When you were young, what job did you want to have?

(from TJ, age 12)

Marjorie answers:

Dear TJ,

Things were so different when I was 12 . Young girls were rarely asked to think about what they wanted to be as an adult, and we soon accepted the silent message that we’d go to college if we were lucky, meet our future husbands there, and then become a housewife and mother. I did all this and only much later started doing things that I loved—such as becoming a graphic designer, teaching prehistoric archaeology, and finally writing. My two daughters and two granddaughters live such different lives than the one I did, and I am delighted for the good things they are doing in the world.

Thanks, TJ, for your question. Marjorie Cowley