Welcome to the Striving to Thriving Youth Quote Library. Here you’ll find a curated collection of more than 5,700 quotes from young people ages 15-22 living in communities across the United States. In the library you can see how young people describe their multifaceted identities, how they understand and apply meaning to language around job, work and career, how they think about and assign value to relationships, networking and connections, and their future goals and the education and career choices they believe will lead them there. You can also view additional notes on curation, categories and filters.
“Education. Positive influences around you. [What are the positive influences around you in college? Can you tell me a little bit more?] Being around others who have a passion for what they’re studying influences me to want to continue with school and look forward to my career.”
[On “job”] “Ethic.”
“Just like doesn’t really want to see – doesn’t uplift you. There is no support. It is like I’m doing this and this and this. I’m so stressed. Oh well that doesn’t matter. Don’t do that. Who cares? Blah, blah, blah, blah. They are not really trying to help you find solutions to get where you want to be. They would rather see you be idle and not see you go above and beyond because that might be what they are okay with. They might be okay being a mediocre person. I’m not.”
“I learned about these opportunities from my high school.”
“So [a potential barrier in achieving my career goal] would be…competition out there because a lot of the big names are stepping in and taking over.”
“Overall, I just think all of this is, as much as it is nice to codify it and have a general idea of where you want to go, I think that all of this just kind of pertains to perspective. I know that my perspective has shifted so much in the last year or two, and yet I have had to write on my college applications what I want to do, where am I going to go. And so I feel like I have written down what I said on my college applications, but ultimately I am ready to take an anthropology class and be like never mind on the whole lawyer thing. This is what I am going to study. I am only 17 and this is nice to think about as I enter college and feeling like I have a plan, but ultimately I am ready for it to change, if I need to.”
[Description of “Good Job”] “Something that you are passionate about and love.”
“Life choice.”
“I am Cuban-American, but I guess I am mostly American since I was born here. I am only real half Cuban. I know my father could teach me Spanish, and I don’t look Cuban because I’m pale. I don’t tan well, so I guess I am American…Most of my people and family is like gone, so I don’t really have—I am not really in touch with them, so I only have my father and maybe a few aunts. I don’t really have a religion, so there is that.”
“When you think about having connections to people, one of the things is being blood and loyalty so that is your connection with people. I was thinking about my connections with people like sitting on the couch and just feeling that vibe of trust and family.”