My mother’s main concern is shidduchim. She is way more typical than I am, always doing what she’s supposed to be doing, and would never think of opening her own business
I’m Eli (Elisheva), and I have a problem: I have way too many talents. No, I’m not kidding, and I’m not trying to brag. It’s just that my whole life, almost everything that I tried doing, I hear the same line: “Wow! You should really be a ________ when you grow up!” Pianist, gymnast, actress, designer, illustrator, hairdresser, seamstress… you get the idea. Literally anything artsy or creative is where I shine. And it doesn’t hurt that I’ve taken ballet and piano lessons for years, so I have a pretty well-developed sense of music and dance.
The thing is that I’m turning 18 this month, and I just graduated high school. My parents do not want me going away for seminary and would like me to make a career decision sooner rather than later. My older sister got married at 19 and finished OT school by the time she was 22 with two kids… so if that gives you any idea of the kind of pressure I’m under, yeah.
Not that anyone would confuse my sister and me. We’re total opposites. She’s the serious, responsible one, who did really well in school, actually likes math and science, and always planned on being an OT. I, on the other hand… let’s just say that my favorite subject was gym.
The kind of career choices I’ve been dreaming of involve opening a salon, starting a dance school for girls, and writing and illustrating children’s books. My parents think that these dreams are just that — dreams. They want to know that I will have an actual job, a secure and definite way of bringing in an income, and of course do something that actually sounds like I’m grown up, not playing house. I get it, like, what’s my mother supposed to tell my grandmother when she asks if I started looking for a job? “Eli decided to open a salon.” Not happening.
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