#TEXT 16_Y_M_U_Wojtek
[Respondent: Wojtek, male, 19, recent high school graduate, Gdańsk. Eldest of 5 children. Lives with parents. Informal work at father's hostel. Planning to study occupational health and safety at a private part-time college.]
[UPDATED v3: multi-framework codes — [B]=Bourdieu [H]=Honneth [M]=Masculinity Theory]

Tell us a few words about yourself.

I graduated from high school this year and I'm planning to study occupational health and safety. I'd like to go because it offers economics, and in the future I'd like to start a business rather than work for other companies.

How did you choose high school?

#CODE 7. Small place, restricted horizons and mobility\Proximity-based decision making: choosing what is reachable
I went to Józef Wybicki High School No. 7, and I chose it because it was closest to my house, and somehow I decided I didn't want to commute... I decided I'd like to go to a technical school for the hotel industry, but I decided I didn't want to commute, because it was an hour and a half drive. I decided I'd rather just go to a school closer to me and save myself the time.
#ENDCODE

How did you choose your field of study?

#CODE 2. Education as ambivalent promise of mobility\Instrumental education: diploma as piece of paper
I decided that in the future I was 100% sure that I would rather start a company, that I would rather be an employer than an employee, and I decided that it's always nice to have a piece of paper, that when you have a piece of paper, you have some confirmation that you were there, that you studied, and I think that's what's so necessary in our times.
#ENDCODE

#CODE 2. Education as ambivalent promise of mobility\Instrumental education: diploma as piece of paper && 2. Education as ambivalent promise of mobility\Credential inflation: degree as minimum threshold for adulthood
on the other hand, if something doesn't work out for me, there's also a security that I'll have this paper, that I'll be able to do something else if that one doesn't work out for me.
#ENDCODE

How has the pandemic affected your educational situation?

#CODE 2. Education as ambivalent promise of mobility\Education as injury, exclusion or disappointment
I don't think I learned much, especially those online lessons, because there wasn't really a need for me there, at least not for me. I would prefer the school, because I would remember the knowledge the teachers imparted to us better... looking at myself and my friends when we were there, it seemed like no one was studying; everyone was just making cheat sheets or searching online... the conditions were rather average, because there wasn't a compulsion to learn.
#ENDCODE

Tell me about your job helping your dad run the hostel.

#CODE 4. Work, low pay and dignity\Job instability, frequent exits, precarious employment && 6. Family care as protection and symbolic burden\[M] Masculine provider obligation: breadwinner expectations and care labour extraction
Well, I'm just a receptionist there, and the way the place works is that I usually arrive around 10 a.m. to relieve the previous receptionist, and then I do some laundry, put in a load of laundry, wash, or dry one, and usually I just sit at the reception until about 2 p.m.
#ENDCODE

#CODE 6. Family care as protection and symbolic burden\[M] Masculine provider obligation: breadwinner expectations and care labour extraction && 6. Family care as protection and symbolic burden\Family as material safety net: housing, food, money
I had a little bit saved up and generally speaking, they gave me a lot extra, so to speak, but I had a little bit saved up, but now I'm actually working it all off by working... Since I'm part of the family, I don't have to be employed because I'm there as a helper, not an employee. Therefore, for example, my dad has much lower employee costs. Maintaining an employee now costs about 2,000 złoty, from what I remember, so I figured I'd make up some of the money my parents put in.
#ENDCODE

Tell me about your business idea.

#CODE 4. Work, low pay and dignity\[H] Work as sphere of social recognition: esteem, dignity, acknowledgment
I think that I would like that, because it's a kind of dedication to something that is... You do this company for yourself, that you run it and develop it so that you can later buy something better, or something else.
#ENDCODE

#CODE 7. Small place, restricted horizons and mobility\Emigration as resolution of field mismatch && 3. Capital mismatch and blocked conversion\Economic capital insufficiency and material precarity
I was also considering emigrating for about two years to build a budget, to avoid getting a loan too early, and to avoid taking out such large sums of money... I know they pay well in Iceland. I know there are some ports where you can earn good money.
#ENDCODE

Have you ever thought about children?

