Our dog’s name is Tasha. She’s a 16-month-old Goldendoodle. She’s all puppy. In fact, at “Doggy Day Care,” they call her the Wild Child.
Tasha needs to learn some manners. She’s already showing signs of maturity, but at the end of the day, her spirit is one of joy and adventure.
There are those in the world who would attempt to break Tasha’s spirit – to fit into the expectation of what is a “good” dog.
For generations, boys and girls have entered this world as intuitive babies. Regardless of gender, each would seek out their personalities and interests. Some were shy, others bold; some were early walkers, eager to explore the world, others content to sit and watch; some interested in how things work, others in singing a song.
Before too long, babies become toddlers and toddlers become children. And then all of a sudden, their natural intuition becomes shaped by expectations. Unfortunately, sometimes those expectations result in the intuitive interests and competencies becoming choked off. It was expected that boys could be spirited and boisterous, while girls were expected to sit nicely. Boys must enjoy trucks and tractors, while girls were expected to play with their dollies.
I am thankful that this world of expectations is leaving us and instead is being replaced with one of opportunity. But our challenge is that unless these intuitions are fostered early – even before grammar school (as it used to be called), this “inner child” goes undeveloped, resulting in the lack of skill sets required for career competency.
Enabling boys, and girls, to fulfill any career aspiration, based upon their earliest skills and interests, may soon be driven out of economic necessity – the applicant pool for available jobs is so scarce that previous expectations will hopefully go by the wayside. Girls should not only be encouraged to pursue a lifetime passion of science, but anything their heart desires. Our industry needs a generation ready for work in the trades, as the explosion in the deployment of fiber-fed broadband will bring decades of opportunity for skilled tradespeople (not tradesmen).
As we celebrate Girls in Science, I celebrate every girl – and boy – who has the opportunity to live to their inner and true spirit.
Yes, Tasha will learn her manners, but we didn’t pick our Wild Child from her litter to sit on our laps in our long-off, future retirement. Instead, she is best matched with dog parks and lots of long walks to make us all tired at night, because every boy, girl and dog should grow up to be exactly as they were born to be.
By Cheri Beranek
A founding member of Clearfield, Inc., Cheri Beranek is considered a communications visionary. Her extensive leadership experience and unique management style combined deliver outstanding corporate performance.
Under her direction, Clearfield has recorded 10 consecutive years of profitability and posted historic gains in both the market capitalization and shareholder equity. Today, Clearfield is a multinational business with more than 250 employees and over 700 customers.