‘Zoomers’ pursuing new paths

Young Newfoundlanders ditching traditional education to follow dreams

More of Generation Z is choosing to go against the grain and pursue paths outside of post-secondary education.

Generation Z, also known as ‘Zoomers,’ are the successors to millennials. Millennials are known for being the most educated generation, with 70 per cent of the group having secured a post-secondary education, according to Statistics Canada.

Although most cite those born between 1997 and 2012 are members of Generation Z, the cutoff dates are fuzzy and vary from source to source. As such, some of the oldest of Generation Z who followed in the millennial footsteps finished college or university in 2020 and have entered the traditional workforce already.

However, as the generational pendulum shifts, more Zoomers are choosing to do just the opposite of their predecessors. After all, isn’t that always the way?

Of course, there are no certain numbers yet, as some of the generation has yet to even start high school, but surveys like Inc’s suggest Generation Z are more interested in becoming entrepreneurs or following other paths where they can be the curators of their own visions. Other factors, like rising tuition costs, don’t make matters easier.

‘SCHOOL HAS NEVER BEEN MY THING’

Erinn Locke, a St. John’sborn, Ontario-based rock climbing coach, graduated high school in 2018. While she enrolled in university at first, by 2019 she decided to switch career paths.

“School has never been my thing. I’ve never really been a super academic person,” says Locke, 21, as she reflected on her first go as a post-secondary student.

“It wasn’t working out for my mental health and I just felt like this shell of a person walking around a campus.”

Locke originally enrolled to be an anthropology student at Memorial University, but she decided that it wasn’t for her and left to pursue other employment and protect her mental health.

“It’s not that I’m not interested in those things, I will still probably go back and finish some kind of education, but it’s not for me right now,” she said.

On the flip side, Matthew Colbourne always felt like a fine student. He says in high school and university, he was never at the top of his class, but he was always comfortably close to it.

Before deciding to “go against the grain,” Colbourne finished a degree in psychology from Memorial University, but he didn’t feel he was entirely in it. He felt he had another purpose calling.

“I did finish it, but I had no intentions of pursuing it… ‘post-post-secondary education’ was never pursued,” Colbourne said with a laugh.

You may know him as Matt Colbo, from his Youtube channel, which he’s managed to turn into a full-time career. Though, it didn’t start out that way. As a student, it was merely a side hustle that his heart pulled him towards.

Similarly, Locke’s heart always pulled her back to her true passion, something she’s been doing since she was nine years old: rock climbing. After her experience at MUN, she wanted to figure out to curate her own path in life, she just wasn’t sure how.

Little did she know, the rocks would come calling her sooner rather than later.

FOLLOWING A DREAM

During a brief stint of studying business administration at The College of the North Atlantic, as owning her own business has always interested her, she was given the chance to work in the field of her dreams as a climbing coach in Ontario.

“School can happen anytime, but the opportunities that were being presented to me at the moment, like this job, that is something that I can do now that might not be available to me in the future,” Locke said, confidence in her tone.

While she can see herself pursuing an education of some sort later in life, at just 21 years old, she is more than satisfied having already worked her way up to the ranks of the coaches that helped her develop her own drive for the sport she has loved for more than half of her life.

“I got to see how much I was capable of. I got to push my limits, try new things and see myself thrive in a career that I have wanted since I was a little kid,” Locke says of her achievements.

ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES

Unlike Locke, Colbourne hopes to not see himself returning to school, although he sometimes feels a sense of fear for his career, given its fickle nature.

“If this ever crumbles, I’ll probably be back on my way to post-post-secondary education,” Colbourne said with another laugh.

Despite his light-hearted nature, when he doesn’t release a video as regularly as usual or if the views dip below a certain point at any given week, he fears it could all go away in a snap.

“It’s not a shock to hear that the most sought-after job among people under 30 — or, something like that, I don’t know what the exact metric is — is to be a content creator of some kind, Tiktoker, influencer… whatever you want to call it,” Colbourne said.

Because of that saturated market, he says, breaking through often comes down to luck. He’s been one of the lucky ones, but sometimes it’s impossible not to worry if his good fortune will continue.

As with any young adult, green in their first serious field of work, Locke isn’t without her own anxieties, too.

“When I packed up my things and came here, I was 19; my oldest kid (she was instructing) was just a few years younger than me. I worried maybe they wouldn’t respect me, or that my age would keep me from going as far as I would like to go in my career here,” she admitted.

When those moments of impostor syndrome hit, she reminds herself they are normal for anyone making their way, as well as the strengths her age provides her, like being able to relate to where the kids she’s teaching are in their journeys more clearly.

BRIGHT FUTURES

Despite their fears, the sky just may be the limit for both Colbourne and Locke, with the colossal achievements already in their belts.

“I would like to work my way up the ladder a little more to coaching at a national level instead of a provincial level,” said Locke.

Back in 2016, Locke was one of the first two Newfoundland and Labradorians to compete at the national level. Coaching provincially at 19 wasn’t the first ceiling she’s broken down, and with her goals, it may not be the last.

As for Colbourne, the ideal future looks like not having to worry about the metrics of every video equating his next paycheque.

“If at one point in the future, there are so many people watching that I don’t have to worry about what is I make, that I can make something I want to make just because, that is the dream,” Colbourne said.

With his initial goal of 100,000 subscribers in 2021 long in his rear-view mirror — he’s already amassed a following of nearly 250,000 on his Youtube platform — that dream may not be as far off as he sometimes fears.