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Tessy Ojo CBE heads youth charity, The Diana Award, which recognises the achievement of young people ages 9-25 and one of the legacies of the late princess Diana. She is a humanitarian and campaigner who believes strongly that young people have the power to change the world and has gained an international reputation as an advocate for young people. She sits on a number of non-executive boards including the Royal taskforce on cyberbullying and the UK Council for child internet safety and became the first British National to be honoured with The Martin Luther King award in Atlanta. She was named by British Airways as one of the top British leaders and she has just been appointed Commander of the British empire for her services to children and young people.
Dear Younger Self,
You deserve to grow up hopeful and confident in the belief that your dream job is achievable, although I know this is often not the case but now that I am older, I thought you might want to know how to make this happen for you.
Remember when we were children, and were posed the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. Do you remember how we often responded with great optimism and ambition, telling everyone who cared to listen about our dream to be doctors, professional athletes, or world leaders, depending on your mood on the day. But one thing was sure, the dreams we had for our future were boundless and everything seemed possible.
However, something happened when we reached the end of school life. For some of our friends, their dreams for the future had changed completely. Do you recall that for some of us, as we walked out of the school gates, we were ready to take the steps to make our aspirations a reality? But for many others, as they left school, they left those aspirations at the school gate.
I have always struggled with that because as a young person, you should grow up hopeful and confident in the belief that it’s worth striving for the job you dream of. But hope and ambition is a luxury that I know not all young people can enjoy. For many young people growing up facing various forms of disadvantages, sadly these inequalities dictate that achieving career success is too is out of reach.
I know this is true for so many young people across the UK living within the boundaries of restricted social mobility. Findings show that their future earning potential is most likely to reflect the earnings of their parents. In essence, this means that for those growing up in disadvantage, the odds suggest that they will remain disadvantaged throughout their life.
I have since found that for those growing up with this reality, many are lacking something which is so important for employability and success - a role model. Role models or mentors are a source of inspiration, someone who we can aspire to be like. They show you what is possible and what can be achieved.
Mentors have the power to unlock doors for those without the key. A good mentoring relationship is a vital tool in breaking down barriers toward career success and a vehicle for enhancing future prospects.
When a mentor guides the path of a young person and shares their experience, they open up to them an endless world of possibilities for their future, give young people the skills, the knowledge and the experience to strive beyond education and take the first steps into the world of work, making those childhood dreams, a reality.
So dear younger self, I see your ambition, drive and aspirations and my advice to you is please find a mentor before you leave the school gates. They do not need to be someone who is at the height of their career, preparing to pass a baton to a successor or a CEO like me, but simply anyone who has taken steps into employment has experience to share, irrespective of age, background, or profession.
You can do this. I believe in your dreams and I look forward to celebrating future you.
With love,