Through Construction Academy I was introduced to Neal Communities, a local homebuilding company and one of its primary sponsors. When I heard about Neal Communities’ internships in the field, I knew I had to apply. Some of my friends told me not to bother: The positions were normally filled by college students. Still, I focused and got it done, securing an internship in project management and warranty service.
Every day I come to work energized. I take copious notes on everything. I’m not filling notebooks with lecture notes for an exam, I’m creating handbooks for myself that will build my career.
One of my most powerful motivators is my younger brother, Joeseph. I want to give him someone to look up to and a definition of success that he can relate to. He is 14 and loves taking things apart and putting them back together. He is my biggest push and greatest support in pursuing a career in construction. I’m not only carving out success for myself, but also shaping his understanding of what it means to know your gifts and personalities and play to your strengths—not others’ expectations.
As part of my internship, I recently had the opportunity to attend a meeting that included Pat Neal, the CEO of Neal Communities. He asked me about my career goals. My reply was immediate and clear: “I’d love to find myself sitting in a chair like yours someday. My goal is to make something of myself.” That might mean owning a homebuilding and development company like Mr. Neal does. It might mean continuing on in a successful business, like Neal Communities.
I am so optimistic about the future and believe that my potential pathways are unlimited. No matter how my career takes shape, I will always be proud of what I’m doing and being able to define success on my own terms.
Read more:
- I’m a Gen Zer and attended college for nearly 3 years before realizing trade school was right for me
- Gen Z needs exposure to manufacturing careers as white-collar jobs look more prone to AI disruption—and student debt piles up
- Gen Zers and millennials have it harder than boomers did with college debt and buying a home—but they’re much better about saving
- 3 in 4 Gen Zers are interested in vocational training as uncertainty and AI shape the minds of the next ‘toolbelt generation’
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs ofFortune.
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