After high school then what?

This question will come across every student’s mind in high school. That is guaranteed. What should I do after school? Should I take a gap year, should I go to university, should I go do an internship, should I go into trade, should I do a diploma instead, should I stay at home and learn on the internet on my own? And so on. It is a very tough question to answer as I believe parents and society put a lot of pressure on high school student leavers to know what they want to do and be immediately successful. How unfair is that?

I understand parents would want the best for their kids but projecting professions onto them through your ideas simply does not work. Why are parents so obsessed with their kids going into medicine, law or dentistry even when kids explicitly have protested against the idea? What about pursuing self-actualisation as a goal in life? There are so many things a student can do before running immediately into the desired university or an expansive course. Sometimes doing free courses online or gaining experience at a job can be a lot more beneficial. University is not for everyone and sometimes it may not even have what you want or need. Instead of spending money because you are not sure what you are doing or using a seat/space at the university due to your parents, maybe try something else. A good start, especially these days, is online learning. That is where you can find ideas and what you are interested in, how cool is that?

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

You probably asking why I used Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The last steps of Maslow’ involve self-actualisation, which is equivalent to self-fulfilment needs. To reach that last step, you must go through the psychological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, and esteem needs.

• The psychological need is about having food, water, warmth and rest

• The safety need is about having security and safety

• The belongingness and love need is about intimate relationship and friends

• The esteem need is about prestige and feeling accomplishments

• Lastly, self-actualisation is to achieve one’s full potential including creative activities

So why am I talking about this? Well in truth, you don’t even need to reach the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. However, I believe if you manage to reach the highest level of need, you should be at your happiest in life and most fulfilled. The last step is about the feeling that you have achieved everything and living life at your pleasure. It is about being independent, free of burden and living life to its maximum. We do take it for granted but life is really short, so let us enjoy the human experience that we deserve.

My brother, Marc-Antoine, was the guest speaker at Saint Charles College (SCC) and had to give a speech at ‘Speech Night’ which is a function for the high school leavers. All the students have to attend but there is a focus on the students that are about to embark on their adult journey. Marc-Antoine’s goal was to give some insight and tips that he had learned after leaving Saint Charles College. He explains the challenges he had once he left SCC and shares them with the students. I honestly believe that students that are about to finish high school, could learn a lot. I have also been through SCC and currently and can safely say that these tips and insights are really useful.

What does Marc-Antoine suggest?

The main points from his speech are marked below. I believe a student that comes out of high school can have a significant positive impact on their life if they choose to follow these points.

• It is never too early to start working on your passion

• If you don’t know what your calling is yet, then stay as busy as possible

• Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does buy peace of mind

• Never be afraid of hitting rock bottom

• Stay on the right side 

• Don’t aim to be an influencer

• And finally, take care of your health

Life after high school is scary and difficult but extremely exciting. It is a new chapter in a student’s life, full of ups and downs but the main idea is to reach the top of Maslow’s need. The end goal is to achieve control, independence, happiness and content, relationship, safety, security, fulfilment and belonging. I believe Marc-Antoine’s tips and insight can help the student leavers to start that steep Maslow’s climb and eventually reach the top. Through my experience, leaving high school is scary and daunting but my older brother has motivated me and guided me to become a better version of myself. I love his tips and insight and if you are leaving high school or not, then have a go, try and see if it works for you.

About Marc-Antoine

Marc-Antoine Astier is the CEO & Creative Director of Boomachine K.K., based in Tokyo, Japan. His company specialises in Advertising and Creative production of Cinematography, Photography, Sound Engineering, Music and Design. Boomachine is an integrated creative agency with in-house high-quality. Their goal? To provide a full-service solution to developing your visual identity.

On top of this Marc-Antoine has other businesses in Tokyo. These are Tokyography – Photography school (www.tokyography.com) and Headshot Tokyo – Professional portraits (www.headshot.tokyo).

“Through cinematography, photography, design and text, we provide the means for you to clearly and powerfully project your unique message.”

His speech

Good evening students parents, staff of St Charles college and friends. Let me begin with an apology. I’m so sorry that over the last 12 years since moving abroad I have lost my beautiful South African accent. I have been lucky to visit and work in many countries from Argentina to the United States to Singapore, China, Thailand, Iran, Egypt and most importantly Japan. Rest assured however that I still use the word “howzit”, “wanting a lekker braai”, “boikie” and “boet” any chance I get despite getting looks of confusion from non-South Africans.

I would like to take a moment to thank Mr Van Blerk which has invited me to talk to you tonight. He, as well a lot of the staff present, knows just how much this speech night means to my brothers and I. We’ve grown up here and Saint Charles has shaped much of who we have become as adults. I thank you Mr Van Blerk as well as the rest of the staff who spent so much energy on us. Because I also know that the Astier’s are such difficult bunch to handle.

Students, I have sat through many speech nights in my day so I know how that this part can seem to drag on forever. I know from experience that the grade 11s are just waiting to hear the words “And next year’s Head Boy is…” and that some other people ‘cough cough’ might be thinking of going to Pot and Barrell. Back in my day, it was Crowded House but not everything lasts forever.

Believe it or not, I relate to you well since my youngest brother Paul-Arthur is sitting here tonight amongst the matrics. My speech night was 12 years ago. After leaving Saint Charles I was accepted to the university in Tokyo, Japan, where I have been living for the past 12 years. After graduating I launched my creative agency, and now my job is to produce and direct advertising campaigns for Japanese and international companies.

