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.
“I wrote responsible, natural helper, happy, adventurous, courageous. I wrote a phrase: I will get my degree. Intelligent, I won’t be another statistic.”
“I put long days, working to make another person’s pocket bigger, a slave, and corporation.” [Mod: Tell me about that working to make another person’s pocket bigger.] “So, I’m a big believer, and this is because I got some business owners in my family, that you are to open a business and try to generate revenue to change your community and stuff like that. So I’m a big believer in creating your own business…going that type of route. Being an entrepreneur, yeah.”
“Great coworkers.”
“I put getting declined and motivation…Yeah. I didn’t know what another word to use. Basically, getting the door shut in your face like rejection…and motivation. You lose motivation when you don’t see that you’re making progress.”
“I agree with what [Participant] said. It is something that you are passionate about as a career. It is your life’s goal. As a kid, oh I want to be a firefighter and you achieve that goal of being a firefighter. That was your career and you built it up to that. I put diploma, school, degree. Usually when it is a career you go to school to get a diploma or degree for that. It is long term; it is usually your life’s goal that you want to do this long term for as long as you can be, compared to a job or work where it is just like momentarily.”
“I am [a] very practical person and so the steps I feel like I am taking are linked to my personality trait. I also like to include things not on the defined path because I feel like external factors absolutely play role (such as family support).”
“[At age 45] A. In a booming big city, coastal preferably. B. I have my own established business I oversee. C. Family and happiness are most important at this stage in my life. D. My wife and kids as well as my mother and sister. 2. It feels extremely optimistic. Thinking about the future and the possibilities make me excited.”
“My mom worked in a freezer in the cold packing food. She doesn’t have to do that no more.”
“Caucasian female.”
“Well at first I always went for trying to learn business and how to run one. The classes were available to me so I decided on taking them. After that I just never knew what business I wanted to do or run. After college I decided on taking a break and just working a regular job to get by in the meantime of trying to figure it out. I do plan on going back if it means doing something I really enjoy doing and love.”