2.1 My roles in life
Look at Phyu Phyu’s (an example learner) list below. It shows some of the roles she plays and the kinds of thing these roles demand of her.
Main roles I play …
- Election Commissioner (EC) of class – organising my classmates to take part in the activities of the department, collaborate with other Election Commissioners from different departments to coordinate the University’s activities, and attending meetings to give the views of my class to teachers and the University.
- Member of the Red Cross Society – providing educational knowledge on prevention measures for the seasonal dengue fever outbreak within the local community.
- Communication Officer of Yadanabon University Hiking and Mountaineering Club – producing flyers and leaflets about trips, and answering queries from club members.
- Daughter – accompanying my elderly mother to the monastery on her fasting days and helping her to use the mobile phone.
- Sister – helping my younger brother with his homework.
- Part-time cashier at the local pharmacy – handling cash and providing customer service to customers.
Now think about your own roles in life in this next activity.
Activity 1 My roles in life
Part 1
This activity will help you to identify the roles you have played in your life so far, and thus provide you with a basis for considering the skills they have helped you to develop.
First jot down in your notebook or on paper the roles you play most frequently and just one or two key activities associated with them. Another memory jogger is to ask yourself who you have been for other people. For example, are you a sister or a brother, or a manager to your team?
(Adapted from Career planning and job-seeking workbook, Open University Careers Service.)
Comment
Your list might have a combination of roles. Some to do with family or friends, others related to work you have done, or to hobbies or interests. Equally, your list might also include roles that you feel have been ‘given’ to you by others and you would prefer not to play. For example, are you always expected to be the ‘fun maker’ in your group of friends, even if you do not feel like doing that?
Part 2
Now you’ve identified your different roles, consider which ones you find more satisfying than others and the roles that you feel you perform well. Again, write down your thoughts in your notebook or on paper. Copy Table 1 into your notebook or you can complete this in your Resource pack [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .
| Roles I most enjoy | Roles I think I do well |
|---|---|
You will gain the most from this activity if you take a little time to reflect on what you have written. Use the following questions to trigger your thoughts and write down any answers that occur to you in your notebook.
- Are you surprised by the range of things you do and take for granted?
- Were you able to identify the kinds of action you have to take in each of these roles?
- Did they begin to suggest any skills that might be associated with doing those very different kinds of role?
- Were you surprised at which roles you enjoyed or not, and which you felt you performed well or not?
- Which roles might you want to continue and which, if any, might you want to stop playing?
Comment
You may be surprised by the number of different roles that you have, as it is not something that most people ever consider. Most of them you probably take for granted. Hopefully you can now see the full range of roles you have, and will be able to think more clearly about the abilities you have that enable you to carry these out.
In the next section, you’ll be able to reflect on the abilities you have that go with these roles.
2 What roles are played in life?