I ask that you give me the next 15 minutes. My hope is that some of the lessons I have learned from around the world will be worth your while. You see, I know that to most of you, I look like an old man. But in reality, I’m actually only 31. I’m just a year older than Pewdipie. So since I am on the other side of my 20s, let me tell some lessons that I have learned over the years.

It is never too early to start working on your passion

Before I started my company at 26, I had already been taking photos at nightclubs in Tokyo. At first, I wasn’t paid, then the organisers offered me payments in drink tickets, and then eventually I got a small fee for my work. I never would have thought that this would eventually lead me to work in the creative industry full time. If something interests you, then you should spend as much time as possible learning to learn everything that you can about it. In this era, mankind has never had such great access to information. The internet brings you online courses, tutorials, blogs, forums, magazines, online books…

My main duties day in and day out are running my businesses, professional commercial photography and directing films. I studied none of these subjects at the university. You can kickstart your career early by getting passionate about your interests. In the best-case scenario, this passion will become your job. You will be able to make a career out of something that you love to learn, research and create. In that case, always aim for the top. That’s where the exciting stuff is happening. In the worst-case scenario, that passion will become your hobby. You’ll be able to keep enjoying yourself for many years to come. Don’t wait for adults to give you permission to learn. There is, however, one exception to this, which I will get to a little later.

If you don’t know what your calling is yet, then stay as busy as possible

The meanest thing adults can ask you is “what do you want to be when you grow up”. Only a very small minority of you know the answer to that question, and even then a lot of you will change halfway through your 20s. I’m here to tell you that it is ok for you not to know yet. But here is the key, until you find out what it is you will be devoting your life to, you need to keep yourself as busy as humanly possible.

This is the only way that you will be able to weed out the things that don’t interest you and start to notice the areas that do. Also, it never hurts to learn general skills along the way. Here is something that might shock you, most adults have no clue about what is going on. Learning basic accounting skills, how the tax system works, how the legal system works, basic first aid, how to fix a broken shelf, cook some simple meals or write a business email correctly. These are skills that no university teaches you but somehow most adults, irrespective of the country, miss on.

If you don’t know where your life is heading yet, then arm yourself with as many useful skills and knowledge as you can, so that by the time you do, you are as close to a fully functioning adult as you can be.

Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does buy peace of mind

The most important lessons I learned, and one that is universal, is that money doesn’t buy happiness. You will meet many people in life that will be poorer than you yet seem happier, and also many people richer than you that are horribly miserable. Money is an important factor in your future, but only to provide peace of mind. My job in advertising is to make sure that you want to buy the latest Galaxy phone, or get that latest car or get the best credit card. If you can learn to resist those urges early on, then money doesn’t drive your life, it only supports it. If you have the right attitude and have learned some valuable skills, you will always be useful to someone, and you will be able to keep learning and pursuing your dreams.

Never be afraid of hitting rock bottom

I’m sure that you’ve heard this one before, and it’s difficult for it to resonate. Why wouldn’t I be afraid of hitting rock bottom and losing everything? The truth is that some portions of your life will inevitably be out of your control. Some people try to minimise those portions as much as possible, but never get to it. If you learn to trust yourself through your skills, knowledge and experience, then you will never be paralysed from that fear. Learn to listen and trust your gut. If you do fail, then lick your wounds, look back on where things went wrong. Learn from it and move on.

When I first started my company, I kept making some huge mistakes with clients, whether it was in meetings or productions. Every embarrassing mistake felt like a punch to the gut. When I asked one of my mentors, who was a CEO himself when I would stop making mistakes he told me never but that I would become better at learning from them and minimising the damage. There are no mistakes. Just lessons… cringy, cringy lessons.

Stay on the right side 

One of the toughest lessons you will learn is that from time to time hard work and talent will lose to having connections. You will see people take shortcuts to get ahead, sometimes hurting others in the process. In those moments it is easy to become bitter. But always aim to stay on the right side and help those around you.

Core value of Saint Charles College:

• Respect,

• Discipline,

• Courage,

• Honesty and

• Responsibility.

Get these core values tattooed on your right hand, meanwhile that leaves your left hand free. Hence, you choose what your 5 core values are going to be and tattoo them on your left hand.

Marc-Antoine’s 5 core values:

• Ambition,

• Patience,

• Resilience,

• Gratitude and

• Compassion.

Don’t aim to be an influencer 

If your dream is to have hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers, then time to think again. I’m sorry, but I have to side with your parents and teachers on this one. In my line of work, advertising companies use influencers all the time. I see them rising and falling back down just as quickly. Aiming to become famous just to be famous will lead you to sad, narcissistic, greedy, bitter and eventually pointless life. If you must, then aim to an influencer like Neil De Grasse Tyson in astrophysics, Steve Irwin as a zookeeper and conservationist, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Neil Armstrong… Get to the top of your field and gain the respect of your peers. If your goal is to have your voice be heard by millions, then make sure to use it to educate or lend that voice to important causes, justice or people that do not have one 

And finally, take care of your health

This has been my biggest mistake since leaving Saints Charles. At your age, it feels as if you will live on forever, but time will catch up with you much sooner than you think. Work hard, but don’t destroy yourself in the process. Take some time off and enjoy yourself. Learn to take care of your body, your mind and your soul.

Life is all about balance. The day you stop learning is the day your life loses meaning. Life is short, get the most out of it. Keep searching for your passion, and once you find it give it your all. Go out there, and live your best life.

Marc-Antoine speech night video

Saint Charles College, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Thursday 19th September 2019.

Published 15th December 2019. Last reviewed 1st December 2021.