Healthy Kids • YMCA Child Care
From What to Who: Shifting the conversation with our children (Part 1)
05 February 2019 - by Dawn Yan
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”—an age-old question that likely stumped most, if not all of us as children. Between dreaming of becoming a musician, a professional athlete, an educator, or even our favourite superhero, we quickly learned that the sky's the limit when it comes to determining what we want to be.
When presented with endless possibilities at a young age, plus the pressure to make a decision and have an answer ready when adults ask, most of us become so caught up trying to figure out what we want to be, that we forget to ask our 10-year-old selves who we want to be. In Who Do I Want To Become?, a children’s book written to challenge the question that continues to haunt our younger generations today, author Rumeet Billan reframes the question by replacing the pronoun—from what, to who.
A book written for anyone, of any age who has ever been stumped by the question of what they’re going to be when they grow up, Who Do I Want To Become? is an insightful book to help get the conversation rolling. Accompanied by handy teaching and parent guides, Who Do I Want To Become? touches on challenging topics including gender stereotypes, and promoting/encouraging healthy mental awareness in children.
More About Who Do I Want To Become?
A class project is due, and Dylan is struggling with the question: What do you want to be when you grow up? Ultimately, he realizes that it's who you are that matters most. Who Do I Want To Become? is a refreshing new take on a question asked time and time again. One that invites us to discover something wonderful about ourselves that has nothing to do with what you want to be and everything to do with who you are and who you want to be.
In Part 1 of our Q&A with Dr. Billan, she answers some of our questions about her bestselling book, Who Do I Want to Become?
What inspired you to write this book?
My travels abroad opened my eyes to the inequities that exist related to shelter, food, education and healthcare. When I travelled to different rural communities in our world and met the children that lived there, I would always ask them, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” When they shared their responses, I realized that they weren’t sharing with me what they wanted to be, instead they were sharing who they wanted to become:
“I want to be someone who gives a voice to those who don’t have one.”
"I want to connect families together.”
“I want to save lives.”
This made me reflect on the fact that position titles come and go, and often times we limit ourselves when we are focused on the what. If we shift our focus to who we want to become, it has the potential to open the door to many different possibilities. The children that I met abroad taught me this, and it’s this message that inspired me to write Who Do I Want To Become?
Do you have any experience in the Child Care/education industry?
The work of educators and all those who are part of the system is transformative – I absolutely love this industry and the impact it can have on a child’s life. For over ten years, I worked within a program administered by the Canadian Mental Health Association, that focused on suicide prevention among young people. I specifically worked with Grade 9 youth in the Peel Region at various High Schools. For the past four years, I have been working as a consultant for a School Board in the Greater Toronto Area. This has provided me with the opportunity to work with students from Grades 4-12, educators, and administrators. I look forward to continuing my work in the education industry.
Did you know who/what you wanted to be as a child? If so, how do you think the question of who you want to become vs. what you want to become would have affected your answer?
I remember in sixth grade, for our yearbook, we were asked to include what we wanted to be and the position title/profession we chose would appear under our picture. At that time, I had said that I wanted to be a lawyer, but I don’t believe I actually knew what a lawyer did outside of what I saw on television. Two years later, that changed, and I decided that human resources was something that I might want to pursue based on a conversation I had with my guidance counsellor but had never actually met anyone that worked in that space. I had a very limited scope of experiences and essentially was guessing at what I might do while being influenced by the opinions of others and what they thought I should do.
If I started with the who I wanted to become, I think this would have changed the conversations I was having with my guidance counsellor and the adults around me. I didn’t anticipate author as being a title I would include when I was growing up, but I can now make the connections based on who I want to be.
About the Author
Dr. Rumeet Billan is an award-winning, internationally recognized entrepreneur, learning architect, speaker, author and humanitarian. Her mission is to raise potential by designing experiences that build resilience. Dr. Billan is the President and CEO of Viewpoint Leadership and an expert on Psychological Capital and Resilience. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto and has designed and facilitated programs, courses, and training sessions across industries and sectors. Recently, she released her first bestselling book, Who Do I Want To Become?, designed for children and adults who are struggling with the question of what they want to be when they grow up. To learn more about Dr. Billan, please visit her website.
Who Do I Want to Become? is now available for purchase on Amazon in English, Spanish, and French. Be the first to know about Dr. Billan’s new initiatives & releases by following her on Twitter and LinkedIn. Then, head over to part 2 of our Q&A with Dr. Billian where she shares some tips for kids, parents and educators.