#CODE 8. Future as anticipated social judgment\Children conditioned on economic security: future family as unaffordable && 5. Blocked adulthood and symbolic shame\[M] Masculine adulthood expectations: provider, self-sufficient, responsible
When I was thinking about children, I thought that maybe when I was 30 or so, when I had my well-being secured, I could give my children what I wanted to give them. I wouldn't want to be so busy back then that I had to devote any time to them.
#ENDCODE

Do you feel like an adult?

#CODE 5. Blocked adulthood and symbolic shame\Adulthood defined: financial independence, housing, responsibility && 5. Blocked adulthood and symbolic shame\[B] Doxa of normative adulthood: housing-work-family sequence naturalised as universal
A bit yes, a bit no. I'd say I can take responsibility for what I do, for example, and I try to take responsibility when something happens... On the other hand, I'd say it's not full adulthood, because I still live with my parents, and I don't have too many expenses for my own upkeep.
#ENDCODE

#CODE 5. Blocked adulthood and symbolic shame\Adulthood as permanently deferred, regressed, or never felt
I feel like I'm not yet mature enough to take full responsibility for myself, meaning for my own home and support. But mentally, I think I probably am, but I just don't have the full responsibility yet.
#ENDCODE

What are the most important challenges for your generation entering adulthood?

#CODE 5. Blocked adulthood and symbolic shame\Blocked adulthood: conditions for independence structurally unavailable && 8. Future as anticipated social judgment\Collective structural condition misrecognised as individual failure
apartments are so expensive that you have to live with your parents for a very long time, because before someone saves up for an apartment, maybe after five years, when they have the money for an apartment, it will be good, so they don't have to take out a loan.
#ENDCODE

#CODE 3. Capital mismatch and blocked conversion\Economic capital insufficiency and material precarity && 5. Blocked adulthood and symbolic shame\Blocked adulthood: conditions for independence structurally unavailable
Work, wages have definitely gone up, if you can call it that, because inflation has also gone up. It's unclear how this will all work out.
#ENDCODE

Do you take care of your younger siblings?

#CODE 6. Family care as protection and symbolic burden\[M] Masculine provider obligation: breadwinner expectations and care labour extraction
for example, I often keep myself occupied because my mom is often at doctor's appointments or just running errands, and since I'm not at work, I'm at home quite a lot anyway... But it's also like this with my brother and my third youngest sister—the youngest—they usually play, or I just play with my brother.
#ENDCODE

#CODE 6. Family care as protection and symbolic burden\[M] Masculine provider obligation: breadwinner expectations and care labour extraction
During the pandemic, I stayed home all the time because there were concerns. I have a great-grandmother who's 90 years old... During the pandemic, I mostly stayed home. When my parents went out, I could stay home and watch the kids, as I have a lot of younger siblings.
#ENDCODE

What is a good life to you?

#CODE 8. Future as anticipated social judgment\[B] Illusio withdrawal: non-planning as habitus adjustment to objective field probabilities
I think it's the kind of life where you feel good about yourself, where you don't think you could have done worse, better, or differently. A good life is one where you're at peace with what you've done, even if it's wrong. You can say you accept it, you apologize for it, but don't live in the past, what happened, but in the present and the future.
#ENDCODE

What values guide you in life?

#CODE 7. Small place, restricted horizons and mobility\Local horizon as socially naturalised limit
I try to cause as little trouble as possible for other people and I expect them to cause as little trouble as possible for me.
#ENDCODE

Do you generally like to plan your life?

#CODE 8. Future as anticipated social judgment\[B] Illusio withdrawal: non-planning as habitus adjustment to objective field probabilities
Not really. It's all about spontaneity... I prefer not to plan too much, because if I plan and it doesn't work out, I might fall apart.
#ENDCODE

Has the pandemic played any role in your long-term life planning?

#CODE 7. Small place, restricted horizons and mobility\Geographic constraint and restricted opportunity structure
I wanted to go to Asia, China, or Japan for a bit of sightseeing, or Korea, but I'm betting that for the next two or three years, thanks to Covid, it probably won't be possible to fly there and explore those countries. I had plans to actually see a bit of the world, but they were thwarted by the pandemic.
#ENDCODE

#CODE 8. Future as anticipated social judgment\Structural constraints naturalised as personal limits
My plan is to find a job that will fulfill me and that I'll enjoy above all else, and that might even pay well. I hope it will, and I'll be able to attend these studies part-time.
#ENDCODE

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