Were I to give a talk in schools

Being an adult is hard.
Mostly, because you never get a welcome card.

There's never instructions, in pencil or pen
On what to do or who to befriend.

You know that stupid question adults always want to ask?
What do you want to do when you grow up and leave class?
Here's a secret to take with you wherever you go.
Most of them are asking because they don't know.

We all end up in a job, a profession, a career.
But most of us have no clue how we ended up here.
But if it's fairly stable, and not too boring: then, to our shame
We keep at it - as long as it leaves some time to play games

Then, most of those adults stick at that one thing.
We forget how to dance, how to act, how to sing.
Don't get me wrong, we get really, really good at that thing we try.
People make spreadsheets that could cover the whole sky.
They've made numbers spring and contort into shapes
They've written so many notes trees flee in their wake.

But they grow up into one thing, and one thing alone
So here's a note for you all to put on your phone.

Don't grow up into one thing. Grow up into many.
Take every chance that life gives you, if it gives you any.
You will grow and develop, way past adulthood.
You'll keep learning forever, as every person should.