Shiffy has her heart set on becoming a principal, just like her favorite person in the world, Mrs. Freedman. Her parents want her to consider other options.

We got to talking about various questions I had and some answers, and discussed preparing for real life, as if the past 18 years have just been pretending. As if all the hard work was just preparation for this big day when I would pick up a leather briefcase and call myself by some title or another. Is this what people call living?

Look at me, already giving speeches like some principal and I’m still in 12th grade!

It was actually a nice experience. My parents and I went to the first meeting together. Ruchy stayed home to babysit, and of course Sarala and Chani bid me goodbye with the requisite eye-roll when they heard where we were off to. I think they don’t actually believe that I would listen to someone else tell me what to do. Sheva and Tilly think I should be a hairdresser — after all, I’m the one who does their hair every day. But I actually went with an open mind. Once we’re doing this, I intend to find out what I can be and make the best of it.

The first thing we did was discuss… me, of course. What subjects do I like and dislike? How do I spend my summers? What kinds of books do I like to read? What areas do I consider myself talented in? That part was easy. I love math, hate history, I’m great with computers, don’t love writing, and love public speaking and debating. Love being a camp counselor, even planning on being a head counselor this summer. I don’t read that much, but I don’t miss an issue of Teen Pages. Especially the serial. I’m a natural leader, great at anything arts ’n craftsy, and I’m super organized.

Next, we did a personality test. What I loved was that instead of answering a bunch of silly multiple-choice questions, we went through each section, and I got to pick my preference based on a list of descriptions. The choices were divided into four sections, and each had two preferences to choose from. For the first section, I knew I was an extrovert, which is why my dream job including running schools full of people. In part two, I easily identified with the “sensing” type, which is more realistic and grounded. I had a hard time in part three, where the choices were between feeling and thinking. I’m pretty logical and thought-out, but I lean more toward the feeling description, which means relying on emotions when making decisions. In the fourth and last area, I was almost completely in the “judging” category, which means being planned and organized. Which makes me an ESFJ!

(Excerpted from Teen Pages, Issue 748)