The YMCA of Greater Toronto is committed to fostering and sustaining a safe, positive, and inclusive learning environment for children of all ages. At our child care centres, children get the opportunity to become active participants in their own education through our acclaimed YMCA Playing to Learn and YMCA A Place to Connect curricula. To learn more about our licensed child care programs, please visit our website.
When presented with endless possibilities at a young age, plus the pressure to make a decision and have an answer ready when adults ask, most of us become so caught up trying to figure out what we want to be, that we forget to ask our 10-year-old selves who we want to be. In Who Do I Want To Become?, a children’s book written to challenge the question that continues to haunt our younger generations today, author Rumeet Billan reframes the question by replacing the pronoun—from what, to who.
A book written for anyone, of any age who has ever been stumped by the question of what they’re going to be when they grow up, Who Do I Want To Become? is an insightful book to help get the conversation rolling. Accompanied by handy teaching and parent guides, Who Do I Want To Become? touches on challenging topics including gender stereotypes, and promoting/encouraging healthy mental awareness in children.
More About Who Do I Want To Become?A class project is due, and Dylan is struggling with the question: What do you want to be when you grow up? Ultimately, he realizes that it's who you are that matters most. Who Do I Want To Become? is a refreshing new take on a question asked time and time again. One that invites us to discover something wonderful about ourselves that has nothing to do with what you want to be and everything to do with who you are and who you want to be.
Q&A with Dr. Billan
In Part 1 of our Q&A with Dr. Billan, she answers some of our questions about her bestselling book, Who Do I Want to Become?
What inspired you to write this book?
My travels abroad opened my eyes to the inequities that exist related to shelter, food, education and healthcare. When I travelled to different rural communities in our world and met the children that lived there, I would always ask them, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” When they shared their responses, I realized that they weren’t sharing with me what they wanted to be, instead they were sharing who they wanted to become:
“I want to be someone who gives a voice to those who don’t have one.”
"I want to connect families together.”
“I want to save lives.”
This made me reflect on the fact that position titles come and go, and often times we limit ourselves when we are focused on the what. If we shift our focus to who we want to become, it has the potential to open the door to many different possibilities. The children that I met abroad taught me this, and it’s this message that inspired me to write Who Do I Want To Become?
Do you have any experience in the Child Care/education industry?
The work of educators and all those who are part of the system is transformative – I absolutely love this industry and the impact it can have on a child’s life. For over ten years, I worked within a program administered by the Canadian Mental Health Association, that focused on suicide prevention among young people. I specifically worked with Grade 9 youth in the Peel Region at various High Schools. For the past four years, I have been working as a consultant for a School Board in the Greater Toronto Area. This has provided me with the opportunity to work with students from Grades 4-12, educators, and administrators. I look forward to continuing my work in the education industry.
Did you know who/what you wanted to be as a child? If so, how do you think the question of who you want to become vs. what you want to become would have affected your answer?
I remember in sixth grade, for our yearbook, we were asked to include what we wanted to be and the position title/profession we chose would appear under our picture. At that time, I had said that I wanted to be a lawyer, but I don’t believe I actually knew what a lawyer did outside of what I saw on television. Two years later, that changed, and I decided that human resources was something that I might want to pursue based on a conversation I had with my guidance counsellor but had never actually met anyone that worked in that space. I had a very limited scope of experiences and essentially was guessing at what I might do while being influenced by the opinions of others and what they thought I should do.
If I started with the who I wanted to become, I think this would have changed the conversations I was having with my guidance counsellor and the adults around me. I didn’t anticipate author as being a title I would include when I was growing up, but I can now make the connections based on who I want to be.
About the Author
Dr. Rumeet Billan is an award-winning, internationally recognized entrepreneur, learning architect, speaker, author and humanitarian. Her mission is to raise potential by designing experiences that build resilience. Dr. Billan is the President and CEO of Viewpoint Leadership and an expert on Psychological Capital and Resilience. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto and has designed and facilitated programs, courses, and training sessions across industries and sectors. Recently, she released her first bestselling book, Who Do I Want To Become?, designed for children and adults who are struggling with the question of what they want to be when they grow up. To learn more about Dr. Billan, please visit her website.Who Do I Want to Become? is now available for purchase on Amazon in English, Spanish, and French. Be the first to know about Dr. Billan’s new initiatives & releases by following her on Twitter and LinkedIn. Then, head over to part 2 of our Q&A with Dr. Billian where she shares some tips for kids, parents and educators.
The YMCA of Greater Toronto is committed to fostering and sustaining a safe, positive, and inclusive learning environment for children of all ages. At our child care centres, children get the opportunity to become active participants in their own education through our acclaimed YMCA Playing to Learn and YMCA A Place to Connect curricula. To learn more about our licensed child care programs, please visit our website.
